Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowgirl Softball Heads to Denton and Las Cruces
February 21, 2008 | Cowgirl Softball
Oklahoma State (7-3)
at North Texas (3-5) • Denton, Texas
Wednesday, Feb. 20 • 5 p.m.
at Troy Cox Classic • Las Cruces, N.M.
Friday - Sunday, Feb. 22-24
Quick Notes — North Texas • at Denton, Texas
• Oklahoma State travels to Denton, Texas, this Wednesday for a mid-week matchup with the North Texas Mean Green. First pitch is slated for 5 p.m.
• OSU is 5-2 all-time against North Texas, including a 1-0 mark in Denton. Last year’s meeting at North Texas was rained out.
• Four of the Cowgirls’ five wins in the series have come by shutouts. UNT won back-to-back games in 2004 and ‘05.
Quick Notes — Troy Cox Classic • Las Cruces, N.M.
• This weekend, OSU will have two first-time opponents in Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Utah Valley.
• Oklahoma State is 1-0 all-time against both Indiana State and Samford. The Cowgirls have not played either team in the last 17 seasons.
• OSU and New Mexico State have been frequent opponents, although not in the last seven seasons. The Cowgirls lead the series, 16-2.
• OSU and New Mexico State have played each other in Las Cruces on eight occasions, with the Cowgirls holding a 7-1 edge.
• Oklahoma State is 57-15 all-time in the state of New Mexico, including a 47-10 mark in Las Cruces.
In the Circle
• Oklahoma State’s pitching staff has thrown two shutouts this season, including a 5-0 one-hitter by freshman Amanda Crabtree vs. Temple in the last game. She ranks third in the Big 12 Conference with 36 strikeouts and fourth in innings pitched.
• Another freshman, Sarah Odom, is 4-0 this season and ranks fifth in the Big 12 with a 0.83 earned run average. She threw a complete game against No. 15 Washington in Tempe.
At the Plate
• As a team, Oklahoma State ranks second behind Baylor in the Big 12 with its .315 batting average. The Bears are batting .333 in four games. OSU leads the league in slugging percentage (.498), at-bats (295), hits (93), home runs (13) and sacrifice bunts (14).
• Freshman shortstop Mariah Gearhart leads the Big 12 Conference with 15 base hits and ranks second in the league with her .469 batting average.
• Freshman second baseman Alysia Hamilton ranks seventh in the Big 12 with her .400 average while senior Kim Kaye ranks eighth at .382.
• Kaye leads the conference in home runs (5), runs scored (11) and total bases (30). She is second in RBIs (9) and slugging percentage (.882).
• Hamilton and Kaye are tied for fifth in doubles with three each.
• Gearhart is second in the league with her eight stolen bases. Through 10 games, she is already tied for 23rd place on the school single-season stolen bases list. Shanel Scott established a school record last season with 51 stolen bases in 58 games, or 0.88 stolen bases per game. Gearhart is averaging 0.80 per contest.
Kaye in the Record Books
• Cowgirl senior Kim Kaye’s name is scattered throughout the career record book at Oklahoma State.
• With three home runs during the opening weekend, she moved from ninth to seventh on the school record book, surpassing Kim Ward (14 home runs) and Michele Smith (15). Kaye now has 18 bombs and needs four to tie Stephanie Nicholson for sixth place.
• Kaye is tied for ninth on the career doubles list with 24. Three more would move her into the school top five.
• Kaye’s 72 runs batted in following last weekend tie her for ninth in school history. She is tied with Pam Harper. Kaye needs four to surpass Stephenie Little for eighth and eight to move past Tonia Brown and into seventh place.
• Her 186 total bases ranks 16th all-time in school history. This past weekend, she accumulated 13, moving her past K.K. McCoy (176), Sharon Sodano (181), Kristi Bölle (185) and Mary Hammen (185). Ten bases will move her past Jenny Kipp and into 15th place.
• Kaye’s .521 career slugging percentage ranks seventh in school history.
• She moved into the top-25 in school history for runs scored last week. She currently has 64, ranking 23rd.
Coach Rich Wieligman
• Coach Rich Wieligman is entering his second season as the head coach of the Cowgirls. He is just the fifth coach in the history of the program.
• He has compiled a 32-36 record at Oklahoma State.
• Coach Wieligman is no stranger to the Big 12 Conference. He has spent time at Baylor, Texas A&M and Texas Tech as an assistant coach.
History of Cowgirl Softball
• Oklahoma State has a rich tradition in the sport of softball. The Cowgirls have made six trips to the Women’s College World Series and have never finished lower than fourth in any of those six appearances.
• In the old Big Eight Conference, Oklahoma State won nine league titles.
• A list of former Cowgirls includes gold-medal winner Michele Smith (USA Olympic Team), Olympian Melanie Roche (Australian Olympic Team), Olympian Lauren Bay (Canadian Olympic Team), Jaime Foutch (WPF All-Star) and Shanel Scott (NPF All-Star).
• Oklahoma State’s all-time record in the sport of softball is 1,157-564-3 (.672), including a 619-312 (.665) record on neutral fields.
