OSU Softball: Cowgirls Drop Big 12 Tournament Opener to Arizona State

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OKLAHOMA CITY — The Cowgirls’ first game of the Big 12 tournament featured two pitchers who made the All-Big 12 First Team earlier this week, so it shouldn’t have been a surprise that Thursday’s matchup was a low-scoring affair.

Arizona State beat Oklahoma State 2-1 at Devon Park, marking the third straight year the Cowgirls dropped their first game in the conference tournament after winning the event in 2022. The loss also likely means that Cowgirls won’t host an NCAA Regional for the first time since 2018.

It was Ruby Meylan vs. Kenzie Brown in a battle of unanimously selected all-conference pitchers.

Meylan was excellent despite suffering the loss. She went the full seven, giving up the two runs on four hits while walking two and striking out four. Along with her pitching, Meylan made some solid plays in the field, finishing with three assisted outs which tied a season-high.

P 🗣️F 🗣️P 🗣️#GoPokes | @rubymeylan pic.twitter.com/JR61RNjJuK

— OSU Cowgirl Softball (@cowgirlsb) May 8, 2025

Brown, a Tulsa transfer, was equal to the task, throwing the complete game while giving up the run on three hits while walking five and striking out 13. Brown had a gnarly off-speed pitch that was freezing Cowgirl batters all day.

“They picked it and still couldn’t hit it,” ASU catcher Samantha Swan said. “Like they were calling it every time she threw it, and they still couldn’t hit it.”

Neither team recorded a hit through the first three innings, but the first hit of the day put a run on the board.

Swan put the first pitch of the fourth inning over the left-field fence. The solo shot was just her second round-tripper of the season.

The Cowgirls responded in the fifth. Megan Bloodworth doubled before Rosie Davis, clutch as ever, ripped a grounder to third that Takyla Davis couldn’t handle. The ball ended up in shallow left, and Bloodworth scored.

WHO ELSE BUT OUR RBI QUEEN 👑

TIE GAME. #GoPokes | @_RoseDavis2023 pic.twitter.com/4zuCynLguc

— OSU Cowgirl Softball (@cowgirlsb) May 8, 2025

The rest of that inning would come back to bite OSU, though. OSU had the bases loaded with one out after Amanda Hasler was hit by a pitch, but consecutive strikeouts left the bases loaded. OSU stranded seven runners in the game and was 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. OSU’s offense finished 3-for-22 at the plate with Davis, Bloodworth and Edwards recording the hits. Edwards and Bloodworth were the only Cowgirl batters who didn’t strike out at least once.

“We had our chances, we just didn’t execute,” OSU coach Kenny Gajewski said. “We had chances to execute — we didn’t execute. It’s been kind of the story of our season up to this point, so it’s frustrating. I know this team is frustrated. These guys just continue to work their tails off. We’ve just got to find a way to get over the hump.”

The Sun Devils instantly took advantage of that. Swan came up again to start the sixth and hit a ball to the fence in center, resulting in a double. A sac bunt moved the runner over and a sac fly scored what would be the game-winning run after the Cowgirls went three up, three down in the bottom of the seventh.

So, OSU enters the NCAA tournament at 33-18 on the season. From here, they’ll go on a team retreat and await Sunday’s selection show to find out where they’ll be headed for a Regional next weekend.

“I just hold out good thoughts,” Gajewski said. “I think this team is capable of really playing well, and we just haven’t yet. I’m not gonna give up on them. That’d be unfair to them and unfair to the people who have come before them. These guys can do this. We just gotta find the way to make it happen.”