Cowgirls Drop Doubleheader Against BYU

Friday, March 20

Provo, Utah

5:00 PM

Oklahoma State University

16-14

BYU

18-7

Oklahoma State

BYU

March 20, 2015 | Cowgirl Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Box Score

March 20, 2015

PROVO, Utah. - The Oklahoma State softball team saw its seven-game win streak snapped on Saturday, as the Cowgirls dropped back-to-back decisions to BYU at Gail Miller Field in Provo, Utah.

Oklahoma State struggled through a 10-2 defeat in the nightcap, but nearly stole a victory from the Cougars in the opener before eventually falling, 2-1, in a narrow battle.

"Things didn't go our way in the first game, but we still played well against a good team," head coach Rich Wieligman said. "They took away our chance to take the lead, capitalized on it, and used that momentum to squeeze out a win. We'll look to turn things around tomorrow and come out with a win."

For the fifth-consecutive contest, the Cowgirls (16-15) were able to push a run across in the first inning. Leadoff batter Shelby Davis got things going with a walk, and advanced to second on Shianne Hughes' infield single. Three-hole Tiffany Mikkelson then attempted to bunt the runners over, but popped out to first on the sacrifice attempt.

In the next at-bat, Vanessa Shippy drew the Cowgirls' second walk of the inning, bringing Mallory Collins to the plate with the bases loaded. Collins hit a 2-1 pitch to the track in left, allowing Davis to tag from third and post the first run of the ballgame.

Brandi Needham, a winner in each of her last four starts, patrolled the circle for the Cowgirls from the start. The sophomore breezed through her first look at the BYU lineup, needing only 31 pitches to navigate through the first three frames.

The Cougars would finally break through against Needham in the fourth, using three base-hits to tie the game at one run apiece.

In the top of the sixth, Oklahoma State appeared to have recaptured the lead after Shippy tagged from second on Danielle Riddle's fly out to deep right-center. The Cougars appealed the play, though, and Shippy was ruled out at second for leaving early. The double play proved to be a huge momentum shift, as the Cougars would capitalize in the bottom of the frame.

With two outs, Sydney Broderick hit a double into the left-center gap, scoring Mercedes O'Connor for the eventual game-winning run. The Cowgirls were unable to answer in the top of the seventh, as McKee, DeLaCruz and Patton went down in order.

Despite having a solid outing, Needham was credited with the loss. She finished with three strikeouts, and allowed two earned runs on seven hits.

In game two, the BYU offense came alive, as the Cougars scored five second-inning runs on the way to a 10-2 run-rule victory. Oklahoma State only managed five hits off BYU starter Ashley Thompson, who outdueled Jessi Haffner and gave the freshman her first loss of the season.

BYU's big second inning was due in part to three Cowgirl errors, as all five of the Cougars' runs in the inning were unearned. After what would have been the third out of the inning, the home side put six-consecutive batters on base, capped off by Broderick's bases-loaded walk.

Oklahoma State pushed across individual runs in the third and the fifth thanks to the top third of the lineup. Davis, Hughes and Mikkelson each finished with a hit apiece, while Hughes and Mikkelson marked the Cowgirls' only runs scored. Mikkelson's 13-game hit streak was snapped in the opener.

The pair of losses marks OSU's first consecutive pair of defeats since dropping a doubleheader to North Texas on Feb. 28. During that span, the Cowgirls won 11 of 13 games, and ran a season-high seven-game win streak into Saturday's twin-bill.

Oklahoma State will look to return to the win column on Sunday, as it closes out the three-game series with the Cougars at 2 p.m. CT.