Timing Can Be Everything and Cowboy Baseball and Cowgirl Softball Timed Sweeps Right
STILLWATER – There have been rough spots this season on both the diamonds. A few more for Oklahoma State in baseball, but softball has had some strife too. As the seasons wind down and on the road this weekend in Texas, both teams gathered some late season momentum. On the softball diamond, the No. 17 Cowgirls are scorching hot having won five in a row and 13-of-15 including four wins over top 25 teams and two over top four teams. The Cowboys really needed to get on a roll and they did this weekend in Lubbock, sweeping a longtime baseball rival in Texas Tech. The Cowboys closed out the series on Sunday with a dominating 11-2 win and a top notch pitching performance by Brennan Phillips.
The Sunday win crowned the weekend that also included a 16-6 run rule win on Friday and a bizarre ending to the 9-8 win on Saturday where a Texas Tech asked for review ended up resulting in an interference call and the end of the game.
Lets start with Phillips, the senior lefthander from Owasso. He’s had so much promise but has struggled, however this sun-splashed Sunday in Lubbock was maybe his “Best Day” the title of a George Strait hit and it was the country singer that played concerts in AT&T Jones Stadium the past two nights. Phillips got the win on the mound and went to 3-2 this season, as he tossed a career-high 8 1/3 innings and struck out six while allowing just two runs on seven hits.
Phillips' previous career high for innings pitched was six against Texas Tech in the 2023 Big 12 Championship, and he had not pitched more than 4 2/3 innings in a game this season, that coming in his outing last week against Kansas.
Coupled with the midweek win over Wichita State that makes four-wins in a row and ties the second longest win streak this season.
Alex Conover continued his scorching hitting, going 4-for-6 with two doubles and a homer, while Garrett Shull, Sebastian Norman and Colin Brueggemann also homered for the Pokes.
The Cowboys have 11 games left and six of those, Big 12 series with TCU next weekend and Arizona on May 14-16 are at home. The Cowboys are now 28-16 overall and 11-10 in Big 12 play, the first time this season they have been above .500 in conference play.
For the week, the Cowgirls have won all four games on a final road trip in Texas. They shut out the No. 4 Longhorns on Wednesday and then swept Baylor closing out the series with a dominating 8-1 win on Sunday.
The seried featured a come from behind Friday night 4-2 win, a three-pitcher game on Saturday winning 9-1 in six innings, and finally the brooms out on Sunday.
Ruby Meylan (23-6) delivered another dominant performance, notching her 17th complete game of the season. She allowed one earned run on five hits, walked one and worked efficiently through high-pressure situations. She also got some nifty defensive help in the contest. The win was her 16th straight winning decision and her eighth consecutive complete game victory.
Her roommate, Lexi McDonald had a career day with her most hits in one game, going 4-for-4 with a run scored.
Oklahoma State broke open a 2-1 game in the top of the seventh inning. With the bases loaded, Tia Warsop delivered an RBI single to extend the lead. Montgomery Henderson followed with an RBI single, and Aubrey Jones added a two-run double to left-center field. Claire Timm capped the inning with a two-run single to center field that pushed the advantage to 8-1.
The Cowgirls, now 34-13 and 14-7 in the Big 12 come home to host Tulsa on Wednesday and then Kansas for the weekend to close out the regular season. The Big 12 Tournament begins on May 7 in Oklahoma City.
