Oklahoma State's Season Ends One Game Short of WCWS Semifinals With 3-1 Loss to Tennessee

Sixth-seeded Oklahoma State softball’s season came to an end one game shy of making a second-straight semifinals appearance as they fall to fourth-seeded Tennessee, 3-1.

With the loss, the Cowgirls finish the 2023 season with a 47-16 overall record.

Teams are now 9-1 in this year’s WCWS after scoring the first run of the game.

“First off, congratulations to Tennessee; they have a really good ball club and was great competing against them the right way,” said head coach Kenny Gajewski. “Karen, what she's done with her staff and that team, very impressed with what they've done. They've had a great year up to this point and wish them all the very best. I'm so proud of this team, what they've done, what they continue to do. I'm just so proud of what these kids have continued to do here at OSU. They raised the bar again. We fell short, and that part hurts. That's what we're going to do. We're just going to keep kicking the shins of our opponents, and we'll eventually break this door down, and we'll look back to teams like this. I call them team eight. We've had many more teams here at OSU, but this is my eighth team. I couldn't be more proud of these kids and what they've done. I'm honored to coach them. I'm honored to have this job, and I'm just thankful. We'll take some time and regroup to figure out how we can improve, and we'll be back. We'll be right back here next year and make another run.”

Kelly Maxwell got the start in the circle for the Cowgirls but lasted only into the second inning as she gave up three hits and two earned runs with three strikeouts and two walks. With the loss, she finished her season with a 16-6 overall record.

Lexi Kilfoyl went 3.2 innings, giving up no hits with two strikeouts, but recorded three walks and gave up a run.

“I feel like my job in that moment is just to get out of the inning and try and go back with and stop runs from happening,” said Lexi Kilfoyl. “In that moment, I was just trusting my defense because they're everywhere. They're always going to be everywhere. Just going in there, I knew that they were going to have my back, and they did.”

Freshman Tallen Edwards finished the game as the only multi-hit Cowgirl, going 2-for-3 with one double

It was Tennessee who got on the board first as it was an RBI double from Zaida Puni and scoring Kiki Milloy from second following a stolen base from Milloy. West hit a double up the left side to score Mesusan to go up 2-0.

With runners on second and third with just one out in the bottom of the third, Lexi Kilfoyl came into the game and loaded the bases with four-straight balls. She recorded a force out at home for the second out and then fielded a ground ball to record a critical third out to strand three runners and limit the damage to just two runs.

Following a single to left by Micaela Wark, the Cowgirls had a chance to get on the board in the top of the fourth inning. With two outs, Tallen Edwards doubled into right field to advance Wark from first. Coach Gajewski attempted to hold Wark up at third, who was thrown out at home as she attempted to score from first. After the call at the plate, Gajewski immediately ran home to call for a review of a possible obstruction call. However, in what might be the fastest review call of the postseason, the third out was upheld.

Tennessee put another run on the board in the bottom of the fifth on a throwing error on Taylor Tuck, just the second error of her career, but it also marked the third error for the Cowgirls in this game.

Morgyn Wynne out the Cowgirls on the board with two outs in the top of the sixth with a monster home run over the bleachers in left field, marking her fifth extra base hit of the NCAA tournament, making it a 3-1 game.

The Cowgirls weren’t able to build upon Wynne’s homer as Katelynn Carwile recorded her third strikeout of the game to end the inning.

It all came down to the top of the seventh inning for the Cowgirls. Trailing 3-1, Wark hit a hot shot to shortstop, but was thrown out at first for the first out. Tallen Edwards was the second out as she hit a fly ball which was caught in foul territory and Tuck struck out looking for the third and final out of the game.