Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State to Visit Tulsa
March 23, 2007 | Cowgirl Softball
Oklahoma State hosts Kansas in its Big 12 opener on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Cowgirl Stadium, with the series finale set for Sunday at 1 p.m. Both games can be heard live on KSPI 780 AM with Bill Van Ness providing the commentary. OSU is 6-5 all-time in its Big 12 opener, including a 1-0 win last year over the Jayhawks in Lawrence that needed eight innings to complete. This marks the fifth time OSU and KU have opened conference play against each other since the league was formed in 1996. Kansas, the defending Big 12 Tournament champions, is 21-9-1 on the season. KU enters the series this year coming off of a loss to Sacramento State. The Jayhawks have not lost back-to-back games since losing a pair of games to Kent State and Louisville back on Feb. 23. KU boasts one of the Big 12's top pitchers in Kassie Humphreys. Humphreys is 11-3 on the season with a 1.42 ERA. Opponents are hitting just a mere .175 against her. Stevie Crisosto leads the team in hitting with a .362 average, while Elle Pottorf is the Jayhawks biggest run producer with five home runs and 26 RBIs. OSU is coming off of a win over Tulsa and stands at 20-17 on the season. Kansas has split a pair of games with Tulsa earlier this season. Courtney Totte was the only Cowgirl who failed to get a hit against the Hurricane and had her hitting streak snapped at 11. What to Watch For
Courtney Totte needs just one RBI to tie Jamie Foutch for the single season school record with 51. Shanel Scott set the single season steal record, and she now holds every stolen base record except for the single game record, which she has tied three times this season with three steals.
Bottom Produces
Oklahoma State has not gotten much production from the bottom part of the order this season. Going into the Tulsa game, the first five hitters in the lineup were hitting a combined .332 with 89 RBIs, while the bottom four hitters were hitting .173 with 28 RBIs. Against Tulsa, the bottom of the order went 7-for-12 and drove in seven of the 13 runs scored in the game.
Totte Having Dream Season
Senior Courtney Totte is having a dream season as she has set, or is about to set career highs in just about every statistical category. She is hitting a career best .427 with highs in doubles (14), home runs (9), RBIs (50), total bases (90), slugging percentage (.818) and on base percentage (.456). She has needed just 36 games to set these marks, and still has 23 games left on the schedule, not counting any postseason games.
Totte Streak Comes to an End
Courtney Totte had a team high 11-game hitting streak snapped against Tulsa on Mar. 22. She hit a robust .579 (22-for-38) over the 11-game span with four home runs and 22 RBIs. She also connected on eight doubles and slugged at a 1.105 clip over that span. She had at least two hits in seven of those games, including at least two hits in each of her last five games of the streak. She had a streak with an RBI in five consecutive games snapped asa well, including a five-RBI game and a six-RBI game. Over those five games she hit .765 (13-for-17) with 17 RBIs.
Cowgirls set marks against Drake
A pair of Cowgirls set single game records in the first game of a double header against Drake. Leadoff hitter Shanel Scott reached base all five times she came to the plate and came around to score each time, to set the single game record in runs scored. The previous high of four happened twice in the same game against Baylor back in 2000. Courtney Totte recorded an RBI in each of her first three at bats, before clearing the bases in the sixth inning with a three-run double to give her six RBIs for the contest. Six RBIs in a game had been done three times previously, the last time was by Stephanie Nicholson in 2003.
Scott Sets Steals Mark
Shanel Scott went into the double header with Drake needing just two steals to set the single season stolen base record. It did not take her long as she reached base her first two plate appearances and promptly swiped second base each time. She stole three bags in the first game of the double header, the third time this season she has had as many as three steals in a game, and she currently leads the Big 12 with 31 steals on the season.
Totte Clearing the Bases
Senior Courtney Totte has been driving in runs at a record pace this season. With 50 RBIs she has already set her career high and is just one ribbie shy of tying the single season school record held by Jamie Foutch. She has had 14 games this season where she has driven in more than one run. In addition, Totte is also on pace to set the single season record in home runs. She already set her career high with nine, which ranks fifth all-time at OSU for a single season. She is slugging a Ruthian .818 on the season.
