Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State Travels To Texas
April 21, 2000 | Cowgirl Softball
April 21, 2000
#22 Oklahoma State (32-17, 7-7) at Texas (24-21-1, 9-3)
Saturday - April 22, 2000 - noon (dh)
Red & Charline McCombs Field - Austin, Texas
COWGIRLS FACE SOONERS - Oklahoma State's 22nd-ranked softball will travel to Austin, Texas, this weekend to face the Texas Longhorns. The doubleheader on Saturday is scheduled to start at noon. The Cowgirls are 32-17 this season, 7-7 in Big 12 action, while UT is 24-21-1 overall and 9-3 in league play.
COMING UP - Oklahoma State rounds out the regular season next weekend as the Cowgirls will host the Texas A&M Aggies on April 29-30. The two teams will play one game on Saturday at 1 p.m. and conclude the regular season with a 1 p.m. game on Sunday. Sunday will also be Senior Day as six seniors will be honored for their contribution to the OSU Softball program. Those six seniors are: Shelly Graham, Sarah Knife Chief, Jennifer Olival-Cory, Christina Shaddox, Liz Silva and Wendy Vaught.
LAST TIME OUT - OU's Sooner softball squad put 10 runs on the board before OSU could score and went on to a 10-5 win. The Cowgirls gave up tough runs early, giving up one in the first, two in the second, three in the third and four in the fourth. The Sooners' scoring surge was led by Ashli Barrett, who had a home run, a double and four RBIs. After stranding baserunners in each of the first four innings, and risking a mercy-rule ending to the game after five innings, the Cowgirls responded with three runs in the fifth, including two on a dinger by Jenny Kipp. Casey O'Neill scored the first run when Shelly Graham singled to right field. Hurler Lauren Bay retired the side in the bottom of the inning, shifting the momentum OSU's way. Ryan Realmuto led off the sixth with a solo homer. OSU scored its fifth run of the game when Liz Silva scored on a base hit by O'Neill. For the game, Shelly Graham went 2-for-4 with a run scored, while Kipp went 1-for-2 with a run and 2 RBIs.
COWGIRLS ON THE AIR - Oklahoma State's series with Texas A&M will be broadcast by Stillwater Radio on KSPI 780 AM. Bill Van Ness will provide the play-by-play. Any postseason play will also be aired on the Stillwater Radio Network.
COWGIRLS IN THE NATIONAL POLL - Oklahoma State dropped to 22nd in the latest NFCA Coaches Poll. The Cowgirls reached No. 17 five weeks ago, their highest ranking since a No. 15 ranking in the 1999 preseason poll. Here is a look at where OSU has been ranked during the course of the season ...
Date Pre F23 M1 M8 M15 M22 M29 A5 A12 A19 Rank NR 25 21 17 18 18 20 20 22 22
FISCHER REACHES 800TH VICTORY - With a 6-2 win over Drake on Feb. 20, Head Coach Sandy Fischer became just the fifth softball coach in NCAA history to reach the 800-victory plateau. She is currently 823-329-3 (.714) in her 22nd season at Oklahoma State. She is just the third active coach to reach that milestone, as Fresno State's Margie Wright and Bill Galloway of Louisiana Tech did so two seasons ago. Fischer's all-time NFCA record, which includes games played during the falls of 1979-81, is 871-345-3 (.716). Also, the game vs. Virginia Tech in the Speedline Invitational was Fischer's 1,200th career game at OSU. She is just the second coach in OSU history to coach in at least 1,200 contests, following baseball's Gary Ward, who coached in 1,265 games.
LEFTSIDE OF INFIELD DOING WELL AT THE PLATE - The Oklahoma State duo of Jenny Kipp and Casey O'Neill, both sophomores and the starters on the left side of the infield, have been doing well at the plate. Kipp is batting .366 while O'Neill is batting .315. They have combined for 84 hits, 45 runs, 12 doubles and 33 RBIs. Both signed in 1997 with Oklahoma State, Kipp from Arizona and O'Neill from San Diego, Calif.
FRESHMAN HURLERS TAKING CHARGE - With the loss of senior pitcher Sarah Knife Chief to shoulder surgery, two star freshmen have taken over the pitching duties for Oklahoma State. Karla Rivera, from Whittier, Calif., has a record of 11-5 and a 2.53 earned run average. Lauren Bay, from Trail, British Columbia, is 14-10 this season with a 1.99 ERA and 173 strikeouts in 158-2/3 innings, or 7.63 Ks per game.
SUBS SHOWING OFF - In 95 plate appearances this season as pinch hitters, the Oklahoma State bench is batting .308, has scored 36 runs and has 20 RBIs. The bench crew is led by sophomore Courtney Pinion, who is batting .600 in pinch-hit situations, going 6-for-10 She also has four RBIs and a .700 slugging percentage. Against Iowa State, senior Christina Shaddox hit a leadoff, first-pitch home run over the leftfield fence as a pinch hitter, the third dinger by a pinch hitter this season. On the mound, freshman Lauren Bay is 3-1 with three saves as a reliever, and has a 0.82 ERA with 48 strikeouts in 34-1/3 innings, while giving up a .172 batting average to opponent hitters. The bullpen is a combined 6-1 with 71 strikeouts in 63-1/3 innings, six saves and a 2.32 ERA.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES & STATISTICS - Here is a look at some miscellaneous notes and statistics concerning the Cowgirl softball program ...
- The 21 runs scored in the game vs. Baylor are the most ever in a single game in OSU softball history. The previous record was 20, set by the 1988 squad vs. Southwest Texas and tied earlier this season vs. Panhandle State.
- The four home runs vs. Baylor in the 21-11 win tied for the most ever in a single game. It ties the 1988 team that hit four dingers vs. McNeese State on March 5, 1988.
- Shelly Graham and Lezli Leathers each scored four runs in the 21-11 win over Baylor, tying the mark set by Michelle Womacks vs. Southwest Texas in 1988 and tied twice since.
- Christina Shaddox hit a pinch-hit home run to win the second game vs. Iowa State. It was her fourth dinger of the season, the most by a Cowgirl so far this year. OSU has nine players that have hit at least one home run this season.
- Sophomore Jenny Kipp tied one record and set another in the Cowgirls' 3-2 win over Iowa State. She tied the school record for stolen bases in a game, three, set by Amanda Hayes last season. She also broke the previous school record for consecutive successful stolen bases, which was 11, set by Mary Hammen in 1988. Kipp now has 12 consecutive SBs.
- OSU is batting just .264 with the bases empty, but .318 with runners on base, including a .424 average by Jenny Kipp in 59 at-bats.
- The Cowgirls are batting .396 with the bases loaded, led by Kirsty Jennings .600 average.
- Cowgirls leading off an inning are batting .406, including five regulars that are batting at least .400 - Jenny Kipp (.545), Christina Shaddox (.462), Shelly Graham (.455), Lezli Leathers (.435) and Kirsty Jennings (.400).
- Freshman LHP Lauren Bay has forced 212 groundouts and just 74 flyouts, a ratio of nearly 3-to-1.
- Sophomore Jenny Kipp leads the team in both sacrifice bunts (15) and sacrifice flies (2).
- Lauren Bay has three saves this season, and needs just one more to tie the school single-season record of four, set by Lori Whitehouse in 1986.
- With 25 home runs this season, the Cowgirls have more than quadrupled their home-run total of last season, six.
SERIES WITH TEXAS - Texas leads the short all-time series with Oklahoma State, 4-2, including a four-game winning streak. UT added softball when the Big 12 was formed in 1996, and started playing officially in 1997. OSU won the first two games in the series, in Austin. Here is a look at the all-time series ...
1997 W 5-4 (8) Austin, Texas 1997 W 4-0 Austin, Texas 1998 L 0-10 Stillwater, Okla. 1998 L 4-7 Stillwater, Okla. 1999 L 0-1 Austin, Texas 1999 L 1-2 Austin, Texas
