Cowgirls Play Sloppy, but still Earn Championship Opportunity

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oddly enough with the tiebreakers in pool play in the Big 12 Tournament the Oklahoma State Cowgirls could have gone quietly in the top of the seventh inning trailing 3-1 and they would have qualified for the championship game in the Big 12 Tournament. The first tiebreaker was runs allowed and OSU held 2-run edge at that point over Texas, who they had beaten earlier in the day 3-2. That is not the Cowgirls style, so they blew up Iowa State pitcher Ellie Spelhaug with back to back home runs and five runs in going on to a 6-5 win.

The Cowgirls (42-8) will now play in the Big 12 Championship Game  against top seed Oklahoma at 3 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday) at OGE Softball Hall of Fame Stadium.

Trailing 3-1 in the top of the seventh, Chyenne Factor hit a one-out fly ball to right field with Avery Hobson on third and Chelsea Alexander on first. It was really a simple fly ball to Milaysia Ochoa, who earlier in the top of the fifth reached over the wall with her glove and robbed the Cowgirls Alysen Febrey of a home run. This time the sun and some stumbles by Ochoa led to a Fact and two ror winding up on third with what was scored a triple. Two runs scored on the triple as Hobson and Alexander came home to tie the game 3-3.

The next hitter was Febrey and she went the other way this time with a blast that went way out in leftfield and the two-run homer, her 15th of the season made the score 5-3.

Insult to injury as Hayley Busby was next and she did go to right field and Ochoa had no chance at this “way out” blast for back-to-back home runs. It was Busby’s team leading 17th home run or “Buzz bomb” and Oklahoma State led 6-3.

The bottom of the seventh was not easy as Logan Simunek couldn’t get through the inning anywhere close to clean as Iowa State had a double and three singles to score two runs. Simunek pitched behind in the count to every hitter. She had to be pulled and first game starter Kelly Maxwell had to come in. Maxwell had to work with two Cyclones on base when she struck out Logan Schaben.

The Cowgirls seemed to labor through the game as Big 12 Pitcher of the Year Carrie Eberle was not sharp. Third baseman Sydney Pennington started the scoring with a home run in the top of the second inning. Iowa State’s leading power hitter in shortstop Sami Williams had two home runs. The first in the bottom of the third tied the game. The second in the bottom of the fifth gave the Cyclones a 2-1 lead.

Oklahoma State got into a mess again in the bottom of the sixth and Iowa State with runners on the corner and a little used freshman pinch hitting used a double steal to score a run and look like they had insurance at 3-1.

It turned out that the game was far from over for both sides with seven runs scored in the final frame. It was a lucky seven for Oklahoma State. The Cowgirls had six runs on nine hits and one error. Iowa State had five runs on 10 hits and a error.

Again, Cowgirls Saturday at three for the championship against OU.