Entering the final series of the regular season of the year, the Oregon State softball team is on the cusp of a lost season.
It all started very well. The Beavers started September 31 – climbing to 22nd nationally – but when they came to play Utah on May 12, it seemed like ancient history. Having lost 10 games in a row, the College Women’s World Tournament isn’t worth thinking about. Beaver only wants to win a single game.
For senior Mariah Mazon, one of the greatest players in the show’s history, it’s easy to laugh about now. The Beavers’ run of the past two weeks in the NCAA tournament has brought a new perspective to those tough games.
“Those losses were all tough losses — seven of them were due to one loss,” Mazon said Saturday after completing a super-area sweep of Stanford to punch a WCWS wharf.
Looks like they keep finding new ways to win. They led 4-1 in the seventh round against UCLA. They lost to Washington on a short flight. They lost on a late throw error to Oregon. Bind and run ahead has to disk, never pass home.
“We knew from those games that we could come back and beat anyone. We just needed one more thing to get us to the top,” Mazon said. “So I think [the losing streak] is what drives us even more – knowing we can continue to play games against UCLA and Washington and Oregon. “
And the Beaver beat Utes two out of three times that trip.
The reality is that no other conference in the country has as high a level of performance as the Pac-12. Since the conference game kicked off in mid-March, the Beavers have gone through the gantlet and set to do a post-season run. Seven of the conference’s nine softball schools have won NCAA awards; five achieved a super region and three – UCLA and Arizona, along with the State of Oregon – are still alive. In an astonishing display of conference depth, Arizona finished Pac-12play in last place.
“[It is] the best conference in the country,” said Stanford coach Jessica Allister, “and there’s nowhere to hide. Not like a crowd at the top and then you have to rest before everyone else. “
That’s why Allister wasn’t surprised to see the Beavers keep running despite finishing in sixth place.
“Oregon State is playing an unbelievable softball,” said Allister. “I think they have an opportunity to do some things in Oklahoma City.”
If they did, Mazon’s fingerprints would be on it. In the list of 22 players with 14 freshmen, Mazon is the only final year student. She enters the season as one of the conference’s best players and knows that with such an inexperienced roster, her play – both in the circle and on the plate – will go a long way in deciding the season of the Beaver. And she has more than what is assigned.
While splitting time in the circle with Sarah Haendiges, Mazon won 17-11 with a 1.60 ERA, beating 220 strokes in 184 innings. In the standings, she’s second on the team with an average of 0.366 (behind the team’s only other senior, junior Frankie Hammoude; 0.386), second in terms of hosts (12) and first in both OPS (1,227) and slip rate (.786).
In her game against Stanford last weekend, she set the show’s career offensive record by winning 3-1 in Game 1 before creating the series’ pivotal moment in Game 2. when Stanford fell to Haendiges with a fifth-round spot, coach Laura Berg called Mazon. She quickly knocked down both hitters she saw to get out of the jam and left no shots for the next two innings to secure a 2-0 win.
“Mariah was incredible. She did exactly what we needed her to do in a difficult situation,” Berg said. “She’s a super senior – a fifth-year student – and she’s held those key positions before in the Pac-12.
“Mariah has done a phenomenal job of drawing people to her side. Sarah in particular.”
After leading 10-6 in the regular season, Haendiges led 3-0 in the post-season. Having two reliable courts will make the Beavers a tough opponent in Oklahoma City, where they open with 14th seed Florida on Thursday (7 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN App) in Game 3 of WCWS. If the Beavers win, they will play the winner in Oklahoma-Arizona State on Saturday, while a loss will result in a match against the loser of that game on Friday.
Oregon State’s only previous trip to WCWS came in 2006, when they were eliminated in two games (first loss to eventual champions Arizona, then Arizona State in the losing group).
At Berg, the Beavers were coached by one of the most successful softball players in history. As a player for Team USA, she won three Olympic gold medals (1996, 2000, 2004) and one silver medal (2008), and she delivered one of the great moments in history. softball of the United States at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. At the end of the eighth inning, with a leave and runner-up in first and second and a 1-1 draw, she drove a deep ball. into the left court – just beyond the left-hander’s control – to take the US to a walking gold medal victory.
As a Fresno State player, she guided the Bulldogs to the 1998 NCAA title.
“Outside of the Olympics, there’s nothing like playing [in] Oklahoma City,” Berg said. There’s nothing like it. You guys need to remember not to make it bigger.”
With Mazon’s lead and the inexperience of the rest of the roster, NCAA tournament pressure has so far not been an issue.
“It’s still 60 feet, turn left. It’s still seeing the ball, hitting the ball and playing catch,” Berg said. “We still have to do that no matter who or where we play, what field we play on. It’s a simple game and that’s what we have to keep in mind and stay loyal.”
