Oklahoma State University Athletics
Softball Falls to Oklahoma and Kansas
June 21, 1999 | Cowgirl Softball
May 13, 1999
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - Oklahoma State's Cowgirl softball team put up a good fight, but, in the end, the Cowgirls were eliminated from the Big 12 Tournament here Thursday afternoon at the Don Porter ASA Hall of Fame Stadium. Six seniors saw their final game in a Cowgirl uniform.
Oklahoma State started the day fresh off a 1-0 win over the Iowa State Cyclones Wednesday evening, advancing the Cowgirls to the double-elimination bracket portion of the tournament. In the first game of the day, OSU faced the top-seeded Oklahoma Sooners. OU won the game, 5-0, behind a fine pitching performance by Jennifer Stewart, who limited the Cowgirls to three hits.
Shelly Graham, named the Big 12 Conference's Newcomer of the Year on Tuesday, provided one of those hits, leading off the fourth inning with a double. After a walk to Jaime Foutch, Graham was picked off second on an attempted sacrifice bunt by designated player Michelle Singer.
Senior Melissa Turley led off the fifth with a base hit, but was stranded, and fellow senior Kristine Garcia had a single with one out in the sixth.
A solo home run by OU's Lynette Velazquez, the Big 12 Player of the Year, provided all the runs the Sooners would need. Macey Wilson added her own homer in the same inning, a solo shot, and two more runs scored in the fourth on a two-out single up the middle by Deborah Hargrave. Oklahoma added its final run in the fifth when, on an attempted double play with the bases loaded, Cowgirl catcher Liz Silva overthrew first base after being hammered at the plate.
In the final game for OSU, the fifth-seeded Kansas Jayhawks took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth on a Katie Malone single to right center with runners on second and third. The Hawks added a run in the fifth and another in the sixth, piling up eight hits in the process.
It appeared the Cowgirls were done, but not without a fight. Down, 4-0, freshman Jenny Kipp singled to right with one out. Jennifer Olival stepped to the plate, and on a 1-1 count, she reached out over the opposite batters box and pulled a line drive to left that cleared the fence, making the score 4-2. Then, with two outs and having struck out twice in the game, the All-American Foutch stepped up and hit a solo home run in her final at-bat for OSU.
With the score at 4-3, Michelle Singer singled, bringing Silva to the plate. As she has on several occasions, Silva stepped up with the game on the line. After watching the first two pitches, the Cowgirl catcher drove a linedrive down the leftfield line that cleared the fence by 10 feet, but was about two feet foul. Sarah Workman, the KU pitcher who had pitched the entire game, threw a strike low and away for a strikeout to end the game and the season.
Oklahoma 5, Oklahoma State 0
OSU 000 000 0 - 0 3 1 OU 020 210 x - 5 4 0Anderson, Jenkins (5) and Silva, Singer (6). Stewart, Contreraz (7) and Barrett. WP: Stewart (21-3). LP: Anderson (7-8). 2B: OSU-Graham (8). HR: OU-Velazquez (19), Wilson (2). T-1:45. A-758.
Kansas 4, Oklahoma State 3
OSU 000 000 3 - 3 9 1 KU 000 211 x - 4 8 0Knife Chief, Anderson (5) and Silva. Workman and Tabb. WP: Workman (18-12). LP: Knife Chief (11-11). 2B: KU-Wright (1), Stanwix (9). 3B: KU-Musser (2). HR: OSU-Olival (1), Foutch (4); KU-Urquhart (2). T-1:59. A-758.
