Three Takeaways from OSU Softball’s 5-0 Weekend at the OSU/Tulsa Invitational

Kenny Gajewski’s Cowgirl softball team has pulled off its third straight unbeaten weekend, and the Cowgirls are on a 16-game winning streak.

Oklahoma State went 5-0 at the OSU/Tulsa Invitational this weekend at Cowgirl Stadium. Here are three takeaways.

Game 1: Oklahoma State 6, Missouri 3
Game 2: Oklahoma State 9, Maine 0 (five innings)
Game 3: Oklahoma State 4, South Dakota State 0
Game 4: Oklahoma State 11, Tarleton State 2 (five innings)
Game 5: Oklahoma State 6, South Dakota State 0

1. Pitching Depth

Kelly Maxwell is good at softball, anyone with a pulse knows that, but the Cowgirls had some solid contributions outside of their ace this weekend.

Gajewski started a different pitcher for the first four games, and this is how it went:

Game 1: Maxwell — seven innings pitched, three runs, three hits, two walks, 12 strikeouts
Game 2: Lexi Kilfoyl — five innings pitched, no runs, no hits, two walks, 11 strikeouts
Game 3: Kyra Aycock — seven innings pitched, no runs, six hits, one walk, eight strikeouts
Game 4: Ivy Rosenberry — five innings pitched, two runs, six hits, one walk, two strikeouts

After those four complete-game performances, Kilfoyl and Maxwell divided up game five, combining to allow no runs off two hits while walking two and striking out eight.

On the season now, Maxwell and Kilfoyl each have 1.67 ERAs. Maxwell has 77 strikeouts. Kilfoyl has 31.

Behind the Cowgirls’ one-two punch, Aycock has a 2.26 ERA, and Rosenberry has a 2.45 ERA. It’s a deep group.

2. Have a Weekend, Micaela Wark

A transfer from Kansas, Micaela Wark went off this weekend, going 9-for-13 (.692) at the plate with nine RBIs and four runs scored.

The only game she didn’t get a hit in was against South Dakota State on Saturday before she went 3-for-3 against the same team Sunday.

On the year, Wark is hitting .465 with four home runs, 20 RBIs and 12 runs scored. Her slugging percentage of .814 is tops among Cowgirls with at least 20 at-bats.

3. Becker Still Going Bonkers

After failing to get a hit in her Cowgirl debut, Purdue transfer Rachel Becker is now on an 18-game hit streak.

She went 6-for-12 on the weekend, scoring seven runs and driving in another. This weekend somehow worsened her season batting average. She is hitting .560 on the season, which is frankly ridiculous.

As of writing, the NCAA hasn’t updated softball stats from the weekend, but through March 2, Becker’s batting averaged ranked fourth nationally and tops among Power Five players.