Oklahoma State University Athletics
Time For The Bedlam Battle
April 18, 2001 | Cowgirl Softball
April 18, 2001
Oklahoma (34-7, 9-2)
at
Oklahoma State (20-19, 4-7)
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QUICK FACTS
Thursday, April 19 (6:30 p.m.)
Cowgirl Stadium
Stillwater, Okla.
Radio - 105.5 FM
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COWGIRLS HOST SOONERS IN BEDLAM BATTLE
Oklahoma State (20-19 overall, 4-7 Big 12) will host the seventh-ranked Oklahoma Sooners this Thursday, April 19, at 6:30 p.m. at Cowgirl Stadium in Stillwater. The Cowgirls are coming off two losses to the 14th-ranked Nebraska Huskers over the weekend, and a cancellation of the Iowa State doubleheader in Ames. Oklahoma is fresh off a sweep of the Texas Tech Red Raiders. OU defeated OSU, 3-0, in the first edition of the Bedlam series earlier this year.
COMING UP
Oklahoma State will host the Texas Longhorns (21-22, 4-7) on Sat. and Sun., April 21-22, at 1 p.m. each day. OSU will then take a break in the conference action to host Hawaii on Wed., April 25, in a doubleheader starting at 4:30 p.m. OSU travels to College Station, Texas, the following weekend for its final conference series, with games at 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.
LAST TIME OUT
Nebraska pitcher Leigh Ann Walker nearly threw a complete game as she shut down the Oklahoma State Cowgirls and the 14th-ranked Huskers won, 8-0, Sunday afternoon in Big 12 Conference softball action. Walker struck out 14 of the 19 batters she faced. Meanwhile, Cowgirl pitcher Lauren Bay struggled, giving up six runs in just two-thirds of an inning. She gave up three hits and walked four before being pulled for freshman Tiffany Paper. Only two of Bay's runs were earned. Paper gave up just two hits in 4-1/3 innings of work while striking out seven, but was replaced by freshman Kara Wentworth in the sixth, who gave up two runs to end the game based on the eight runs after five innings run rule. The only highlight the Cowgirls had was a bunt single by Amanda Hayes in the fourth inning that broke up Walker's perfect game. The Husker hurler faced just one batter over the minimum. Nebraska scored six runs in the bottom of the first, including a two-run home run by Jamie Fuente. The Huskers had three hits, four walks a wild pitch, a passed ball and an error in the inning. OSU's doubleheader with Iowa State on Monday was cancelled due to poor weather conditions.
SCOUTING REPORT ON OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma is 34-7 overall this season and 9-2 in Big 12 Conference games. The Sooners currently sit in second place in the Big 12 standings behind 9-1 Nebraska, and are the seventh-ranked team in the country. OU is led offensively by six players that are batting .300 or better, including sophomore shortstop Kelli Braitsch, who is batting .413 with 32 runs batted in and 38 runs scored. Catcher Ashli Barrett is batting .360 with a team-leading 10 home runs and 37 RBIs. On the mound, the Sooners are led by lefthander Jennifer Stewart, who is 23-3 overall this season with a 1.39 earned run average and seven shutouts. She has thrown 176 innings this season. Adrianne Ratliff is 11-3 this season with a 2.53 ERA and 83 innings pitched. OU is on a seven-game winning streak since being swept by the Nebraska Huskers.
SERIES WITH OKLAHOMA
OSU leads the all-time series with Oklahoma, 67-46, although the Sooners have won the last nine games in the series, dating back to 1998. In that span, five of the games were decided by two runs or less. There have been 55 shutouts in the series, with OSU holding a 35-20 margin. In games played in Stillwater, the Cowgirls hold a ?30-15 advantage.
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 892-369-3. Her NCAA record is 844-353-3, 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 324-161 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
The remainder of Oklahoma State's home games, as well as all postseason games, 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 one exception. The OU game this Thursday will be on 105.5 FM.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
Sophomore Lauren Bay leads the team in two-out RBIs with 11, followed by freshman Jade Lindly and senior Amanda Hayes, who each have eight ... Oklahoma State has scored 21 of its 106 runs this season in the first inning, 23 in the third and 20 in the fourth ... OSU has 50 multiple-hit games this season as a team, including a 4-for-4 performance by junior 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 79 called strikeouts, or 34.2 percent of their total strikeouts ... Sophomore catcher Ryan Realmuto has thrown out 18-of-61 attempted base stealers, or 29.5 percent.
BIG 12 RANKINGS
Oklahoma State's pitching staff (1.74 earned run average) ranks fourth in the league behind Nebraska (1.47 ERA), Texas Tech (1.51) and Texas A&M (1.57). Lauren Bay is third in the league in ERA with a 1.16, behind Joni Miller of Baylor (1.00) and Texas Tech's Amanda Renfro (1.10). OSU's batting average of .246 ranks seventh in the league. OU leads the conference with a .329 batting average. Bay is third in the league in strikeouts with 151, and fifth in shutouts with five. She is seventh in the league with 133 innings pitched. OSU's fielding percentage of .968 in conference-games only is the second-best in the league behind Nebraska's .972 fielding percentage.
HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE
Oklahoma State is 8-3 in home games this season, including a 4-2 record in Big 12 contests. Those wins are due mostly to the pitching of sophomore Lauren Bay. Bay is 6-1 in those 11 games, with a 0.54 earned run average and 55 strikeouts in 51-2/3 innings, and average of 7.5 Ks per game. Freshman Jade Lindly is batting .429 in home games, going 6-for-14 with two doubles. Ryan Realmuto has a .310 batting average and a .586 slugging percentage, due mostly two two doubles and two home runs out of nine hits. Realmuto has also thrown out nearly 50 percent (9-of-19) of runners attempting to steal base in Cowgirl Stadium.
