Pitcher Ta'Tyana McElroy fires a pitch to home plate during Oregon State's 6-2 win over Portland State.

No. 17 softball takes series from visiting PSU

Strong starting pitching shuts down Viking attack while offense comes alive as OSU secures another 30 win season

By: Noah Tinker

Posted: 4/11/07

The OSU Beavers maintained their focus and got the job done against the visiting Portland State Vikings, with seniors Brianne McGowan and Ta'Tyana McElroy leading the way during a double-header Tuesday in Corvallis.

If the Vikings were hoping to catch the Beavers napping while they recover from a close loss to rival Oregon, and with 12th-ranked UCLA on the horizon, they were sorely disappointed.

"One of the things we talked about this week in general was that every game left is an opportunity when we step on the field," coach Kirk Walker said. "So there's really no reason not to be up and focused."

"Every game, we come out and play because it's another chance for us to work on our game," senior shortstop Mia Longfellow concurred.

McGowan picked up her 19th win of the year by shutting down PSU in the first game, 4-0, which increased her career shutout total to 34.

The Beaver bats were swinging away, with eight different players recording hits, but it wasn't until the bottom of the fifth that OSU was able to bring any runs around having left the bases loaded in the bottom of the second with one out.

"It was good to see us come out and start swinging the bats well," Longfellow said.

According to Longfellow, who was 2-for-4 in both games with a run scored and two RBI's, "Anytime you get a runner on second base, you need to take advantage of that because that team gave a weakness up. Especially in the Pac-10, we're not going to get a lot of runners on second, so when the opportunity comes we need to capitalize on it. Junior utility player Mindy Bean, playing left field, opened the floodgates by knocking a blooper single into right field, which brought in sophomore Paige Lowe. McGowan (19-7), who also increased her career strikeout total to 808 with six strikeouts, belted a lead-off double to increase the Beaver lead. Sophomore first baseman DeAnn Young completed the scoring with a single to center.

McGowan, however, stressed that her focus is on her team and another Pac-10 championship.

"The records don't really mean too much," said McGowan.

McElroy (10-5) gave the Beavers their 31st win of the season in the second game with a 6-2 victory. After scoring four runs in the second, freshman Kelly Dyer added two more in the bottom of the third with a hit to the fence in right field. She was tagged out while attempting to stretch the double into a triple to end the inning.

Having yielded an early 6-0 lead, the Vikings finally got on the scoreboard with a run in the top of the fourth, and then doubled that total when junior Mandy Hill knocked out the only home run of the doubleheader.

However, McElroy shrugged off the setback and retired the side in dominating fashion.

Walker was happy not to see any letdown in his players' efforts for a non-Pac-10 game. "I was pleased with our intensity. We've kind of struggled with that," Walker said.

Walker hopes his team can maintain that intensity as it prepares to re-enter Pac-10 play. "We don't have a lot of flaws in our game. We just need to keep playing and trusting our ability," Walker said. McGowan is pleased with her team's progression.

"We've turned it around," McGowan said. "We started off kind of shaky, and I definitely think we've turned it around to be much more consistent of a team."

Longfellow agreed. "We're starting to pick it up. We had a rough start, but right now everyone is sort of feeling the groove we're getting into," Longfellow said. "I think right now we're just playing the game. Anytime we can get a 'W' on the board is a positive thing."