Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowgirls Host Wichita State
April 19, 2003 | Cowgirl Softball
Oklahoma State looks to extend a five-game winning streak on Wednesday when it hosts Wichita State for the first installment of the annual series. The Cowgirls and Shockers were originally slated to play on in Stillwater on Feb. 26 but cold weather forced the contest to be rescheduled. The teams will be seeing a lot of each other in a short period of time as the Cowgirls travel to Wichita next Tuesday for the second contest of the season.
Oklahoma State is coming off an outstanding finish at the Speedline Invitational in Florida where it won its final five games to clench the title, defeating No. 11 Stanford, 3-1, in the championship game. Wichita State has won three straight, most recently edging Pittsburgh State, 5-4, in Wichita.
SCOUTING REPORT ON WICHITA STATE
Wichita State has already defeated two Big 12 schools this year, Baylor and Texas Tech. The Shockers faced both at the Islander Invitational in Corpus Christie, Texas. WSU defeated Baylor, 4-1, and Tech, 3-1 and 8-3. The Shockers are led by Tina Lewis, who is batting .328 with two doubles and 12 runs scored. She also leads the team with a perfect seven-for-seven record on stolen bases. Lindsey Abbot leads the squad with five home runs and four doubles and ranks second with a .321 batting average. On the mound, WSU has three pitchers it consistently depends on. Lindsey Lang has the team-leading ERA at 2.46 but Lindsay Craig (2.66) and Katie Squires (2.86) are close behind. Both Lang and Craig have thrown over 50 innings. Lang leads the rotation with 50 Ks, averaging 6.48 per game.
LAST TIME OUT
Cowgirl senior Lauren Bay struck out 10 batters en route to MVP honors as the Oklahoma State softball team defeated 12th-ranked Stanford, 3-1, in the finals of the Speedline Invitational. Oklahoma State advanced to the finals following a 2-0 victory over Purdue in the semifinals. Sarah Seagraves struck out five while throwing the two-hit shutout. It took eight innings to put away the Boilermakers, but in the first extra frame, Ashleigh Tweed scored on a double by Megan Carey, who was promptly replaced by pinch runner Lacy Darity. Darity then scored on a base hit by Bay. It took the Cowgirls no time at all to score in the finals as OSU took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first against the No. 12 Cardinal. After a trio of errors by Stanford's defense, Cowgirl senior Stephanie Hodges added two runs to the scoreboard on a two-out single. That was all OSU needed as Stanford could produce just one run in the bottom of the fourth.
COWGIRLS SNAG HONORS IN HAWAII
Three Cowgirl seniors, Lauren Bay, Stephanie Hodges and Ryan Realmuto were selected to the all-tournament team at the Chevron Paradise Classic. Bay played in the outfield and on the mound while leading the Cowgirls with a .429 batting average in six games. She also had two home runs and five runs batted in. Realmuto was second on the squad, batting .389 with one home run and two doubles. Hodges rounded out the honors with a .286 batting average, one run batted in, a double and a team-leading three walks. As a team the Cowgirls finished second, falling to Washington in the championship contest.
BAY NAMED TO USA SOFTBALL WATCH LIST
Lauren Bay is one of 40 players named to the initial watch list for the second annual USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award. This award recognizes outstanding athletic achievement by female collegiate softball players and is considered the Heisman Trophy for the sport. The list will be narrowed to 25 on April 8th and cut to 10 on April 29th. Three finalists will be announced on May 13th, with the winner to be named at the 2003 NCAA Women's College World Series.
HOME RUN DERBY
Oklahoma State set a school record last season with 44 home runs, easily surpassing the old record of 30 set in 2000. Jade Lindly (12) and Ryan Realmuto (11) also broke the individual record, edging the former record (10). The Cowgirls are on track to shatter the record again in 2003 with 20 long balls 23 games.
BAY, LINDLY TOP THE BIG 12
Senior Lauren Bay and junior Jade Lindly were named the Big 12 Softball Pitcher and Player of the Week for the week of Feb. 17. The pair swept the weekly conference honors after an outstanding weekend at the Worth Wildcat Invitational, including a 1-0 win against defending-national champion Arizona. Bay fanned 15 batters and gave up just two hits en route to the shutout of second-ranked Arizona while Lindly hit .700 for the week and had game-winning home runs against Arizona and New Mexico.
BAY DOES IT AGAIN
Bay was tabbed Big 12 Pitcher of the Week for the second time this season after earning MVP honors at the Speedline Invitational and averaging 13.94 K's per game. The senior led the Cowgirls to the tournament title for the first time since 1995 when current Cowgirl coach, Kim Ward, was on the mound. She also broke the single game strikeout record in Florida, fanning 17 Maryland batters in seven innings.
2003 SCHEDULE
The Cowgirls will face seven opponents ranked in the NFCA preseason Top 25; Arizona, Nebraska, Washington, Oklahoma, Texas, Fresno State and Texas A&M. In the most recently released NFCA poll, nine OSU opponents dot the list, including five of the Top 10.
