Oklahoma State University Athletics
Kansas, Here We Come
March 27, 2001 | Cowgirl Softball
March 27, 2001
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QUICK FACTS
Wednesday, March 28 (5 p.m.)
Wilkins Stadium
Wichita, Kan.
COWGIRLS FACE WICHITA STATE SHOCKERS
Oklahoma State (18-11) will travel to Wichita, Kan., this Wednesday for a single game with the Wichita State Shockers (13-12). Game time is set for 5 p.m. OSU is coming off a 3-2 victory over the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Sunday in Stillwater, while WSU is fresh off a 5-4 victory over Bradley on Saturday afternoon. Oklahoma State leads the all-time series with the Shockers, 58-1, including a 57-game winning streak.
COMING UP
Oklahoma State will travel to Waco, Texas, this weekend for two games with the Baylor Bears. Game times are 4 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. OSU will then travel to Norman, Okla., on Wednesday, April 4, for the first edition of bedlam softball. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m. It will be thie final of four-straight road games for the Cowgirls before returning to Stillwater for four-consecutive contests, starting on April 7 with Missouri.
LAST TIME OUT
Stephanie Hodges hit a two-run home run just out of the reach of Texas Tech's Eva Harshman, propelling the Cowgirls to a 3-2 win over the Red Raiders and a split in the weekend series Sunday afternoon. It was Hodges' first homer of the season. After a nine-inning game Saturday in which the Cowgirls lost, 1-0, Oklahoma State went with freshman pitcher Tiffany Paper. OSU started out shaky defensively, committing two errors and a passed ball in the top of the first. The Red Raiders scored one run when Paper threw a wild pitch, but with the bases loaded, she got a force out at home and struck out Emily Bone to end the inning. Tech added a run in the third. After Sandy Butler led off with a base hit, Shauna Briggs knocked her in with a double to left centerfield. Butler was 2-for-3 on the day, as was leadoff hitter Tracy Cartier for Texas Tech. Oklahoma State got on the board for the first time on the weekend in the bottom of that inning. Senior Lezli Leathers walked to lead off the inning, and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Casey O'Neill. Leathers then scored on a base hit by Lauren Bay down the rightfield line. Paper threw the top of the fourth, sitting the Red Raiders down in order. In the bottom half of the stanza, senior Amanda Hayes reached on a single and scored on Hodges' dinger. Bay moved to pitcher for the bottom of the inning, and threw three complete innings for her second save of the season.
ABOUT THE SHOCKERS
Wichita State is 13-12 this season and 4-1 in Missouri Valley Conference play. The Shockers are 5-0 at home this year, including two wins over Fort Hayes State and a three-game sweep of Indiana State. Patti Oleson is WSU's leading offensive threat, with a .357 batting average, a .586 slugging percentage and a team-leading 14 runs batted in. Ande Kleckner is second on the team in batting average (.351), slugging percentage (.403) and on-base percentage (.383). On the mound for the Shockers is a trio of pitchers. Sarah Chamberlain has the most starts (16) and is 4-8 with a 1.93 earned run average. Amanda Cave is 6-3 with a 2.26 ERA, while Renee Slatier is 3-1 with a 1.50 ERA. In her second year at the helm of the Shockers' softball program is Judy Favor, who has an overall record of 30-49.
HEAD COACH SANDY FISCHER
Sandy Fischer is in her 23rd season at the helm of the Oklahoma State Cowgirls, and enters Wednesday's game with a career record of 890-361-3. Her NCAA record is 842-345-3, making her the third-winningest active coach among NCAA coaches. She needs just six more victories to move into fourth place on the all-time victories list, past UCLA's Sharon Backus, who had 847 wins in her career. Coach Fischer has led OSU to nine conference championships, eight regional championships and nine Women's College World Series appearances. Under her guidance, 62 players have been named first-team all-conference, while 28 have gone on to earn All-America status.
ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH MARGARET REBENAR
In her 22nd year as the top assistant coach for Oklahoma State is Margaret Rebenar. Since her naming as the Associate Head Coach for the Cowgirls, Rebenar has accumulated a 322-153 record at Oklahoma State. Last season, she was inducted into the NFCA/Easton ?300-win? club. Rebenar guided the Cowgirls to a regional championship and a College World Series appearance in 1998.
COWGIRL SOFTBALL ON THE AIR
Beginning with the Kansas series, the remainder of Oklahoma State's home games, as well as the OU game in Norman, will be broadcast live on Stillwater Radio. Bill VanNess will provide the play-by-play for the third-consecutive season. Most games will be broadcast on 780 AM, with a few exceptions. Both OU games will be on 105.5 FM, as will the Tulsa game on April 11. All postseason games will also be aired on Stillwater Radio.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
Since beginning the season with a 6-6 record, Oklahoma State is 11-5 in the month of March ... This is the first season since 1998 that OSU has gone 3-1 in its first four conference games ... Sophomore Lauren Bay leads the team in two-out RBIs with 10, followed by freshman Jade Lindly and senior Amanda Hayes, who have eight ... Freshman Calli Behmer is batting .800 with runners in scoring position (4-for-5) ... She is also successful on advancing runners, with nine advances in 14 opportunities ... Junior Angela Veronesi has reached base successfully on 7-of-10 plate appearances when leading off an inning ... Oklahoma State has scored 20 of its 94 runs this season in the first inning ... OSU has 40 multiple-hit games this season as a team, including a 4-for-4 performance by Angela Veronesi vs. Utah in the Red Desert Classic ... Freshman Jade Lindly leads the Cowgirls in pinch-hitting, going 2-for-3 this season ... The Cowgirls have 65 called strikeouts, or 38.5 percent of their total strikeouts ... Eight Cowgirls have a better than 50 percent success rate when scoring a runner from third with less than two outs, led by Jenny Kipp's 3-for-4 performance ... Sophomore catcher Ryan Realmuto has thrown out 12-of-41 attempted base stealers, or 29.3 percent.
WHO'S HOT
Lauren Bay - The lefthanded hurler is 4-2 in her last seven appearances, and has a 0.65 earned run average (four earned runs in 43 innings). She has 40 strikeouts and just 14 walk, a 2.86 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and an average of 6.5 Ks per game. Lauren is giving up a .181 batting average to the opposing batters. At the plate, she has six RBIs in her last 29 at-bats.
Jenny Kipp - The junior third baseman is batting .357 in her last 10 games, going 10-for-28 with a double. She has scored five runs during that span, and has a .438 on-base percentage. Jenny has been successful on her last 17 stolen-base attempts, dating back to the 2000 season.
Lezli Leathers - The senior second baseman is batting .357 over her last eight games, going 5-for-14 at the plate. She has two doubles and five runs scored. She has a .500 slugging percentage and a .571 on-base percentage, with six walks.
SCOUTING REPORT ON BAYLOR
Baylor is 27-10 this season, and ranked 19th in the latest edition of the NFCA Coaches' Poll. The Bears are led by Ryan Stukel, who has a .418 batting average, a .745 slugging percentage and a .454 on-base percentage, all leading the team. She also has a team-leading 26 runs, eight home runs and 32 runs batted in. On the mound, Joni Miller is the Bears' top pitcher with an 18-5 record and a 1.09 earned run average. She has 13 complete games and five shutouts in 23 starts. Baylor's conference-opening series with Iowa State last weekend was cancelled due to snow, so the Bears will open Big 12 play with Texas on Wednesday night in Austin.
