Cowgirl Softball Prepares For Back-to-Back Spring Break Games

Full PDF Game Notes

The Basics

Oklahoma State Softball and second-year coach Kenny Gajewski will spend spring break with back-to-back games with North Texas and Missouri State The Cowgirls will travel to Denton Wednesday to face the Mean Green at 6:00 pm before returning home Thursday to host the Bears at 5:30 pm. Tickets for the MSU game start at $5.

Following the Action

Fans can follow both games with live stats at okstate.com or on Twitter (@CowgirlSB). Thursday's game against Missouri State, will be broadcast live on okstate.com/live or listen on 105.5 FM in Stillwater.

Oklahoma State snapshot

The Cowgirls traveled to Oxford, Miss., this past weekend and came away from the Ole Miss Classic with a 4-1 record, including a 5-1 win over No. 22 Ole Miss. OSU also posted wins over Eastern Kentucky and Jackson State. Jessi Haffner and Randee O'Donnell led the way at the plate throughout the tournament. Haffner went 5-for-9 with five RBIs, including a home run. Meanwhile O'Donnell went 7-for-16 with six runs scored, three RBIs and a two-run home run. Four different Cowgirl pitchers (Brandi Needham, Shea Coats, Christina Biggerstaff and Logan Simunek) earned wins on the weekend.
It was a dominating 6-1 week for the Cowgirls with wins over Evansville, Wichita State, Eastern Kentucky, Jackson State and No. 22 Ole Miss. Oklahoma State outscored its opponents 77-19 on the week. OSU batters knocked in 74 RBIs while their opponents could only muster 18. The Cowgirls walked 36 times while OSU pitchers walked just two opposing batters. Twice on the week (Evansville and Eastern Kentucky) Oklahoma State tied the school record for runs in a game with 21. That record has stood since 2000 when the Cowgirls defeated the Baylor Bears.
Taylor Lynch continues to lead the Cowgirl effort at the plate. She's batting a team-best .393 on 35 hits with 17 runs scored and 24 RBIs. Last week, Lynch's nine hits were the most in the Big 12 while her eight RBIs were fourth most in the conference. This year her .393 batting average is sixth-best in the Big 12, while her 35 hits is tied for the lead. Her 24 RBIs is tied for second most in the conference. Alongside her offense, Lynch has shined in the field at three different positions (right, second and first).
Rylee Bayless continues to shine in her first year in Stillwater. Last week, Bayless hit an impressive .333 with 11 runs scored and eight RBIs. Showing her good eye again, Bayless had six walks in the seven games. On the year, she leads the Big 12 with 31. Her 27 runs is tied for the most in the conference, as well. Through 28 games, Bayless is batting .347 with 26 hits and 21 RBIs.
Randee O'Donnell is coming off a big week. The junior hit .429 with nine hits, seven RBIs and eight runs. O'Donnell capped the impressive week off with a two-run home run against Eastern Kentucky in the final game of the Ole Miss Classic. Overall she led the Big 12 on the week with 16 total bases and tied Taylor Lynch and Kristin Reasnor for the most hits in the conference. On the year, she's batting .264 with 10 RBIs and 12 runs scored.
Shea Coats couldn't have asked for a much better week in the circle. The Tuttle, Okla., native went 2-1 with a 1.17 ERA and 24 strikeouts. She had two complete games, as well as her first complete-game shutout of the year against Eastern Kentucky to open the Ole Miss Classic. In 18 innings of work, she allowed just one walk and a low .179 opponent batting average. Twice on the week, Coats finished with nine strikeouts in a game, the most a Cowgirl pitcher has had this year. On the week she had the second most strikeouts in the Big 12, had the second-most innings pitched and had the seventh-lowest opponent batting average for the conference's pitchers.
The big question coming into this year was who would step in for 20-game winner Kacy Freeze and so far Brandi Needham has shown she is a solid answer. Needham went 2-0 with wins over Wichita State and No. 22 Ole Miss this past week. Needham pitched 13 innings between the two games, allowing no walks while striking out four. With the complete game against the Rebels, Needham now has five on the year, two of which are complete-game shutouts. On the year she's leading the team with an 8-4 record with 31 strikeouts and just 14 walks in 14 appearances.
With the season halfway done, the Cowgirls head into spring break with an 18-10 record. This time last year, the Cowgirls were sitting at 15-12. The 2016 Oklahoma State Softball team would go on to win 14 more games on their way to making the postseason for the first time since 2011. The offensive numbers between this year's squad and the one that made the postseason last year are similar. The Cowgirls scored 151 runs at this point last year, while this year's is a little ahead of the pace at 165.

Scouting the Opponents: North Texas and Missouri State

North Texas
2017: North Texas comes into the game with a 14-9 record, including 5-4 at home. Five players batting .300 or better.
Missouri State
2017: Comes into the week with a 10-9 record, including a 2-3 record on the road. Five players batting .300 or better.

Cowgirl Softball Prepares For Back-to-Back Spring Break Games

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Rylee Bayless

Christina Biggerstaff

Shea Coats

Kacy Freeze

Jessi Haffner

Taylor Lynch

Brandi Needham

Randee O'Donnell

Kristin Reasnor

Logan Simunek

Oklahoma State University Athletics

Cowgirl Softball Prepares For Back-to-Back Spring Break Games

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Rylee Bayless

Christina Biggerstaff

Shea Coats

Kacy Freeze

Jessi Haffner

Taylor Lynch

Brandi Needham

Randee O'Donnell

Kristin Reasnor

Logan Simunek

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