OSU Softball: Cowgirls Cruise Past Arizona in Game 1 of Super Regional

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STILLWATER — The Wildcats entered the Stillwater Super Regional as one of the top offensive teams in the country, but that didn’t seem to bother Lexi Kilfoyl.

Oklahoma State routed Arizona 8-0 in five innings on Friday night in Cowgirl Stadium. The win means the Cowgirls are just a win away from a fifth straight Women’s College World Series appearance.

“Obviously from our perspective, just a really complete game,” OSU coach Kenny Gajewski said. “I walked in our facility here today, we’ve got some recruits here, and I just couldn’t believe how loose our facility was. It was crazy awesome. I don’t know that I could’ve drawn it up that we were going to run rule a good Arizona team, but I just liked what I saw right when I walked in here today. Credit these guys. These guys just love each other. They’re having a blast. They’re obviously playing well.”

Arizona entered the weekend ranked 13th nationally in scoring (6.31 runs a game) and team batting average (.331), but the once-blue blood Wildcats didn’t score a run and hit just .167 against Kilfoyl. Kilfoyl finished Friday’s game having pitched all five innings, allowing three hits while striking out three and walking one.

Kilfoyl threw 19 of the 21 innings the Cowgirls played in their Regional last weekend. Gajewski said they hadn’t discussed who would pitch Game 2 but stressed that Ivy Rosenberry needed to throw because the Cowgirls would need more than one arm in Oklahoma City should they close out this Super Regional.

“Lexi’s a horse — she is what it is,” Gajewski said. “She’s the example of what an ace is, and she’s not giving the ball up. I know that. We talked about maybe making a move, and I was like, ‘Let’s just finish this thing off.’ It’s cool out. She’s had the whole week off. She takes care of herself. She’s very self aware of her body and what goes in there and how to take care of it.”

On top of Kilfoyl’s normal dominance, the Cowgirl bats feasted on a rotating door of pitching. The Wildcats used three pitchers in the five innings, and OSU hit three home runs off them. The round-trippers didn’t start flowing until the third inning when OSU had already built a 2-0 lead.

Freshman Karli Godwin got the home run parade started with a launch to left in the bottom of the third. It was her 15th home run of the season as she builds on her program record for home runs hit by a freshman.

Karli Krush.

Her 1⃣5⃣th of the year got out QUICK to extend our lead to three 📈#GoPokes | @karligodwin2 https://t.co/kqHqjhdUSS pic.twitter.com/v38sEchNcs

— OSU Cowgirl Softball (@cowgirlsb) May 25, 2024

The solo shot was Godwin’s second RBI of the day, as she singled up the middle in the first inning that scored Tallen Edwards. Then Godwin got hit by a pitch in the fourth with the bases loaded, drawing a third RBI. She finished the day 2-for-2 with those three RBIs and a run scored. She’s now hitting .354 in her freshman season.

This game got out of hand in the fourth. The bottom of the inning started with Claire Timm clearing the deck beyond the fence in right-center field. It was Timm’s ninth home run of the season, as the Cowgirls are threatening to getting a fifth player with double-digit dingers.

Micaela Wark was next at the plate, and she sent a 3-1 count over the fence in left-center. Battling through injuries to both knees, Wark went 2-for-2 Friday.

Back to back like we’re Jordan ’96 ’97, woah 🤷‍♀️#GoPokes | #REP pic.twitter.com/oJqwiPrWxO

— OSU Cowgirl Softball (@cowgirlsb) May 25, 2024

The Cowgirls were done hitting home runs there, but the scoring didn’t stop. Lexi McDonald followed Wark’s home run with a double down the right-field line. Scotland David came in to pinch run for McDonald and advanced to third on a wild pitch.

Megan Bloodworth, OSU’s nine-hole hitter, then lifted a ball to left, scoring David with a sac fly. Jilyen Poullard and Tallen Edwards then drew back-to-back walks before Caroline Wang singled to center to load the bases before Godwin got hit by the pitch to score Poullard.

Rosie Davis then put the run rule in play with a ground ball to third. Arizona third baseman Blaise Biringer stepped on her bag instead of throwing to the force out at home, which allowed Edwards to score and give the Cowgirls the eight runs they needed to enact the run rule.

But they still had to get three outs.

Kilfoyl forced a groundout to start the fifth inning before a rare walk. Another groundout advanced the walked runner to second before she advanced to third on an infield single.

Pitching coach Carrie Eberle went out to have a chat with Kilfoyl, and Gajewski talked to his infielders. Six pitches later, Arizona grounded a ball to Davis at second, who flipped the ball to Bloodworth covering second base to end the game.

Inclement weather is forecasted for Saturday evening in Stillwater, but as of writing, Game 2 is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. in Cowgirl Stadium. The game is set to be televised on ESPN2.

Postgame News Conference