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Oklahoma State Softball

OSU Softball Grinds Out Game 3 Win Over Texas to Advance to Women's College World Series

May 30, 2021
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STILLWATER – Oklahoma State softball is headed back to Oklahoma City and the Women’s College World Series as the Cowgirls beat the No. 12 seed Texas 2-0 in game three of the Stillwater Super Regional.

 It marks the first time since the 1993 and 1994 seasons the Cowgirls have made back-to-back appearances in Oklahoma City.

The Cowgirls move to 47-10 on the season and 6-1 over the Longhorns this season. They’ll face Georgia in the opening round of the WCWS on Thursday at 1 p.m. CT on ESPN.

“Man, just hard fought,” said head coach Kenny Gajewski before getting emotional. “Hard fought game, two really good teams, two really good, storied programs. Kind of sucks that we got to play each other and knock one of us out. I think watching both these two teams play you can tell we’re both good enough to be in OKC. So, credit to them and their staff, really good preparation. I thought [they] did a great job attacking us. In the end, we just got one more good hit, one more clutch hit and that’s what really good teams do. I’m just really proud of this program, I’m really happy for our fans, our school, our department, it’s really neat. I just get emotional, it’s a part of who I am, these kids on both sides just worked so hard and I’m lucky to be a part of this and excited to see what’s next. It’s going to be a grind like it was all weekend here, like it was all year, but just excited for these kids.”

Carrie Eberle was electric from the circle on Sunday as she threw a 103-pitch complete game giving up just four hits with three strikeouts and one walk.

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On the other side of the field, Texas pitcher Shea O’Leary was just as dominate, but the Cowgirls got hot in the bottom half of the fifth.

It was a pitching duel from start to finish as both teams combined for just three hits through the first four innings. With one out in the top of the fifth, the Longhorns’ Camille Corona put a grounder up the middle to get on first to bring leadoff speedster Janae Jefferson up, who hit a shot towards shortstop. However, Cowgirl Kiley Naomi snagged it to complete the double-play to get Carrie Eberle out of the inning unscathed.

Sydney Pennington led the bottom half of the fifth off with a walk, bringing lefty Karli Petty up with no outs. It was a scary moment though for Petty as she was hit in the back of the head but made her way down to first under her own power and was laughing with the coaching staff after getting checked on. Reagan Wright was the first out of the inning after sac bunt that advanced the runners to second and third.

Enter Avery Hobson. She slapped a single up the middle of the infield to score pinch runner Maci Cunconan from third for the first score of the game. Hobson was thrown out trying to steal second on the next play, but Chelsea Alexander laid down a perfect bunt down the first base line with two outs to score Petty from third putting the Cowgirls up 2-0.

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The hitting would continue with a fly ball from Naomi that fell in front of a diving Lauren Burke, advancing Alexander to third and putting Naomi on second. Jordan Doggett would end the threat and the inning with a ground out to second.

“It was a grind, but we knew that we could pull it out if we just kept that energy on our side,” said Kiley Naomi. “Carrie [Eberle] pitched a great game; we had defense behind her and knew that if we’d play defense, we’d scores some runs. I’d take that game all day.”

In the top half of the seventh inning and needing just three outs, Eberle threw a flyout for the first out, but Texas’ Iakopo hit a grounder up the middle to the wall for a standup double, the first extra base hit of the day for the Horns. Eberle threw a ground out to short for the second out of the inning and a flyout to left field to end the game to send the Cowgirls to the WCWS for the 11th time in program history.

 
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