Oklahoma State University Athletics
Former Cowgirls Participate in Beijing Olympics
August 20, 2008 | Cowgirl Softball
A pair of former Cowgirls went head-to-head with the winner guaranteed a medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Canadian Lauren Bay Regula started in the circle opposite former Cowgirl Melanie Roche who started for the Australians.
Bay Regula gave up one run in the second inning and another in the top of the third, but the Canadians scored three in the bottom of the inning for a 3-2 lead. Australia tied the game up in the fourth, and scored two in the sixth for the 5-3 win. Bay Regula threw a complete game, allowing five runs on five hits and five walks. She also struck out nine batters, a personal best at the Beijing Olympics.
Roche started for the Aussies, but was pulled with two outs in the third after giving up three runs on three hits and three walks.
The Canadians settled for fourth place, up one spot from a fifth-place finish in 2004. Australia lost to Japan 4-3 in the following game and finished with a bronze medal, Roche's third bronze and fourth medal overall (Australia won the silver at the 2004 Athens games).
Monday, Aug. 18
Lauren Bay Regula and the Canadians struggled over the weekend. In a 4-0 loss to Australia on Sunday in which former Cowgirl Melanie Roche also pitched for the Aussies, Bay Regula picked up the loss after allowing three runs on just two hits but walked six batters in six innings. She also had six strikeouts. Meanwhile, Roche pitched the final two innings and picked up a save.
In Monday's final game for the Canadians, Bay Regula gave up three runs, just one earned, on three hits while walking four and striking out three in 2-1/3 innings as Japan won, 6-0. The loss dropped Bay Regula to 2-2 in the Olympics as Canada fell to 3-4.
Australia, meanwhile, defeated Venezuela 9-2 on Monday and finished the preliminary rounds with a 5-2 mark to finish third. Canada finished fourth, meaning both former Cowgirls will be playing in the semifinals on Wednesday. No. 1 seed United States (7-0) takes on second-seeded Japan (6-1) in the first game, which starts at 8:30 p.m. Oklahoma time on Tuesday. In the second semifinal, third-seeded Australia (5-2) squares off with No. 4 Canada (3-4) at 11 p.m.
On Wednesday at 4 a.m. CT, the winner of Australia-Canada will take on the loser of United States-Japan. The winner moves on to play for the gold medal, the loser takes the bronze. The championship game is scheduled for 5:30 a.m. Oklahoma time on Thursday.
Friday, Aug. 15
Following a game that was suspended due to rain with the Canadians up 1-0 on the United States, former Cowgirl Lauren Bay Regula threw a complete-game shutout against China as Team Canada won in dramatic fashion, 1-0.
Bay Regula allowed just two hits and two walks, one intentional, while striking out six in garnering the victory.
The only run of the game was scored on an inside-the-park homer in the sixth inning by Jennifer Yee.
Bay Regula retired the side in the sixth. However, a leadoff double by Zhang Ai in the seventh, a bizarre run-down play in which Ai was safe at third and Li Chunxia reached second, and an intentional walk given to Guo Jia loaded the bases with no outs.
Bay Regula forced Sun Li to pop up for the first out, and threw Ai out at home for a force out on the ensuing play. The former Cowgirl then got Zhang Lifang to pop up to first in foul territory, improving her own record in this year's Olympics to 2-0.
Following their win, the Canadians resumed their rain-suspended game with the USA. Up 1-0 entering the fourth inning, Canadian coach Lori Sippel elected to go with Bay Regula rather than Dione Meier, the original starter from Thursday night.
Bay Regula threw two hitless innings, allowing just two walks while striking out one. However, Sippel brought in Meier to start the sixth, and that's when the Americans exploded for four runs. The USA added four more in the seventh for the 8-1 victory, dropping the Canadians to 3-1 and tied for second place in the preliminary rounds.
Another former Cowgirl, Melanie Roche, came on in relief in the fourth inning for Australia vs. China. With a 3-1 lead, Roche threw four scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and striking out one for the save for Australia's first win at the Beijing Olympics. Australia defeated Chinese Taipei on Friday and improved to 2-2 in the preliminary round.
Tuesday, Aug. 12
A pair of former Oklahoma State Cowgirls each started in the circle for their respective countries during the preliminaries of the softball competition at the Beijing Olympics Tuesday evening.
Lauren Bay Regula, a first-team All-American for OSU in 2003, went five innings for Canada, striking out eight and scattering five walks, as the Canadians defeated Chinese Taipei, 6-1. She allowed just one hit, with two outs in the fifth, when Miao-Yi Chen singled up the middle. Bay Regula struck out the next batter to retire the side, and was relieved in the sixth inning by Robin Mackin.
Melanie Roche, a two-time first-team All-American for the Cowgirls in 1992 and 1993, was not as fortunate. She started in the circle for the Australian National Team, but gave up four runs, three of them earned, on four hits in four innings of work as Australia lost to Japan, 4-3.
