May 3, 1998

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Brooke Hofstetter threw her second career shutout to help the Oregon State softball team (27-24, 8-16 Pacific-10) to a 2-0 win over UCLA (17-24, 7-15) in the second game of a doubleheader at Ropes-Fetrow Field Sunday afternoon. The Bruins defeated the Beavers, 3-0, in the opening game.

The Beaver offense struggled in the first game, with OSU's only hits of the game coming in the third inning. Sara Caughell ripped a single to left field, and Jodi Chmielewski singled to right field with two outs. The Bruins intentionally walked Tarrah Beyster to load the bases and take Bruin pitcher Erin Weiler out of the game, but Stephanie Swenson got Kim Herman to hit a ground ball that forced Beyster out at second.

"They're going to walk Tarrah to get to the people hitting behind her," said assistant coach Gina Vecchione. "It's not a matter of that we can't hit, we just can't come through all the time. We needed to make adjustments and be more aggressive and selective on their pitches."

The Bruins picked up five hits off Beyster and scored runs in the first, second and seventh innings. Laurie Fritz scored the game-winner by leading off the game with a walk and advancing to second on Kim Wuest's ground out before coming home on Nicole Odom's base hit to center field.

Fritz drove in Jenna Shih on a base hit in the second, and Odom scored the Bruins' final run in the sixth inning.

Beyster slipped to 21-14 with the complete game loss, while Stephanie Swenson pitched 4.1 innings in relief to improve to 8-8.

"The energy of the team was so flat in that first game. We were a little tight," Vecchione said. "We're fighting for something now (an NCAA Tournament bid) and that's added pressure. We talked to the team between games and told them to relax and pick up the energy level."

Oregon State's batters picked it up in the second game when they combined for six hits off Weiler and Swenson. Brooke Rutschman and Parisa Plant had two hits apiece, while Heather Chinn and Amber Anderson both had a hit as well.

OSU had four of its six hits in the third inning. Chinn led off with a base hit and went to second on Anderson's single to right field. Rutschman came up with the third hit of the inning to send Chinn to third, but Anderson was out at second. Anderson reached second and kept going, thinking Chinn was heading home, but Chinn stayed at third and Anderson didn't make it back to second in time. Plant kept the Beavers alive with a single to left field that scored Chinn to put OSU on top, 1-0.

Rutschman singled again to lead off the sixth inning. She went to third when Plant laid down a controversial bunt. The Beavers made it 2-0 when Rutschman scored and Plant advanced to second on a passed ball, and Plant then stole third. Chmielewski walked and stole second and Beyster was walked for the fifth time on the day to load the bases with no outs. Jenni Jodoin and Tasha Heddinger both kept the balls in the infield, and UCLA managed to get Plant and Chmielewski out at the plate to avoid giving up more runs.

Hofstetter picked up her first Pac-10 win of the season and improved to 6-10 with the victory. She scattered just five hits and had just one troublesome inning. The Bruins had two hits and a walk in the third, but the Beavers made a play at the plate to leave the bases loaded and hold UCLA scoreless. Weiler dropped to 7-9 with the loss.

"Brooke pitched tremendously. She threw smart and didn't give in," said Vacchione. "She was confident and kept her composure. When we had runners in scoring position, the defense made the plays."

Oregon State Softball vs. UCLA

Game One
UCLA           110 001 0 - 3 5 0
Oregon State   000 000 0 - 0 2 2

Weiler, Swenson (3) and Noack. Beyster and Herman.
WP- Swenson (8-8).
LP- Beyster (21-14).

Game Two
UCLA           000 000 0 - 0 5 0
Oregon State   001 001 x - 2 6 1

Weiler, Swenson (4) and Noack. Hofstetter and Kranz.
WP- Hofstetter (6-10).
LP- Weiler (7-9).