Taylor Cotton leads Oregon State's shutout of No. 10 Utah

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Senior Taylor Cotton picked up her seventh shutout of the season behind an Oregon State defense that made spectacular plays in a 5-0 win over No. 10 Utah on Friday afternoon. The Beavers held the Utes to just one hit which came with two outs in the final inning.

Utah started the game by loading the bases with one out, but a strikeout by Cotton and a fly out ended the inning unharmed.

RELATED: Oregon joins top five in latest NFCA Coaches Poll | Full NFCA Coaches Poll

The Beavers went down in order to start, but managed to get on the board first in the bottom of the second. Lovie Lopez started the scoring with a single before moving to second after Stephanie Merwin walked. Kayleen Shafer knocked in the run with a single, but rounded first too far and was tagged out after the run scored.

Both teams were idle through the heart of the game until Oregon State exploded in the fifth. The Beavers loaded the bases with a pair of singles and a walk with two outs before Jessica Garcia scored on a wild pitch. Alysha Everett kept the inning going after finding the gap in right center for a two-RBI double to increase their lead to four. Lovie Lopez followed with another double to send Everett home and give the Beavers a 5-0 lead.

A slight rain delay in the top of the six had no effect on the Beavers, as they put the Utes down in order again. Utah put a pair of runners on base in the final inning via a walk and single, but a diving play by Kayleen Shafer ended the game in "Top-10" fashion.

Four Beavers recorded multiple hits in the win as Alysha Everett paced the squad with two RBIs. Cotton picked up her 12th win of the season after throwing her seventh shutout. The lefty allowed just one hit in the 27 batters faced. Oregon State (26-22, 7-12 Pac-12) will continue its final home series tomorrow at 1:00 p.m., against Utah.