Cowgirl Softball Gears Up To Host Mizuno Classic

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The Basics

Oklahoma State Softball and second-year coach Kenny Gajewski return stay home this weekend to host the Mizuno Classic. The Cowgirls are scheduled to play five games in three days against Northern Iowa, Tennessee Tech and Abilene Christian

Following The Action

Fans can watch all the Oklahoma State-based games on okstate.com/live for free. You can also follow along with live stats at okstate.com or on Twitter (@CowgirlSB).

Oklahoma State snapshot

Oklahoma State returned home for the first time this season against Arkansas on Wednesday. The Cowgirls fell to the Hogs, 7-6, for just the second time ever in Stillwater. Rylee Bayless led the way at the plate for OSU going 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a walk. Vanessa Shippy also shined at the plate going 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a walk. The Cowgirls jumped out to an early 3-0 lead but three Arkansas home runs ended up being the difference in the game. Freshman Logan Simunek earned her second-straight start going 2.0 innings allowing three runs.
Vanessa Shippy once again finds herself batting north of .400 with an impressive. Shippy leads the team with an incredible .422 batting average on 19 hits, six of which have been for extra bases. Shippy has also shown she has a great eye as well, drawing the second most walks on the team thus far (14).
Rylee Bayless didn't wait long to impress those in Stillwater. In her home debut, Bayless went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a walk to go along with her great start to her first year at OSU. Bayless is batting an impressive .410 on 16 hits, five of which have been doubles. Bayless has brought home 10 runs while scoring 11 herself. She has also been a threat once she gets on the bases as she has stole a team-best five bases. In the field, Bayless has started all 16 games at third with a .968 fielding percentage.
Although just her second year in Stillwater, fans have become accustomed to seeing Taylor Lynch put up big numbers at the plate. Lynch is batting a cool .346 on the year with 18 hits and a team-best 12 RBIs. After breaking the school record with a 23-game hit streak in 2016, she holds the team's longest streak thus far in 2017 with a 12-game hit streak that ended against California in the Mary Nutter Classic. She has been consistent throughout the year at the plate with four multi-hit games thus far.
One of the bigger questions coming into 2017 was how would the Cowgirls replace 20-game winner Kacy Freeze in the circle, and so far Brandi Needham has been a solid answer to the question. She's third in the Big 12 with a 2.28 ERA while posting an impressive 5-3 record in 10 appearances. Two of Needham's six starts have been complete game shutouts and she leads the team in innings pitched (40.0) and strikeouts (21).
Early in 2017, the Cowgirls haven't backed down in one-run games. Oklahoma State is 4-1 in games decided by one run with wins over McNeese State, Penn State, Hofstra and UCSB. Holding teams to less than five runs has also been important as OSU is 8-2 on the year when doing so.
Oklahoma State has shown early on it isn't a team you can fall behind to if you expect to win, especially late in the game. The Cowgirls are a perfect 5-0 when leading after four and 6-0 when leading after six.
After a 15-game road trip to start the season, the Cowgirls finally return to Cowgirl Stadium. OSU will play eight games in Stillwater before hitting the road again on March 10 for the Rebel Classic at Ole Miss.

scouting the opponents: Tennessee tech, northern iowa, abilene
Tennessee Tech (4-10)
The team: Older team with six seniors on the team.
2017: Comes in with a 7-6 record.

Northern Iowa (7-6)
The team: Led by Bailey Lange with a .364 batting average on 12 hits and a team-best 10 RBIs.
2017: Comes in with a 7-6 record, with six of the seven wins coming from Alyssa Buchanan and Bailey Lange in the circle.

Abilene Christian (7-9)
The team: Led by Peyton Hendrick with a .362 batting average coming into the tournament. Has 17 hits with a team-high three home runs.
2017: Comes into the tournament after a loss to Northern Colorado. Season-high win streak stands at four.

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Players Mentioned

Rylee Bayless

Kacy Freeze

Taylor Lynch

Brandi Needham

Vanessa Shippy

Logan Simunek

Oklahoma State University Athletics