Oklahoma State University Athletics
Softball Set to Battle Arizona
June 21, 1999 | Cowgirl Softball
May 20, 1998
First Round * Women's College World Series May 21-25, 1998 * ASA/Hall of Fame Stadium Oklahoma City, Okla.
Probable Starting Lineup
No.Name Position Class Statistics 15 Kristi Bolle 3B Sr .296 avg, 55 hits, 25 RBI 5 Casey Acree CF Jr .250 avg, 22 hits, 11 runs 23 Jaime Foutch 1B Jr .417 avg, 73 hits, 35 runs 44 Shannon Sullivan SS Jr .315 avg, 46 hits, 25 RBI 33 Michelle Singer DP Jr .306 avg, 6 2B, 3 HR 18 Melissa Turley 2B Jr .233 avg, 34 hits, 14 runs 27 Liz Silva C So .151 avg, 3 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR 25 Katie Wise RF Jr .227 avg, 25 hits, 4 2B 10 Kristine Garcia LF Jr .176 avg, 16 hits, 12 runs
On the Mound
No.Name Class W-L Statistics 11 Jenn Markert Sr. 14-4 0.86 ERA, 159 K's, 114.1 IP 20 Amy Lopez So. 11-6 1.19 ERA, 82 K's, 129.0 IP 27 Leanne Tyler Sr. 12-6 1.51 ERA, 89 K's, 111.1 IP
COWGIRLS RETURN TO WCWS
Oklahoma State (40-17) makes its sixth appearance at the Women's College World Series this weekend, and first since 1994. The Cowgirls will face top-seeded Arizona in the first round of the tournament on Thursday at 12 p.m. at ASA/Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City. OSU has now reached the 40-victory plateau for the second consecutive season and the ninth time in school history. Oklahoma State advanced to the WCWS by defeating Stanford 4-0 in the championship game of the regional tournament Sunday afternoon in Stillwater.
QUICKLY
Oklahoma State is in its 24th season of collegiate fastpitch softball, and has an overall all-time record of 892-337-3 (.725)...OSU has won nine conference championships, seven regional titles and made five Women's College World Series' appearances since 1982...Seniors Kristi Bolle and Leanne Tyler were both selected in the second round of the Women's Professional Fastpitch League draft last December. Bolle was drafted by the Tampa Bay Firestix, while Tyler was chosen by the Carolina Diamonds...Oklahoma State has had 22 Cowgirls named All- American 27 times, including two-time third-team All-American Jaime Foutch.
ROAD TO THE WORLD SERIES
Oklahoma State shut out three quality opponents last weekend as the Cowgirls swept through the winners' bracket at the NCAA Regional Softball Championship in Stillwater. In the first round, OSU hurler Jenn Markert threw a no-hitter, the second of her career, as the Cowgirls defeated 14th-ranked Florida State 4-0. On Saturday vs. Southwest Missouri State, pitcher Leanne Tyler scattered three hits and struck out 10 batters as OSU defeated the Bears 4-0. In the championship game vs. ninth-ranked Stanford, Amy Lopez threw a four-hitter and junior Jaime Foutch hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth as the Cowgirls advanced by a score of, you guessed it, 4-0. Foutch, Tyler, second baseman Melissa Turley, and third baseman Kristi Bolle were named to the all-tournament team, and Markert was named the Most Outstanding Player.
FOUR COWGIRLS NAMED ALL-REGION
Oklahoma State had four players named to the 1998 All-Midwest Region team, it was announced Thursday. The first-team members will be eligible for All-America honors, which will be announced at the Women's College World Series next week in Oklahoma City. OSU's first-team honorees were Kristi Bolle at third base and Jaime Foutch at first base. Second-team members from Oklahoma State were Jenn Markert at pitcher and Michelle Singer at designated player. Bolle and Foutch become the 28th and 29th Cowgirls to be named first team all-region.
FIVE COWGIRLS NAMED ALL-CONFERENCE
Oklahoma State had five players named All-Big 12, including three first teamers. Kristi Bolle (3B), Jaime Foutch (1B) and Jenn Markert (P) were all named to the first team. Shannon Sullivan (SS) and Michelle Singer (DP) were both second-team members. That brings the total number of Cowgirls named all-conference to 95, including 56 first-team members. OSU has had 17 players named all-conference since the inception of the Big 12, including 11 first teamers. Jaime Foutch was honored as a first-team member for the third consecutive year, while Kristi Bolle earned her second award. Jenn Markert was a second-team member in 1997. Casey Acree was named to the Big 12 Conference's All-Tournament team.
FOUR NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-CONFERENCE
Oklahoma State had four additional players named Academic All-Big 12. Shannon Sullivan (junior, education) and Michelle Singer (junior, sociology) were both named first team and were also second-team All-Big 12. Katie Wise (junior, civil engineering) earned first-team academic honors for the second consecutive season. Jennifer Olival (sophomore, management) was named to the honor roll of the Big 12 team.
OSU IN THE WCWS
Oklahoma State has made five appearances in the Women's College World Series, the most recent being in 1994, when OSU finished third at the tournament. The Cowgirls have tied for third three times (1989, 1990 and 1993), and tied for seventh once in 1982. This appearance will be OSU's fourth since 1990, trailing only Arizona (9), UCLA (8) and Fresno State (6) in number of appearances in the 90's. OSU has a 9-10 overall record at the College World Series. Here is a look at OSU's year-by-year in the WCWS...
Year W/L Score Opponent Location 1982 L 1-2 UCLA Omaha, Neb. 1982 L 0-1 Fresno State Omaha, Neb.1989 W 3-1 Toledo Sunnyvale, Calif. 1989 W 4-0 Arizona Sunnyvale, Calif. 1989 L 1-2 UCLA Sunnyvale, Calif. 1989 L 0-7 Fresno State Sunnyvale, Calif.
1990 W 3-0 Arizona Oklahoma City, Okla. 1990 W 4-1 Florida State Oklahoma City, Okla. 1990 L 1-2 UCLA Oklahoma City, Okla. 1990 L 0-1 Fresno State Oklahoma City, Okla.
1993 W 5-2 Florida State Oklahoma City, Okla. 1993 W 1-0 (13) UCLA Oklahoma City, Okla. 1993 L 0-1 Arizona Oklahoma City, Okla. 1993 L 0-5 UCLA Oklahoma City, Okla.
1994 L 0-2 (8) Utah Oklahoma City, Okla. 1994 W 7-3 Missouri Oklahoma City, Okla. 1994 W 2-0 Fresno State Oklahoma City, Okla. 1994 W 3-2 Cal State-Northridge Oklahoma City, Okla. 1994 L 2-4 Cal State-Northridge Oklahoma City, Okla.
COWGIRL NO-HITTERS
With Jenn Markert's no-hitter last weekend vs. Florida State, some research was done to find all of the Cowgirls' no-hitters. Dating back to 1986 (prior to that was unavailable), OSU has had 28 no-hitters in school history. Markert's was the second of her career, as she also threw one vs. Temple on Mar. 7, 1997. USA Olympian Michele Smith has the most Cowgirl no-hitters with nine, while Kim Ward, current assistant coach for OSU, and Dena Carter eah had five. There have also been six perfect games thrown by OSU pitchers, the last by Ward vs. Tulsa on Apr. 11, 1995.
HITTING STREAKS
Kristi Bolle, Michelle Singer and Shannon Sullivan have each had seven-game hitting streaks this season, the longest of the year. Here is a look at OSU's current hitting streaks...
4 Kristi Bolle, Casey Acree
3 Jennifer Olival
2 Michelle Singer, Jaime Foutch
1 Melissa Turley, Liz Silva, Leanne Tyler
VS. ARIZONA
Although Oklahoma State is 10-8 all-time vs. the Arizona Wildcats, UA has won the last four contests and seven of the last nine. In fact, in the last three games, the 'Cats have outscored OSU, 34-3. The Cowgirls won eight straight from 1980 until 1991, with the last OSU victory being a 7-0 shutout in the PONY Tournament in 1993. This season, the two teams played in the Kia Klassic in Fullerton, Calif., with UA pulling off the 8-0 mercy-rule win. Nancy Evans gave up just three hits and struck out six while walking none in five innings of play. OSU mustered just three hits off the bats of Shannon Sullivan, Michelle Singer and Melissa Turley. Oklahoma State is 2-1 vs. the Wildcats in the Women's College World Series.
VS. WASHINGTON
The Oklahoma State-Washington series is short, with the Huskies owning a 7-2 record vs. OSU. The first game between these two teams was in the ASU Classic in 1994. UW won 2-1, but the Cowgirls took revenge later in the season with a 5-0 win in the PONY Tournament. Washington would rattle off six consecutive victories over OSU over the next three years, including keeping Oklahoma State out of the Women's College World Series the last two seasons. In 1996, OSU went to Seattle and lost to the Huskies in the finals. In 1997, the two teams met in Norman, Okla., with Washington picking up a 10-9 win in the finals once again. Earlier this season in the NFCA Leadoff Classic, Cowgirl senior Jenn Markert threw a one-hitter vs. the Huskies, walking just one and striking out 10 in the process, to give OSU the 1-0 win. The Cowgirls scored the only run of the game in the bottom of the fourth, when Michelle Ryan scored on a fielder's choice by Melissa Turley.
VS. UMASS
Oklahoma State and UMass have never met on the softball diamond.
VS. THE OTHER HALF OF THE BRACKET
Oklahoma State has a 5-1 record vs. Michigan, but lost 8-1 earlier this season in the NFCA Leadoff Classic. Versus Fresno State, the Cowgirls own a 6-5 record, but they have not met the Bulldogs since 1994. Oklahoma State is 1-3 vs. FSU in the Women's College World Series. OSU is 36-25 all-time vs. Big 12 rival Nebraska, and lost to Ali Viola in the bottom of the seventh inning in the only game played this season in the Big 12 Tournament. OSU is 2-2 vs. the Texas Longhorns, 0-2 this season with two losses in conference play in Stillwater.
COWGIRLS ON THE AIR
Oklahoma State softball is broadcast live on KSPI's 780 AM this weekend and will feature Casey Kendrick as the play-by-play man while Nancy Teehee will provide color analysis. Kendrick is in his first season of play-by-play after doing color commentary for the OSU Cowgirl basketball team the past four seasons. Teehee is a former pitcher for Oklahoma State and was on two Cowgirl Big Eight Championship teams and the 1982 squad that finished second at the AIAW National Tournament.
HEAD COACH SANDY FISCHER
Coach Sandy Fischer is in her 20th season as the head coach of the OSU Cowgirls, and has an all-time record of 816-302-3 (.729). Her NCAA record, which does not count the fall seasons during the AIAW years of 1979-82, is currently 768-286-3 (.728). She was named the NSCA National Coach of the Year in 1988, and won the Big Eight Coach-of-the-Year honor in 1988, '89, '93 and 1994. Coach Fischer became just the sixth coach in NCAA softball history to reach the 700-victory plateau, regardless of division. She is the fifth-winningest coach in NCAA history, and the fourth active winningest coach in the NCAA at this time.
ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH MARGARET REBENAR
Coach Margaret Rebenar has spent most of the season in charge of the Cowgirls this year in the absence of Fischer. Rebenar, who is in her sixth season as associate head coach at OSU and 19th overall with the Cowgirl program, has a record of 248-93 (.726). She was a member of the NFCA/Eastern Victory Club last year.
COWGIRL NOTEABLE
* Senior pitcher Jenn Markert is currently averaging 9.7 strikeouts per seven innings, and should surpass the OSU school record of 9.3 K's per game in a season, set by Melanie Roche in 1993. Markert also has a 7.6:1 strikeout-to- walk ratio.
* Senior Jessica Crawford needs just 12 more chances in the field to be eligible for the school career fielding percentage record. Crawford has 488 chances and just three errors for a 99.4 career fielding percentage. The school record for a career is 99.2, set by Lisa Harvey with just seven errors in 827 opportunities.
* Oklahoma State has had 68 two-out RBIs, led by Kristi Bolle's 15.
* Jaime Foutch has reached base 60.5 percent of the time when leading off an inning.
* Michelle Singer is batting .429 when the bases are empty, but just .227 with runners on base.
* Jaime Foutch leads the team in multiple-hit games with 24, including seven three-hit games, while Kristi Bolle leads the squad in multiple-RBI games with six, including four games with three RBIs or more.
* 35 of Kristi Bolle's 55 hits have occured when she was leading off an inning.
* Amy Lopez has a 2.9:1 ratio of groundouts to flyouts.
* Batting primarily in the second spot in the lineup, senior Michelle Ryan leads the team in both walks (18) and sacrifice bunts (13).
* Oklahoma State's catchers have thrown out 16 of 50 attempted base stealers, or 32.0%. Meanwhile, OSU base runners have only been caught stealing in 13-of-61 instances, or 21.3%.
* Oklahoma State's 21 shutouts this season are the most since 1993, when the Cowgirl pitching staff threw 27 shutouts and finished tied for third at the Women's College World Series.
* Junior Jaime Foutch has improved her lifetime batting average to over .400 this season, improving on the last two years. Her freshman season, Jaime batted 395, with 70 hits. Last year, she hit .391 with 77 hits. This season, she is batting .417 with 73 hits through 57 games.
* Oklahoma State has been involved in two triple plays this season, one for the Cowgirls and one against. The first one happened in the fourth inning vs. Notre Dame in the NFCA Leadoff Classic. With runners on first and second, Megan Alkire hit a fly ball into right field. Katie Wise caught the ball, and the runner on second tried to tag up. Wise threw out the runner at third, and Kristi Bolle then threw to second, catching the runner on first in a rundown. OSU was caught in the same situation vs. Texas in Stillwater when, with runners on first and second, Katie Wise flew out to right field. Michelle Singer tagged up and went to third, and Leanne Tyler was caught in a rundown between first and second. After the tag was made, Singer was tagged out at home trying to score.
