Oklahoma State University Athletics
Softball Splits with No. 19 Texas A&M
June 21, 1999 | Cowgirl Softball
April 18, 1999
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Oklahoma State's Cowgirl softball team split a doubleheader with the 19th-ranked Texas A&M Aggies, winning the first game in 10 innings before dropping the second game in the Aggies' final at-bat.
OSU won the first game, 4-2, behind some fine pitching by junior Sarah Knife Chief. The Cowgirl hurler threw all 10 innings, allowing just two runs, one earned, off of six hits while striking out seven Aggie batters. The lone blemish on Knife Chief's record this afternoon was a leadoff home run by Tiffany Esters to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh.
The Cowgirls had taken a 1-0 lead in the top of the sixth when Jennifer Olival doubled to left field off Aggie starter Amy Vining, and then stole third. She scored on a sacrifice fly by Jaime Foutch.
After scoreless eighth and ninth innings, the game went into the international tiebreaker rule, which places a runner on second base to start each half inning. In the top of the 10th, Casey O'Neill scored >from second on a throwing error by first baseman Angie Long to put OSU ahead, 2-1.
Consecutive base hits by Shelly Graham and Olival, and a sacrifice bunt by Michelle Singer scored two more runs for the Cowgirls. A&M scored a run in the bottom of the inning, but fell short with three consecutive outs.
In the second game, Amanda Hayes doubled with one out in the fifth, and scored on a Kristine Garcia single to put OSU ahead, 1-0. The Aggies scored in the bottom of the sixth on a double by Long, and scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh when Esters scored on a Stephanie Trumbull single with one out in the inning. It was the third loss on the weekend that OSU suffered in the final at-bat.
"It is very difficult to suffer losses as tough as these, especially when they are so close," said OSU Assistant Coach Kim Ward. "Our team played extremely well this weekend, and it was just a matter of the other teams finishing up at the end. We needed to shut them down in the final innings, and we didn't do that."
Oklahoma State (16-20 overall, 2-6 Big 12) will travel to Norman, Okla., to face the Oklahoma Sooners on Wed., April 21, at 6:30 p.m.
Oklahoma State 4, No. 19 Texas A&M 2 (10 innings)
OSU 000 001 000 3 - 4 9 0 A&M 000 000 100 1 - 2 6 2Knife Chief and Silva. Vining, Lemuth (10) and Klam. WP: Knife Chief (8-9). LP: Vining (19-11). 2B: OSU-Graham 2(8), Olival (5); A&M-Renner (4). HR: A&M-Esters (3). T-2:38. A-187.
No. 19 Texas A&M 2, Oklahoma State 1
OSU 000 010 0 - 1 8 0 A&M 000 001 1 - 2 6 0Anderson and Silva. Barrack, Lemuth (6) and Renner. WP: Lemuth (5-0). LP: Anderson (5-6). 2B: OSU-Hayes (3); A&M-Long (6). T-1:52. A-187.
