The Barometer Online

Issue date: 4/23/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Casey Grogan Junior outfielder Dani Chisolm lays down a sacrifice bunt in Oregon State's 1-0 loss to the University of Washington on April 18. Oregon State dropped a single game to UCLA before falling in two straight to the Huskies.

By Maria Bruggere

The Daily Barometer

A critical weekend lies ahead for the Oregon State women's softball team as it travels to the Bay Area for a five-game weekend against UC Davis, Cal and Stanford.

The Beavers must win their doubleheader against Davis (21-21) Thursday to hold their hopes of post-season play.

"For us, we can't even look at the Cal and Stanford games because our season depends on the games against UC Davis," senior catcher Stefanie Ewing said. "If we lose either one of those games, we have no shot at going into post season."

Sophomore catcher Audrey Roderfeld leads Beavers. She has a batting average of .328 and 31 RBI, and she added another home run against UCLA, which marks her 10th this season. Senior infielders Paige Lowe and DeAnn Young added to the double play running total (26) last weekend. Lowe now has 18 on the season and Young has 11.

Junior pitcher Kelly Dyer was in a pitching duel last Saturday against Washington and threw nine innings, only giving up four hits despite the 1-0 loss. Dyer's season record is 10-13.

"I think our pitchers feel a lot more comfortable and they've relaxed a little bit," Ewing said. "They've seen all the teams and they know what everyone has. I think Kelly Dyer is trusting her stuff again."

Oregon State faced the Aggies earlier this season during the UNLV Louisville Slugger Invitational. The all-time record between the two schools is 2-0, which will give the Beavers confidence going into Thursday's games. The leading hitter for the Aggies is senior outfielder Belinda Paine, who holds a .321 batting average heading into the weekend. Paine also has the team-high 42 hits and 10 stolen bases. Senior pitcher Jessica Hancock posts a 13-9 record on the season with 148 strikeouts.

"Hopefully we get a win against Davis and that will set us up for the rest of the weekend," junior infielder Alana Ford said. "We've been working on our hitting a lot more this week. We look pretty good on defense, but we haven't been getting the clutch hits we've needed in games. If we can get hits at the right time with runners on and move them home, that will set us up for some good wins."

Continued...

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