Oklahoma State University Athletics
Softball To Compete In NFCA Leadoff Classic
March 02, 2000 | Cowgirl Softball
March 2, 2000
STILLWATER, Okla. - Oklahoma State's 21st-ranked softball team will travel to Columbus, Ga., this weekend to compete in the fifth-annual NFCA Leadoff Classic, March 3-5. Twenty of the 24 teams playing in the tournament are ranked in the most recent edition of the NFCA Coaches' Poll.
The Cowgirls (13-4) will play No. 20 DePaul in their first game of the tournament on Friday at 5 p.m. EST. Following that game at 7:30 p.m., OSU will play fourth-ranked Arizona State.
On Saturday, Oklahoma State will face No. 16 Alabama at 10 a.m., rounding out pool play. The bracket play will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Other ranked teams competing in the event include: top-ranked Washington, fifth-ranked Oklahoma, No. 6 LSU, eighth-ranked Fresno State, No. 9 Stanford, 14th-ranked Michigan, No. 15 Louisiana-Lafayette, 17th-ranked Illinois-Chicago, No. 19 Hawaii, 23rd-ranked Nebraska and No. 24 Hofstra.
UMass, Florida State, Texas, Cal State-Northridge and Florida are all ranked in the top 40 and will be competing in the tournament, along with Mississippi State, Harvard, Boston College and Utah.
In other news, freshman pitcher Karla Rivera was named the Big 12 Conference's Pitcher of the Week for the week ending Feb. 27. Rivera, a Whittier, Calif., native, was 2-0 with in two starts last week, defeating Utah State, 6-3, and Southern Utah, 9-1. She struck out 14 batters and walked only three, posting a 4.7-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The two wins give Rivera a 5-0 record this season.
