OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – Oklahoma State fights for their Women’s College World Series lives as a team tonight at 8:30 CT against Utah in the 2023 Women’s College World Series. Washington beat Utah 4-1 in the first game on Friday. A win Friday night and the Cowgirls live on to play the loser of the Saturday winner’s bracket game between top-ranked and Bedlam rival Oklahoma and Tennessee. A loss and the Cowgirls will watch the rest of the WCWS on television or streaming on their favorite device. That is the aftermath of the weather plagued 8-0 run-rule loss to Florida State in their opening game on Thursday night.
“We didn't play well in any facet of the game,” Gajewski said in the postgame news conference. “We didn't pitch well. We didn't play good catch. We didn't get enough good at-bats. I thought that (Kathryn) Sandercock's stuff was electric, made it really hard on us. So we got to bounce back.”
Unfortunately, after striking out the first two hitters OSU All-American pitcher Kelly Maxwell gave up a walk and on the first pitch to catcher Michaela Edenfield gave up a monster home run to centerfield for a 2-0 deficit. Maxwell scuffled around in the second and honestly looked like she did in the Big 12 Tournament opening loss to Kansas. When the delay came in the top of the third, Gajewski had made up his mind.
“Yeah, it was an easy one to be very honest. As the delay got longer, Kelly, her history, we know her history very well,” Gajewski explained. “The more she sits, it doesn't usually work out in her favor.”
He and his staff decided to go with Kyra Aycock. The freshman is talented but had only pitched one inning in NCAA play and this was a big stage.Gajewski told ESPN’s Holly Rowe who he was coming with after the rain delay. It came after the top of the third finished. There was one out with the rain delay and when they came back Rachel Becker struck out for out number two. Chyenne Factor walked and then Kiley Naomi got the best hit the Cowgirls would get on the night.
“So I saw the ball go high, so I didn't know if she was going to be able to catch it or not,” Naomi said of second baseman Devyn Flaherty taking the throw from centerfielder Jhani Kerr. “I made an error not knowing that there was two outs after Rachel's strike-out. I was frustrated with myself there, too, because after that rain delay, I didn't even check the scoreboard. Yeah, I just thought it was going to go over her head. She made a really good play. She had to put a good tag on it, as well.”
Tagged her hard right in the face and Flaherty kept on running to the FSU dugout.
That sequence cemented Gajewski’s pitching decision. It was just 2-0 at that point but with Sandercock pitching, Oklahoma State was in a bad spot. I believe Gajewski thought he’d go with the freshman and keep ace Lexi Kilfoyl fresh for the role of saving the Cowgirls tournament presence on Friday night.
“We didn't like the momentum that we didn't have, and felt like, ‘Hey, let's get a change-up here, let's get Kyra in there.’ You know, as far as Kyra goes, she's thrown one inning in the last two weeks,” Gajewski said of Aycock. “That's not enough. She's a kid that the more she throws, the better that she'll be. Trying to be back here every year. To do that, I got to get these kids experience. We felt like it was the best move for our team at that time.”
I understand that more as I look back on it. If Kilfoyl comes out and silences the Utes bats to keep OSU in OKC then that decision from the opener will look even better.
