Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowgirls Travel To Wichita State
March 21, 2005 | Cowgirl Softball
The Cowgirls are riding a four-game winning streak and have won 11 of their last 12. During that span OSU has posted five shutouts and held its opponent to two runs or less in each win.
LAST TIME AGAINST THE SHOCKERS
The long ball was once again the key to Oklahoma State's success as the Cowgirls hit three in a 10-0 win against Wichita State on Thursday at Cowgirl Stadium. The three home runs accounted for eight of the 10 runs scored and marked the fourth time this season that the Cowgirls have had three or more in a game. OSU improved to 21-9 overall while Wichita State fell to 14-10. OSU got its offense going in the third inning and never looked back. Two runs crossed home plate on a play that started with a Megan Carey single. Carey's ball brought Stephanie Nicholson in from second and Courtney Totte took three bases on the play after a throwing error from Wichita State's center fielder. The remaining eight runs all came from home runs. Dominique Van Nortwick started the trend with a leadoff homer in the fourth. After an error and a pair of singles, Nicholson hit a grand slam to up the Cowgirls lead to 7-0. Tara Jeffery went yard for the fourth time this year and knocked in the final three runs of the game in the sixth inning, giving the Cowgirls their eighth run-rule win of the season. In her first appearance since February 26, Marjorie Johnson tossed 5.0 shutout innings and allowed just one hit while walking five and striking out seven. Jessica Hoppock closed out the contest, walking one and fanning one.
HEAD COACH MARGARET REBENAR
Margaret Rebenar is in her 26th season season as a softball coach at Oklahoma State and fourth as a head coach. Rebenar joined the Cowgirl softball program in 1980 after serving as a pitching coach at UCLA for one season. After filling the assistant coach role for 22 seasons, Rebenar was named the head coach in 2001. Rebenar led the 2003 Cowgirls to a second-place finish in the Big 12 regular season race and their first NCAA Regional appearance in five years. Under her guidance, 23 players have earned All-American status 29 times, including Olympians Michele Smith, Melanie Roche and Lauren Bay. Rebenar brings a 117-75 record as a head coach into Tuesday's contest. Hitting the century mark was an exciting game for Rebenar as the Cowgirls staged a come-from-behind victory at UNLV, scoring four runs in the top of the seventh to earn a 4-1 win.
SCOUTING WICHITA STATE
Wichita State enters the contest 17-10 overall, after taking three from Indiana State over the weekend. As a team the Shockers are hitting .270 with three players hitting over .300. Julie Darling leads the team with a .387 batting average and is third on the squad with four home runs. Margo Pruis and Lindsay Craig lead the pitching staff. Pruis is 7-4 on the year with a 1.42 ERA and three shutouts. Craig has tossed one shutout en route to a 7-4 record and 1.91 ERA.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Cowgirls will host Tulsa at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday before opening conference play against Missouri this weekend. The Cowgirls and Tigers take the field at 7 p.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. on Saturday.
COWGIRL SOFTBALL ON THE AIR
Oklahoma State's home conference games, as well as the OU game in Norman, the Border War in Fayetteville, Ark., and all postseason contests will be broadcast live on Stillwater Radio. Bill VanNess will provide the play-by-play for the seventh consecutive season. Any game starting prior to 5 p.m. will air on KSPI 780 AM. Any game starting at 5 p.m. or later will be broadcast on KGFY 105.5 FM.
COWGIRL SOFTBALL ON THE WEB
For the latest information on 2005 Cowgirl Softball visit the official web site of Oklahoma State Athletics at www.okstate.com. Live stats will be available online for all home events and select away games. The games listed below will be broadcast via a live video feed on the web site as part of the MVP package.
