Oklahoma State Spilts First Day of Clearwater Invitational, Beats Georgia and Loses to LSU
It was a 50/50 day down in Clearwater, Florida, for Oklahoma State softball as the Cowgirls beat No. 17 Georgia 6-5 in game one, before falling to No. 10 LSU 9-4 in game two of the Clearwater Invitational.
The Cowgirls are now 4-2 overall on the season and will kick the second day off against Texas A&M at 9 a.m. on Friday.
Oklahoma State athletics media relations generated the game stories below.
Game one:
The Cowgirls held a 6-0 lead after five innings before Georgia scored three runs in the sixth and two runs in the seventh. The Bulldogs had the potential tying run on second base before Ruby Meylan got Marisa Miller to ground out to short to end the game.
OSU opened the scoring on a double-steal in the first inning. Jayelle Austin came home from third when Miller tried to throw Tia Warsop out stealing second. An RBI single from Melina Wilkison in the second inning extended the lead to 2-0.
Amanda Hasler created further separation with a three-run home run in the fifth inning that brought the score to 5-0. It was her first homer of the season. Warsop added the game-winning RBI in the sixth inning with a single that scored Wilkison from third.
Georgia mounted a furious rally fueled by seven hits over the next two innings, five of which went for extra bases.
OSU starter RyLee Crandall improved to 2-0 by holding the Bulldogs scoreless through four innings. Meylan came on in relief and was credited with her first save of the season. Maddie Johnson (0-1) took the loss for Georgia.
Offensively, Warsop went 2-for-3 with a walk, a run scored and the game-winning RBI. An additional five Cowgirls had hits in the contest, headlined by Hasler's three-run homer.
Keirstin Roose, Delani Sullivan, Tyler Ellison, Sarah Gordon and Emily Digby all had multi-hit games for the Bulldogs, with Ellison adding a two-run home run.
Game two:
Trailing by five, OSU got on the board in the fourth thanks to a two-run single by Amanda Hasler. Melina Wilkison hit into a run-scoring fielder's choice in the sixth to trim the deficit to 5-3.
Cowgirl left fielder Tia Warsop gunned down Destiny Harris at the plate with nobody out in the seventh inning to keep the Pokes within striking distance, but an RBI triple off the bat of Sierra Daniel in the next at-bat swung the momentum back in favor of LSU, which went on to add four runs in the inning to put the game out of reach.
An RBI double from Jayelle Austin with two out in the seventh capped the scoring.
Cece Cellura (2-0) picked up the win for LSU, with Ruby Meylan (1-2) going 6.1 innings in defeat for the Cowgirls.
Austin went 2-for-3 with a double, a walk and an RBI and Karli Godwin went 2-for-3 with a double and run scored for OSU. Tori Edwards led the way for the Tigers by going 3-for-4 with a home run, three RBIs, two runs scored and a stolen base.
