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OSU Softball: Cowgirls Split Friday in Clearwater, Fall to No. 4 UCLA, Rally to Beat No. 23 Kentucky

The Cowgirls’ bats came to life against Kentucky, and then Ruby Meylan retired all nine of the batters she faced.

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1 year ago

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[Devin Wilber/PFB]

No. 9 Oklahoma State split the first two games in the Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational, falling to No. 4 UCLA before rallying to beat No. 23 Kentucky in the second game of a double-header.

UCLA 6, OSU 4

BOXSCORE

In Game 1, the Cowgirls fell 6-4 to a No. 4 UCLA team that came in white-hot. Although it may come as little consolation, the Bruins had run-ruled their first four opponents this season.

The Cowgirls started hot, scoring two in the first thanks to a Claire Timm RBI triple and then a Karli Godwin single that sent Timm across the plate.

The Bruins answered with three runs in the bottom of the first, one in the fourth and two in the fifth to take a 6-2 lead. But the Cowgirls weren’t phoning it in. Rosie Davis pulled them within 6-4 with a two-run homer in the top of the sixth. Stay tuned for more from Davis.

UCLA closer Taylor Tinsley kept the Cowgirls from the comeback, logging both her strikeouts in the seventh before Timm flied out to end it.

Cowgirls’ pitcher RyLee Crandall took the L but only lasted two-thirds of an inning before UCLA had those three runs. Former Washington transfer Ruby Meylan pitched five and a third innings, allowing eight hits and a walk but striking out three.

OSU 6, UK 3

BOXSCORE

In Game 2, the Cowgirls squared off against No. 23 Kentucky, fell behind early but then flipped the game with their bats before Meylan was called back into action. On her second outing of the day she was almost perfect.

Both teams got on the board in the third with the Cowgirls breaking the seal with an RBI single by Megan Delgadillo. But the Wildcats answered with a three-run third, all unearned. The Cowgirls had fielding error and a run score on a wild pitch.

The Cowgirls left two stranded in the top of the fourth when UK’s freshman pitcher Julie Kelley got out of a jam, and struck out three Cowgirls, but Katie Kutz answered with a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the fourth.

The Cowgirls’ bats flipped the game in the fifth.

Davis cranked another two-run homer over the left-field fence to knot it up at 3 with just one out.

A couple pitches later, Godwin smacked a double off that same fence, which effectively retired Kelley. Wildcats’ pitcher Sydney Langdon spelled Kelley and immediately up a two-run homer to Micaela Wark on her second pitch. The Cowgirls came into the fifth down two and left with a 5-3 lead.

OSU was then able to squeeze a little more blood from the stone that was the sixth inning. Credit Delgadillo.

A flyout and a groundout brought Delgadillo to the plate with two outs. She stayed alive through eight pitches to single, then stole second before Davis walked. Then a wild pitch sent both Delgadillo and Davis into scoring position. Godwin walked to load the bases with two outs, and then Wark sent one done the third-base line the bounced off a defender’s glove, allowing Delgadillo to score and push it to 6-3.

That run brought on another pitching change for the Wildcats. Enter Alexia Lacatena who pitched five innings in Kentucky’s win over Clemson earlier in the day. She threw three straight strikes to retire Rachel Hathoot, strand three Cowgirls and avoid OSU blowing the thing open. Lacatena did her part, striking out three Cowgirls and walking one in one and a third inning.

Speaking of arms, the Cowgirls have a pretty good one in Meylan. She replaced Kutz in the circle after the sophomore allowed a 3-0 walk to start the bottom of the fifth. Kutz finished the game pitching four innings, allowing three hits and three runs. She walked three and struck out two, and she had that wild-pitch score.

Meylan was nails in the save, turning in three 1-2-3 innings and striking out five Wildcats. With the Cowgirls up 6-3 in the bottom of the seventh, she went K-swinging, flyout, K-swinging.

The victory is already the Cowgirls’ second ranked win. They split a pair of games with then-No. 9 Florida State coming out of the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge 2-2. They head into Saturday 3-3 with a quick turnaround before a consecutive double-header, including another ranked foe.

The Cowgirls won’t have long to celebrate this win as the Kentucky win ends just over 13 hours before they have to reconvene on the diamond. They’ll face Texas A&M at 9 a.m. Saturday and then No. 5 Auburn at 3 p.m.

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