Oklahoma State University Athletics
Softball to Host NCAA Regional Championships
June 21, 1999 | Cowgirl Softball
May 14, 1998
Oklahoma State Cowgirls (37-17) vs. Florida State Seminoles (51-19) First Round * NCAA Regional Tournament May 15-17, 1998 * 4:30 p.m. Cowgirl Field (700) * Stillwater, Okla.Probable Starting Lineup No. Name Position Class Statistics 15 Kristi Bolle 3B Sr. .290 avg, 51 hits, 24 RBI 22 Michelle Ryan CF Sr. .209 avg, 16 runs, 18 BB 23 Jaime Foutch 1B Jr. .430 avg, 71 hits, 34 runs 44 Shannon Sullivan SS Jr. .319 avg, 24 RBI, 44 hits 33 Michelle Singer DP Jr. .299 avg, 5 2B, 3 HR 25 Katie Wise RF Jr. .229 avg, 24 hits, 4 2B 18 Melissa Turley 2B Jr. .219 avg, 30 hits, 14 runs 27 Liz Silva C So. .136 avg, 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR 10 Kristine Garcia LF Jr. .184 avg, 16 hits, 12 runs On the Mound No. Name Class W-L Statistics 7 Sheryl Anderson Jr. 3-1 1.77 ERA, 19 K's, 35.2 IP 11 Jenn Markert Sr. 13-4 0.91 ERA, 151 K's, 107.1 IP 20 Amy Lopez So. 10-6 1.26 ERA, 80 K's, 122.0 IP 27 Leanne Tyler Sr. 11-6 1.61 ERA, 79 K's, 104.1 IP
COWGIRLS TO HOST REGIONAL TOURNAMENT
Oklahoma State's 13th-ranked softball team will host one of eight NCAA Regional Softball Championships this weekend at Cowgirl Field in Stillwater. It will be the seventh regional hosted by the Cowgirls, and the first since 1995. OSU is 37-17 overall this season, and tied for third at the Big 12 Conference Softball Tournament. This will be Oklahoma State's 13th appearance in an NCAA Regional, and 11th consecutive.
QUICKLY
Oklahoma State is in its 24th season of collegiate fastpitch softball, and has an overall all-time record of 889-337-3 (.725)...OSU has won nine conference championships, seven regional titles and made five Women's College World Series' appearances since 1988...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.
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. Outfielder 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.
COWGIRLS IN THE POLLS
Oklahoma State is currently ranked 13th in the country, according to the USA Today/NFCA Coaches' Poll. Here is a look at where the Cowgirls have been ranked throughout the season...
Date Record Rank Points Preseason 0- 0 11th 344 Feb. 25 8- 1 T9th 401 Mar. 4 15- 2 4th 517 Mar. 11 18- 3 4th 524 Mar. 18 22- 3 4th 543 Mar. 25 23- 7 10th 407 Apr. 1 25- 7 10th 398 Apr. 8 28- 9 8th 420 Apr. 15 32-11 10th 385 Apr. 22 33-14 12th 330 Apr. 29 35-15 11th 337 May 6 37-17 13th 329
OSU IN THE REGIONAL TOURNAMENT
Oklahoma State has won five NCAA Regional Championships, but none since 1994, when the Cowgirls finished third at the Women's College World Series. This will be OSU's 13th appearance in the regional tournament, and 11th straight dating back to 1988. The Cowgirls have an overall record of 20-14 in postseason regional play. Here is a look at the Cowgirls year-by-year in the tournament...
NCAA Regional Tournament (20-14) 1982 W 1-0 Cal Poly-Pomona Stillwater, Okla. W 3-2 Cal Poly-Pomona
1984 L 2-3 Nebraska Lincoln, Neb. L 1-2 Nebraska
1988 L 2-6 Adelphi Stillwater, Okla. W 5-0 Adelphi L 0-1 Adelphi
1989 W 2-0 Wichita State Stillwater, Okla. W 3-1 Wichita State
1990 W 5-0 Connecticut Storrs, Conn. W 1-0 Adelphi W 3-0 Adelphi
1991 W 3-2 USL Lafayette, La. L 0-2 Florida State L 3-4 Florida State
1992 W 2-0 Western Illinois Lawrence, Kan. L 0-1 Kansas L 0-4 Kansas
1993 W 4-0 Utah State Stillwater, Okla. W 4-2 Utah State
1994 W 1-0 Providence Stillwater, Okla. W 4-3 Oklahoma W 2-1 Oklahoma
1995 W 3-0 Utah Stillwater, Okla. L 0-5 UNLV L 0-2 Oklahoma
1996 W 2-1 Indiana Seattle, Wash. L 3-9 Washington W 3-0 Indiana L 1-9 Washington
1997 W 2-0 Oklahoma Norman, Okla. L 2-5 Washington W 5-3 Oklahoma L 9-10 Washington
OSU IN LAST YEAR'S REGIONAL TOURNAMENT
Oklahoma State finished second in last year's regional tournament, defeating host-school Oklahoma in the first round 2-0 before falling to eventual regional champion Washington, 5-2. The Cowgirls won their game vs. Oklahoma in the loser's bracket 5-3 to set up a rematch of the Washington game. The Huskies won 10-9 after OSU took an early 9-2 lead. It was the second straight year UW kept Oklahoma State from advancing to the Women's College World Series.
OSU VS. THE FIELD
Oklahoma State is 22-10 all-time vs. the other three opponents in the tournment. OSU is 14-4 all-time vs. Southwest Missouri State and 8-6 all-time vs. the Florida State Seminoles. The Cowgirls defeated the SMSU Bears 5-0 earlier this season in the Cowgirl Spring Classic. OSU and FSU have not met since 1995, when the Seminoles defeated the Cowgirls 7-4 in the South Florida Classic. Oklahoma State has never met the Stanford Cardinal on the field. Here is a game-by-game series between OSU and the other two teams...
Florida State (8-6) 1986 L 2-3 Houston Tournament, Houston, Texas 1986 L 1-2 Houston Tournament, Houston, Texas 1987 W 4-1 Cowgirl Classic, Stillwater, Okla. 1987 L 0-2 Cowgirl Classic, Stillwater, Okla. 1990 W 2-1 OSU Tournament, Stillwater, Okla. 1990 W 4-1 Women's College World Series, Oklahoma City, Okla. 1991 L 0-2 NCAA Regionals, Lafayette, La. 1991 L 3-4 NCAA Regionals, Lafayette, La. 1992 W 3-0 Pony Invitational, Fullerton, Calif. 1993 W 5-2 Women's College World Series, Oklahoma City, Okla. 1994 W 1-0 South Florida Classic, Tampa, Fla. 1994 W 1-0 Pony Invitational, Fullerton, Calif. 1995 W 5-1 ASU Classic, Tempe, Ariz. 1995 L 4-7 South Florida Classic, Tampa, Fla.
Southwest Missouri State (14-4) 1978 L NA 1979 W 3-2 Sooner Invitational, Norman, Okla. 1979 L 1-4 Texas Woman's Invitational, Denton, Texas 1980 L 1-3 1980 W 3-0 Stillwater, Okla. 1981 L 2-6 Oklahoma Tournament, Norman, Okla. 1981 W 4-0 1981 W 4-1 1982 W 9-1 Southwest Missouri Tournament, Springfield, Mo. 1988 W 10-0 Hall of Fame Tournament, Oklahoma City, Okla. 1991 W 5-3 Cowgirl Classic, Oklahoma City, Okla. 1992 W 6-0 Cowgirl Classic II, Oklahoma City, Okla. 1993 W 1-0 Cowgirl Classic, Stillwater, Okla. 1993 W 6-0 Cowgirl Classic, Stillwater, Okla. 1996 W 7-0 OSU Spring Classic, Stillwater, Okla. 1997 W 6-1 OU Softball Tournament, Oklahoma City, Okla. 1997 W 4-3 OSU Spring Softball Classic, Stillwater, Okla. 1998 W 5-0 OSU Spring Softball Classic, Stillwater, Okla.
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 813-302-3 (.729). Her NCAA record, which does not count the fall seasons during the AIAW years of 1979-82, is currently 765-286-3 (.727). 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 245-93 (.725). She was a member of the NFCA/Eastern Victory Club last year.
COWGIRL NOTEABLE
* Senior pitcher Jenn Markert is currently averaging 9.8 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 14 more chances in the field to be eligible for the school career fielding percentage record. Crawford has 486 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 64 two-out RBIs, led by Kristi Bolle's 14.
* Jaime Foutch has reached base 65.7 percent of the time when leading off an inning.
* Michelle Singer is batting .413 when the bases are empty, but just .225 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 three three-RBI games.
* 33 of Kristi Bolle's 51 hits have occured when she was leading off an inning.
* Amy Lopez has a 2.8:1 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 (11).
* Oklahoma State's catchers have thrown out 15 of 49 attempted base stealers, or 30.6%. Meanwhile, OSU base runners have only been caught stealing in 12-of-57 instances, or 21.1%.
* Oklahoma State's 18 shutouts this season are the most since 1994, when the Cowgirl pitching staff threw 18 shutouts and finished 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 .430 with 71 hits through 54 games.
* Oklahoma State has been involved in two triple plays this season, one for the Cowgirls and one against. It 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.
REGIONAL CONNECTIONS
This weekend's tournament has several connections with Oklahoma State and the other schools. Jennie Foyle of Stanford went to the same high school as OSU's Kristi Bolle, La Modena in Orange, Calif. Kristi is a year older than Jennie. Florida State's Kristy Hull went to the same high school as Cowgirl Kristine Garcia, Moon Valley High in Phoenix, Ariz. Kristy is a year older than Kristine. Stacy Venable, a junior at Florida State, went to high school with both Casey Acree (junior) and Jennifer Olival (sophomore) in Choctaw, Okla.
OSU 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.
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.
3 Jennifer Olival 2 Michelle Singer 1 Kristi Bolle, Jaime Foutch, Katie Wise Casey Acree, Michelle Ryan, Leanne Tyler
