Oregon State doesn’t remain focused in loss to Utah State

By Kevin Hampton
Corvallis Gazette-Times

CORVALLIS — Everything seemed to be back in order for the Oregon State softball team.

The Beavers returned to Oregon after a long, hard road trip in which their bats were too often cold.

Getting back to the area seemed to warm up OSU at the plate. The 15th-ranked Beavers rolled through their first five games in the Cascade Clash tournament, sweeping Portland State 4-1 and 4-0 and defeating South Dakota State 5-2 before really kicking into gear with a 16-3 win over Towson and another over South Dakota State, this time 8-0 in six innings on Saturday morning.

With the offense on a roll, the second game on Saturday — against Utah State — didn’t seem to be a problem.

Then the hot bats cooled once again and this time it meant a 2-0 loss and having to watch as the Aggies (9-15) celebrated the upset on the OSU Softball Complex field.

The Beavers (20-10) could not get the key hits when they needed them and too often drove the ball to an outfielder when they did make contact.

The Beavers had a strong tournament through Saturday morning’s win, but they did not get the quick start they might have been expecting against Utah State.

“All the other games we kind of breezed through a little bit,” OSU outfielder Cambria Miranda said. “We won five in a row this tournament. We should have come out harder, we shouldn’t underestimate any other team. We need to do a better job of coming out in the first inning and continue coming out every inning.”

Oregon State coach Kirk Walker said the Beavers hit the ball well and scored runs in the other tournament games because they were focused. The Beavers had smart at-bats, worked each pitch and went after the ones that were hittable rather than swinging at balls.

He said the team did not have that focus against Utah State.

“(Saturday) we came out with a lack of focus the second game and a little bit of an arrogance that we’re good and we’re supposed to beat them, which is what we’ve been struggling with all year. It’s very disappointing that we aren’t able to sustain the positive focus that they had turned around when we got back.”

Walker said the Beavers can have a strong season if they correct the problem.

“It’s not a physical problem, it’s not a lack of any kind of a skill, it’s a lack of ability to sustain focus and play the game as they’re capable. They are certainly capable of winning big ballgames and doing great things if they play focused,” he said. “We’ve had enough wake-up calls. I’m tired of wake-up calls. They know what’s in front of them. It’s an ability of staying focused, period.”

The Aggies scored in the top of the fourth to take a 1-0 lead and then added a run in the sixth when Heather Haak’s line drive into right scored Amy Schaible.

It was all Utah State would need. The Beavers were not overpowered by pitcher Lexy Perry, who finished with one strikeout and four walks, but they were unable to finish the few rallies they started.

“We just need to come out from the first inning on and push runs across,” Miranda said. “We got runners on but we didn’t have timely hitting. We just need to stay up and not underestimate the other team and just go after every team hard.”

Miranda went 1-for-4 and Brianne McGowan, Mia Longfellow, DeAnn Young and Stefanie Ewing all had hits for OSU.

In the first game, the Beavers finished with eight hits as Miranda went 3-for-3 with a triple and Longfellow went 2-for-3 with a double.

The Beavers scored four runs in the fourth and McGowan tossed a one-hitter.

“Definitely our team came out swinging this weekend and it was nice to see us get back on kind of a hitting frenzy and build confidence, but at the same time when you have that confidence you have to keep building on it,” Longfellow said. “We can’t have our focus drop down at all because we’ll get beat.”

Longfellow said the Beavers are happy to be home and enjoy playing for their fans.

“The stadium was packed (Saturday) and it’s really uplifting to see, but at the same time we need to do our part and give them a good show,” she said.

Utah State 2, Oregon State 0

UTAH STATE 000 101 0 — 2 5 0

OREGON STATE 000 000 0 — 0 5 1

Perry and Uragami. McElroy, McGowan (4) and Black, Ewing (4). WP: Perry (2-2). LP: McElroy (9-5)

Hits: USU 5 (Grow, Reilly, Schaible, Haak, Ray). OSU 5 (Miranda, McGowan, Longfellow, Young, Ewing)

RBI: USU 1 (Haak)

Oregon State 8, South Dakota State 0

S. DAKOTA STATE 000 000 — 0 1 4

OREGON STATE 002 402 — 8 8 0

McGowan, Dyer (6), McGowan (6) and Black. Marston, Westendorf (4) and Kuhl. WP: McGowan (11-5). LP: Marston (5-3). 2B: Longfellow (OSU). 3B: Miranda (OSU)

Hits: SDS 1 (Schwedhelm). OSU 8 (Miranda 3, McGowan, Longfellow 2, Lowe, Hill)

RBIs: OSU 5 (Chisholm, Miranda 3, McGowan)