Cowgirls Come Back Home For North Texas

Oklahoma State Softball and second-year head coach Kenny Gajewski return to action Wednesday when North Texas comes to Cowgirl Stadium. The Cowgirls will look to go for the season sweep at 6:00 p.m. The Cowgirls defeated North Texas 10-2 win in Denton on March 15.

FOLLOWING THE ACTION

Cowgirl fans can catch the game against the Mean Green on okstate.com/live with Bill Van Ness on the call. For those in Stillwater, they can listen to the game on 105.5 FM with Van Ness doing play-by-play. Live stats will be on okstate.com and in-game updates will be on Twitter (@CowgirlSB).

OKLAHOMA STATE SNAPSHOT

Oklahoma State comes into the week looking to rebound from an 0-4 week in which the Cowgirls fell to Tulsa and No. 5 Texas A&M. The Cowgirls faced four of the best pitchers in the nation in the back-to-back tough match ups.
To find the Cowgirls in the Big 12 Standings this week you'll have to go look at the top as OSU finds itself in the lead after the second weekend of competition. Oklahoma State sits alone at the top after starting conference play with a perfect 6-0 record after sweeps of Kansas and Texas. This marks the first time since 2013 the Cowgirls have won back-to-back conference series while its also the first time since 2010 the program has started 6-0 or better. After checking in at No. 49 in the initial RPI rankings two weeks ago, the Cowgirls now find themselves at No. 39.
Vanessa Shippy continues to lead the charge at the plate for the Cowgirls. In her last 10 games, Shippy is batting a team-best .433 on 13 hits, four of which have been for extra bases. She's also scored six runs and brought home 11. Shippy has done the No. 1 job as a hitter: get on base. She's posted a .500 on-base percentage to help lead OSU to six wins during the run. On the year, Shippy recently reached a historic milestone, becoming the second Cowgirl in program history to earn 100 or more walks against Tulsa on April 5. On the year she's batting .402 with 47 hits and 30 RBIs. Shippy has also been key to the Cowgirl defense, playing six different positions thus far to help move pieces around when needed.
Rylee Bayless has shined in her first year in Stillwater. Bayless has already set a new school record for walks in a year (48) and now needs just 19 more to reach the top 25 for most walks in a season in NCAA history. She currently leads the nation in walks and could become just the fourth Cowgirl in program history to lead the NCAA in any category. When she swings the bat, she's finding plenty of success with a .343 batting average on 35 hits with 28 RBI and 36 runs scored. Up to this point, Bayless is the only Cowgirl to have started every game at the same position (third) where she has posted a .939 fielding percentage.
Maddi Holcomb has quietly had a solid year in 2017. On the year Holcomb is batting .337 on 30 hits with 17 runs scored. Holcomb has shown an ability throughout the year out of the nine hole to turn the lineup over to the top of the lineup to give the Cowgirls plenty of scoring chances. More importantly for OSU, Holcomb has been incredible in center where she has routinely made spectacular catches that wow the crowds and save key hits. Holcomb has posted a .976 fielding percentage in the field with just one error and 39 put outs.
Taylor Lynch is off to another good start after an impressive freshman campaign. Lynch is batting .358 on the year on 43 hits with 24 RBI and 22 runs. Lynch has also shown you can't forget about her on the bases as she has taken five of six attempted stolen bases. After having never played the position before this year, Lynch has stepped up nicely in right field to complete the athletic Cowgirl outfield. Lynch has a .959 fielding percentage with just two errors and 40 putouts.
Brandi Needham and Shea Coats have stepped up in the circle to replace 20-game winner Kacy Freeze, who graduated after last season. Needham and Coats have combined for a 17-11 record with 12 complete games. While Coats and Needham aren't your traditional strikeout pitchers, the duo has produced with 105 on the year. More importantly, don't expect a lot of free bases when you see these two. The pair has allowed just 32 on the year, or a 105-32 strikeout to walk ratio so far.
The Cowgirls haven't been afraid to move people around this year. OSU has used five pitchers, two catchers, three first basemen, two second basemen, two shortstops, four left fielders, two center fielders, three right fielders and four designated players.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT: NORTH TEXAS

2017: Comes into the week with a 21-17 record, including a 3-9 mark on the road. As a team the Mean Green are batting .267 with three batters hitting .300 or better. Kelli Schkade is leading the way this year with a .365 batting average on 46 hits and 22 RBIs. Stacey Underwood has led the charge in the circle with a 12-7 record while striking out 75 in 130 innings of work. She has held opponents to a .267 batting average in her 21 games.

2017 Oklahoma State/North Texas Series: Oklahoma State cruised to a 10-2 win over North Texas in Denton on March 15. The Cowgirls finished with 13 hits and four walks on their way to the victory.

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Players Mentioned

Rylee Bayless

Shea Coats

Kacy Freeze

Maddi Holcomb

Taylor Lynch

Brandi Needham

Vanessa Shippy

Oklahoma State University Athletics