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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 23, 2018)
SPORTS SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 2018 MUSA LEADS NIGERIA OVER ICELAND 2-0 2B 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS ALL-EO SOFTBALL TEAM Staff photo by Kathy Aney RICHARDS By The Numbers 232 Strikeouts (school record) Staff photo by E.J. Harris Pendleton senior pitcher Lauren Richards has been named as the All-EO softball player of the year. 171 1/3 ‘She refuses to lose’ Innings pitched 26 Pendleton’s Lauren Richards is the 2018 All-EO Player of the Year By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian B efore Lauren Richards’ senior sea- son even started, the talented Pendle- ton pitcher had already accomplished quite a bit on the softball diamond. The Buckaroo had all-conference awards, all-state selections, school records and conference championships in her back pocket, and was on the radar of college coaches from across the country. The only thing missing from Richards’ trophy case was the ultimate accomplishment in high school sports — a state championship. She and the Buckaroos had come very close three times previous in her career, but missed out each time. For the intense competitor in Richards, being championship-less was frustrating. The thought fueled her late-night sessions in the hitting cages with her father, Steve, and it stayed with her during games and workouts for summer travel ball. So much so that Richards made a change to her rou- tine over the winter. She decided to give up playing basketball during the winter season and instead joined Pendleton’s swim team along with junior second baseman Aspen Garton with the goal of being better pre- pared for softball season. “I heard how good of a workout it (swimming) is, so I tried to talk Aspen into it,” Richards said. “We about died at a cou- See ALL-EO/3B Pitching wins (school record) .461 Batting average (third on team) 37 RBI (second on team) 2018 ALL-EO SOFTBALL FIRST TEAM P P Lauren Richards Pendleton, sr. Stats: 26-2 record 1.42 ERA, 232 K; .461 avg., 37 RBI IF Aspen Garton Pendleton, jr. Stats: .438 avg., 6 HR, 39 RBI, 29 runs scored P Alyssa Ray Echo, sr. Stats: 11-5 record 2.41 ERA, 138 K, 95 2/3 innings. IF C Ayana Aguilar Pilot Rock, soph. Stats: 14-3 re- cord, 2.90 ERA, 86 2/3 IP, 108 K IF Sydney Stefani Hermiston, jr. Stats: .571 avg., 6 HR, 23 RBI, 39 runs, 12 2B C Bailee Noland Hermiston, soph. Stats: .430 avg., 8 HR, 39 RBI, 7 2B, 24 runs, 1.275 OPS Kila Solomon Pendleton, jr. Stats: .408 avg., 7 HR, 33 RBI, 1.166 OPS OF Sara Weinke Pilot Rock, sr. Stats: .662 avg., 6 HR, 56 RBI, 14 2B, 9 3B, 41 runs Kayla Deist Pilot Rock, sr. Stats: .492 avg., 3 HR, 30 RBI, 37 runs, 5 2B IF OF Kirah McGlothan Pendleton, jr. Stats: .341 avg., .521 OBP, 10 2B, 45 runs, 17 HBP Alexi Brehaut Pendleton, sr. Stats: .531 avg., 7 HR, 35 RBI, 9 2B, 31 runs OF Daisy Maddox Hermiston, soph. Stats: .360 avg., 3 HR, 11 RBI, 18 runs, 1.002 OPS IF Kalan McGlothan Pendleton, sr. Stats: .464 avg., 10 HR, 36 RBI, 35 runs scored UT Kendra Hart Echo/Stanfield, so. Stats: .500 avg., 20 XBH, 29 RBI, 51 runs COLLEGE WORLD SERIES OSU offense keeps humming Beavers one win away from CWS Final after a 12-2 win over Miss. St. By ERIC OLSON Associated Press OMAHA, Neb. — It has been decades since an offense at the College World Series has been as prolific as Oregon State’s. The good times — and the runs — kept rolling for the Beavers in a 12-2 win over Mississippi State on Friday. Oregon State used a five-run second inning to build a big lead, batted around twice and never were threatened thanks to Brandon Eisert’s season-long 5 1/3 innings of one-hit shutout relief. Oregon State joined 1995 Cal State Fullerton as the only teams in CWS history to score 11 or more runs in three consecutive games. The Beavers’ 43 runs is the highest total by a team through four games since 2001. “When you’re swinging the bat well, you have a lot of confidence going up and down the lineup,” coach Pat Casey said. “We’ve got a team approach to swinging. I think they have a lot of trust in one another. I’ve been through spells during the year when we haven’t swung the bat well. They’re swing- ing it well at the right time. Cer- tainly it’s something I’m excited about.” The Beavers (51-11-1) have staved off elimination three times since losing their CWS opener to North Carolina last Saturday. They beat Washington, North Carolina and now Mississippi State. Another win over the Bulldogs (39-18) on Saturday would send Oregon State to the best-of-three CWS finals for the first time since 2007. The Bulldogs, trying to return to the CWS finals for the first time since 2013, are not in unfamiliar territory. They were down to their last strike in regionals before beat- See OSU/3B AP Photo/Nati Harnik Oregon State’s Kyle Nobach (28) is greeted at the dugout after he scored against Mississippi State on a one-run single by Michael Gretler in the second inning of an NCAA College World Series baseball game in Omaha, Neb., Friday.
