Cowgirl Softball Heads to Mizzou

March 20, 2014

STILLWATER, Okla. - The Oklahoma State softball team wraps up its non-conference tournament schedule when it travels to Columbia, Mo., this weekend to compete in the Mizzou Tournament. While there, the Cowgirls will play No. 18/20 Missouri, UMKC and North Dakota State.

On Friday, the Cowgirls (17-10) open play against UMKC (9-16) at 6:45 p.m. Saturday, OSU will take on No. 18/20 Missouri (18-7) at 4:30 p.m., and will wrap up play on Sunday, when they take on North Dakota State (16-9) at 10 a.m.

OSU is 6-0 all-time against UMKC. The last time the two teams met was March 8, 2005, when the Cowgirls defeated the Kangaroos, 12-2. Oklahoma State is 57-41 all-time against Missouri, last meeting the Tigers on May 12, 2012, when OSU dropped a 1-0 contest. The Cowgirls are looking to snap a six-game losing streak against their former Big 12 foe. Meanwhile, this will be the first meeting between Oklahoma State and North Dakota State.

The 17-10 Cowgirls are off to their best start since 2011 and are coming off a rain shortened 3-2 week.

Offensively, the Cowgirls are hitting .304 as a team. Shelby Davis continues to lead Oklahoma State in batting average (.370), at bats (100), hits (37), stolen bases (21) and total bases (40). Davis is tied with Ari Morrison with 20 runs scored. Tiffany Mikkelson leads the team in doubles (seven), runs batted in (23), walks (15), slugging percentage (.545) and on-base percentage (.436), while Tarah Ettinger leads OSU with four home runs.

In the circle, Simone Freeman (12-5) has a 1.38 earned run average. She's started 17 games and has made a total of 21 appearances, registering 12 complete games and four shutouts. In 116.2 innings, she's given up 32 runs and struck out 159. Whitney Whitehorn (4-4) sports a 2.26 ERA in nine starts. In 40.1 innings, she's allowed 20 runs and struck out 20 batters.

A number of Cowgirls continue to hold spots in the Big 12 rankings. Davis is second in stolen bases with 18. Mikkelson ranks third in doubles, fifth in walks and seventh in RBIs.

Freeman is first in the conference in strikeouts. She is second in wins, shutouts, opponent batting average (.165) and in innings pitched. She ranks third in appearances, games started and complete games.

Nationally, Freeman is second in the country in total strikeouts with 159, while Davis ranks 12th in stolen bases.

Fans can follow the action on okstate.com through GameTracker or via Twitter @CowgirlSB.