Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowgirl Softball to Compete in Border Wars
March 25, 2008 | Cowgirl Softball
Oklahoma State (14-16)
at the Border Wars
Lady’Back Field • Fayetteville, Ark.
Wed., March 26 • 3 & 5 p.m.
Oklahoma State vs. Tulsa • 3 p.m.
Oklahoma State vs. Arkansas • 5 p.m.
Arkansas vs. Tulsa • 7 p.m.
Cowgirls to Compete in Border Wars
• Oklahoma State travels to Fayetteville, Ark., on Wednesday to participate in the Border Wars, an annual round-robin tournament involving OSU, Tulsa and Arkansas.
• The Cowgirls will face Tulsa at 3 p.m. and Arkansas at 5 o’clock at Lady’Back Field.
• OSU is 6-4 all-time in the Border Wars while Arkansas is 5-5 and Tulsa is 4-6.
Border Wars History
• The Border Wars Series began in 2001 as a three-game round-robin tournament between Arkansas, Oklahoma State and Tulsa.
• The series was held in Stillwater the first season, and has since rotated through Fayetteville and Tulsa.
• Oklahoma State is 6-4 in the five Border Wars, having won at least one game each season and winning the title in 2005.
• Arkansas is 5-5 overall, having won the first two Wars in 2001 and 2002.
• Tulsa is 4-6 in the series, winning the title in 2004 and 2006.
• The Border Wars were rained out in 2003 and last season.
Series History vs. Tulsa
• Oklahoma State is 21-8 all-time against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane in softball, dating back to 1979. However, only two of the games in the series took place before 1993.
• The Cowgirls won the first 11 meetings in the series until Tulsa finally broke into the win column by surprising the eighth-ranked Cowgirls 2-0 in Stillwater in 1998.
• Since then, the series has been quite balanced with OSU holding a slim 10-8 margin.
• There have been nine shutouts in the series, with Oklahoma State throwing five of the nine and Tulsa pitching the other four.
• The Cowgirls have won three of the last four games in the series and have won both Border Wars games played in Fayetteville.
Series History vs. Arkansas
• Up until this season, Oklahoma State’s all-time series with Arkansas consisted of the five games played in the Border Wars.
• Earlier this year, the two teams met up in the Century Bank Classic held in Texarkana, Texas.
• Arkansas won both games by a one-run margin.
• Arkansas leads the series 4-3 and four of the last five games have all been decided by one run. The only blowout in the series was OSU’s 8-1 victory in the 2006 Border Wars in Tulsa.
• Oklahoma State won the last Border Wars game played in Fayetteville, 4-3.
Cowgirls Play with World’s Best
• Oklahoma State played an exhibition game with the USA National Team in Oklahoma City on Monday night and held its own against the best in the world.
• Anna Whiddon threw four innings and despite giving up four runs, including three on solo home runs, she was able to strike out two World Champions in Caitlin Lowe and Andrea Duran.
• The Cowgirls put together three-consecutive hits off three-time Olympic gold medalist Lisa Fernandez. Alysia Hamilton, Kim Kaye and Megan Castle each got a base hit off one of the greatest pitchers of all time.
At the Plate
• Oklahoma State has six players batting .300 or better this season, led by freshman Mariah Gearhart’s .352 average. Sophomore Megan Castle is batting .338 while freshman Alysia Hamilton is batting .333.
• The Cowgirls have hit 39 doubles this season, led by Heather Kim’s eight. OSU has 25 home runs, led by Kim Kaye’s nine.
• The Cowgirls have scored a runner from third base with less than two outs 44.3 percent of the time.
• OSU is batting .284 with two outs, but has 55 two-out RBIs, including a team-high 12 by Mariah Gearhart.
Hammering the Ball
• As a team, Oklahoma State has hit 25 home runs this season. That already ranks as the eighth-most in a single season in school history.
• The Cowgirls are averaging 0.83 homers per game this year. The school record is 0.89 in 2003 when OSU hit 48 bombs in 54 games.
• Senior Kim Kaye has nine home runs, matching her single-season total from a year ago and tying Michele Smith for the sixth most in school history.
Balanced Attack
• Oklahoma State’s offensive output has been very balanced this season. No longer does OSU have to rely on one or two players to get to the plate in run-scoring situations.
• Ten different Cowgirls have hit at least one home run this season, and seven players have hit at least two. Senior Kim Kaye is the only player with four or more.
• Eight different players have multiple doubles this year, led by Heather Kim’s eight and Katelyn Bright with seven.
• Seven different Cowgirls have scored at least 10 runs and six have at least 10 RBIs in 30 games so far this season.
Kaye in the Record Books
• Cowgirl senior Kim Kaye’s name is scattered throughout the career record book at Oklahoma State.
• She currently has nine home runs this season, third in the Big 12 Conference. Her 22 career home runs rank sixth in the school record books. She is currently tied with Stephanie Nicholson and needs one to tie Courtney Totte and Megan Carey for fourth place.
• Kaye is fifth on the career doubles list with 27. She needs six to catch Stephanie Nicholson and tie for fourth place.
• Kaye’s 85 runs batted in rank her seventh in school history. She needs two RBIs to tie Michele Smith for sixth place.
• Her 215 total bases ranks 12th all-time in school history. Four bases will move her into the top 10.
• Kaye’s .517 career slugging percentage ranks seventh in school history.
• Earlier this season, she moved into the top-25 in school history for runs scored. She currently has 70, ranking 17th.
In the Circle
• Sophomore pitcher Anna Whiddon has 59 strikeouts and just 19 walks, a 3.1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Her 1.61 earned run average ranks in the Big 12’s top 10 individually.
• Freshman Amanda Crabtree has thrown nine complete games, the fifth-most in the Big 12 this season. Her 83.2 innings pitched also ranked fifth in the league.
In the Field
• OSU has turned 10 double plays so far this season.
• The school record for double plays turned is 19 by the 2000 Cowgirls.
• Oklahoma State needs just two double plays to move into the top 10 in school history.
• The Cowgirl catchers have thrown out 13 of 40 runners attempting to steal, nearly 33 percent.
• Oklahoma State’s .967 fielding percentage currently ranks as one of the best in school history. The record is .971, while the second-best percentage is .966.
Coach Rich Wieligman
• Coach Rich Wieligman is in 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 39-49 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.
Upcoming Week
• OSU hosts Baylor in home Big 12 action this weekend. The two teams will play at 2 p.m. on Saturday and noon on Sunday. Both games will be broadcast on KSPI-780 AM.
• Next Tuesday, the Cowgirls and North Texas will make up the game originally scheduled for Feb. 27. Game time is set for 5 p.m.
• The following day is Bedlam as the Oklahoma Sooners come to town. First pitch is slated for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised by the Cowboy Sports Network.
Cowgirls on the Radio
• Wednesday’s doubleheader in Fayetteville will be broadcast live over the radiowaves on KSPI-780 AM in Stillwater.
• Bill Van Ness will handle the radio broadcast as he has done for the past 12 seasons.
• A complete list of games that will be on the radio can be found on the schedule/results page later in this release.
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, OSU 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).
• OSU’s all-time record in the sport of softball is 1,164-577-3 (.668), including a 291-108-3 (.728) record at home, a 623-316 (.663) record on neutral fields, and a 198-134 (.596) record on the road.
