Cowgirl Softball Hits The Road To Open Up 2017 Season

Games Notes

Game Center
Opponents: McNeese State, LSU & Penn State
Dates: Feb. 10-12
Tickets: lsusports.net
TV: SECN+ (LSU games only)
Radio: None
Satellite Radio: None
Internet Radio: lsusports.net/live (LSU games only)
Live Stats: lsu.statbroadcast.com

The Basics
?Second-year head coach Kenny Gajewski and the Cowgirls look to build on last season's postseason run as they open up 2017 at the Tiger Classic in Baton Rouge, La. Oklahoma State is scheduled for five games in three days against
McNeese State, LSU and Penn State.

On The Air
?SEC Network+ will carry the Cowgirls' two games against host LSU. Lyn Rollins will be carrying out the play-by-play
duties while former LSU head coach Yvette Girouard wil be the color analyst. Fans must have the SEC Network to watch
the game on the Watch ESPN App.

Oklahoma State Snapshot
?Head coach Kenny Gajewski didn't wait long to bring success back to Stillwater. Winning seven of their last nine, the Cowgirls reached the postseason for the first time since 2011 last year. Once there,the OSU posted three wins before falling to Georgia in the Regional Championship game.

?Oklahoma State returns 12 Cowgirls from last season's team, including seven starters. OSU is led by 2016 Co-Big 12
Player of the Year Vanessa Shippy, 2016 All-Big 12 Freshman Team Selection Taylor Lynch and Madi Sue Montgomery. The trio combined for 45 percent of the team's hits last season on a combined .377 batting average. The group also contributed with runs, bringing home 128 of the team's 315 RBIs in 2016.

?2016 was a year of history, as the Cowgirls broke an incredible 11 offensive records. OSU also watched as senior TiffanyMikkelson broke the school record for home runs with 35. Vanessa Shippy was also the first Cowgirl since Lauren Bay in 2013 to be named an Academic All-American, All-American and Big 12 Player of the Year in the same year.

?The Cowgirls welcome 11 newcomers to this year's squad, with the notable addition of Rylee Bayless. Bayless joins the
Cowgirls after being named the NJCAA Female Student Athlete of the Year in 2016 and the NJCAA Softball Player of the
Year the previous two. Another notable addition comes in Mackenzie Thomas, who transferred from McNeese State, OSU's opening day opponent, over the winter break. Thomas is expected to help spread out Shippy's time behind the plate and allow her to play multiple positions throughout the season.

?Guess who is back... Back again. Vanessa Shippy, a 2016 Academic All-American and All-American, returns to Stillwater for her junior year after a historic sophomore campaign. Shippy hit a Big 12-best .425 on 76 hits with an incredible .592 slugging percentage. She broke OSU-season records for on-base percentage (.543%), runs scored (58) and walks (43). Shippy was an example of consistency, starting all 58 games for the Cowgirls.

?Sophomore Taylor Lynch comes into 2017 looking to build off an impressive freshman year in which she was named an All-Big 12 Second Team and All-Big 12 Freshmen Team Selection. Lynch started and played in 57 games after missing the
first of the year on her way to batting .391, the second best on the team. Lynch was all over the bases, picking up a team-best 108 total bases.

?While some talk about having a staff, the Oklahoma State pitching staff truly is just that. The Cowgirls will rely upon up to four pitchers to start and come out of the bullpen throughout the year. Seniors Shea Coats and Brandi Needham return after
combining for 13 of the team's wins in 2016. Whitney Whitehorn and Christina Biggerstaff join the rotation after sitting out last season while freshman Logan Simunek is the new addition to the group. With a good combination of experience, and different strengths the group could combine for a solid 2017 season.

?The Cowgirls once again hit the road for the entire month of February, playing 15 games in three weeks in three different time zones. In total, OSU will travel a grand total of 6, 362 miles those three weeks. 6,362 miles? That's like making not one,
but two trips to Hawaii.

The Opponents
?LSU Notes
2016 Record: 52-18
The Team: LSU returns five positional starters and all three starting pitchers. In all, the team has 15 letter winners returning.
Last Year: Made a trip to the WCWS where the Tigers dropped their first two games to Michigan and Alabama.

?McNeese State Notes
2016 Record: 43-14
The Team: Returns six starters from last season.
Last Year: Reached the postseason where the team went 1-2 in the Baton Rouge, La. Regional.

?Penn State Notes
2016 Record: 30-24
The Team: Penn State returns five starts from a team that finished fourth in Big 10 action in 2016.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Rylee Bayless

Christina Biggerstaff

Shea Coats

Taylor Lynch

Madi Sue Montgomery

Brandi Needham

Vanessa Shippy

Logan Simunek

Mackenzie Thomas

Whitney Whitehorn

Oklahoma State University Athletics