Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowgirls Head To Iowa State For Two Games
April 15, 2005 | Cowgirl Softball
Oklahoma State leads the series 43-12 and has won 14 of the last 15 contests. The lone loss was a 4-2 setback in eight innings at Cowgirl Stadium in 2000. Overall, the Cowgirls are 11-1 in Ames with the Cyclones earning their only win in 1994, a 4-2 decision.
The Cowgirls dropped both games of a doubleheader against seventh-ranked Texas A&M on Wednesday. The first contest was close with the Aggies earning a 2-1 win thanks to an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh. A&M controlled game two, cruising to a 7-2 win while facing four OSU pitchers.
ABOUT IOWA STATE
Iowa State is the only team in the Big 12 without a conference win, entering the weekend at 12-24 overall and 0-9 in league play. The Cyclones have lost four conference games by two runs or less including a 4-2 setback against Texas A&M on April 10. It took a two-run walk-off home run and eight innings for the Aggies to shake ISU. Most recently, Nebraska's Ashley DeBuhr tossed a perfect game against Iowa State to lead to Huskers to a 2-0 win.
Iowa State ranks 10th in the conference batting and pitching stats with a team average of .198 and a 3.16 ERA. Katie Reichling leads the team with a .296 average and seven doubles.
Kim Rogers is the speedster of the team, hitting four triples and going 10-for-13 on stolen base attempts. The rest of the team has been successful on just nine steals.
Alyssa Ransom has seen the bulk of the action in the circle, tossing 128.2 innings en route to a 3.32 ERA and 6-14 record. Katie Reichling fills the back-up role with a 2.81 ERA and 6-8 record in 89.2 innings.
2004 FLASHBACK
Oklahoma State's softball team picked up its first Big 12 win of the season on Sunday afternoon, sweeping Iowa State to end a four-game losing streak. The Cowgirls shut out the Cyclones 2-0 in the first game and posted a 5-2 win in the second contest.
The first game of the day was not big on offense but Oklahoma State got all it needed in one inning with a pair of runs off two hits and an Iowa State error. Stephanie Nicholson led off the fourth inning with a walk and moved to second on a single from Crystal Lee. The pair then advanced on a passed ball and Nicholson came home when a poor throw from ISU's catcher sent the ball into center field. Jade Lindly closed out the scoring by executing the squeeze bunt to bring Lee home for the second and final run of the game.
Jessica Hoppock (17-14) held the Cyclones to two hits in the contest, picking up her third shutout of the season while leading the Cowgirls to their first Big 12 win.
Home runs from Lindly and Shianne Cruce powered the Cowgirls to a 5-2 win over the Cyclones in the second half of the doubleheader. The Cowgirls had two home runs in one game for just the second time this season. Iowa State out-hit the Cowgirls 12-6 in the contest but OSU's offensive explosion in the fourth was too much to overcome.
Three of the Cowgirls six hits came in the fourth inning. The scored was tied 2-2 after two innings of play. Lee knocked Courtney Totte home with an RBI single in the first and Lindly scored on an error by Iowa State's catcher in the second but the Cyclones offense was clicking, combining for two runs off four hits in the top of the second.
Oklahoma State finally broke away in the fourth when Lindly hit her second home run of the year to give OSU the lead. Lacy Darity followed with a single and rounded the bases on Cruce's third long ball of the season.
The Cowgirls used all three of their pitchers in the second contest. Randi Cook gave up two runs off five hits in 1.1 innings of work before Kristen Neil came on in relief. Neil scattered seven hits but held the Cyclones scoreless in 5.0 innings of work. Hoppock completed the team effort, entering with the bases loaded and retiring the next two batters to earn her fourth save of the year.
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 123-81 record as a head coach into the Iowa State series. 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.
IN THE POLLS
Oklahoma State will face nine opponents ranked in the NFCA preseason Top 25, including three of the top four. In the most recently released poll, four of the Cowgirls opponents are ranked in the top 10. In addition, five Big 12 schools, Texas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Baylor and Missouri are ranked.
LOOKING AHEAD
Oklahoma State returns to Cowgirl Stadium to host Texas Tech for a doubleheader at 2 p.m. on Tuesday. A trip to Nebraska is on tap the following weekend, marking the Cowgirls final road games of the regular season.
