Cowgirls Prepare For First Round Of Bedlam

Wednesday, May 3

Stillwater, OK

6:30 PM

Oklahoma State University

Oklahoma

May 02, 2017 | Cowgirl Softball

PDF Game Notes

THE BASICS

Oklahoma State Softball and second-year head coach Kenny Gajewski return to action for a three-game series against No. 7 Oklahoma starting Wednesday at Cowgirl Stadium on ESPNU. The two teams conclude the series with a home and home Friday in Saturday.

FOLLOWING THE ACTION

Cowgirl fans can catch Wednesday's game on ESPNU with Jenn Hildreth (Play by Play) and Carol Bruggeman (Color) on the call. Tune in to 105.5 FM in Stillwater with Bill Van Ness on the call. Live stats will be on okstate.com while in-game updates will be on Twitter (@CowgirlSB).

OKLAHOMA STATE SNAPSHOT

Oklahoma State comes into the week with a 33-19 record, including a 12-3 mark after taking one of three from No. 13 Baylor this past weekend in Waco. After dropping the first two games of the series in a doubleheader on Friday, the Cowgirls responded well as Brandi Needham went the distance in the circle to lead the Cowgirls to a 9-4 upset of the Bears. Hayleigh Galvan came on as a pinch hitter in the top of the fifth with the game tied at 4-4 and blasted a ball to the wall in LF to give the Cowgirls a 6-4 lead they wouldn't surrender. OSU scored five unanswered runs to finish the victory.
With a win on Wednesday, the Cowgirls will stay in contention for the Big 12 regular season championship, something they haven't done since the first two years of the Big 12 Conference in 1994-95. The road to the Big 12 Championship is pretty simple for the Cowgirls. Sweep the Sooners, and the trophy comes to Stillwater.
While the Cowgirls have shown their offense is good enough to compete with and beat most any team in the country, OSU's pitching staff has also shown it can do its part to win games. On the year, Oklahoma State is 20-0 when holding its opponents to two or less runs on the year and 30-5 when allowing five or less. The staff has been lead by seniors Brandi Needham and Shea Coats, who have combined for a 24-14 season. As important, Cowgirl pitchers have shown an ability to keep the team in tight games as OSU is 15-4 on the year when the game is decided by two or less runs. With the combination of good pitching and timely hitting, the Cowgirls are almost never out of any game.
Vanessa Shippy has once again shown why she is one of the best players in not only the Big 12, but the nation this year. On the year, Shippy is batting an impressive .414, the fourth-best in the Big 12. Across the conference she has the third-most hits (63), most triples (4), second-most walks (38), fourth-most runs (44), fifth-most doubles (12), fourth-most RBIs (43), second-most total bases (98), third-best on-base percentage (.526) and best slugging percentage (.645). Shippy has played well when the team has needed her, including conference play. In Big 12 games she's batting a team-best .444 on 20 hits with an OSU-high 16 RBI. Shippy has been solid in the field, as well, playing a team-high six positions this season.
Brandi Needham couldn't have asked for a much better final season in Stillwater. With 18 wins, Needham has 11 more than she finished with in 2016 and comes into the week with the second-most wins in the Big 12. Needham has been solid out of the bullpen and as a starter, throwing 11 complete games in 135.1 innings of work. More importantly, Needham has held opposing batters to a .277 batting average on the year.
The Cowgirl defense has led to plenty of double plays this year, in fact, it's led the to most double plays in the Big 12 this season at 21.
It doesn't matter who or how but Oklahoma State batters are getting on base this year. The Cowgirls check in with the eleventh-best on-base percentage in the country through 52 games. Getting on base is extremely important to head coach Kenny Gajewski as he knows the pressure it puts on the opposing defense and pitcher, so he's less concerned with how they do so. Whether it be hits (.307 batting average), walks (215, which leads the conference) or hit by pitches (39), the Cowgirls are finding their way on base which has led to 289 runs on the year, the second most in the Big 12.
This time last year, things were a little different for the Cowgirls in head coach Kenny Gajewski's first year in Stillwater. With one conference foe left in 2016, OSU was sitting at 6-9 in conference play looking to find its way into the fourth place spot to give itself a chance at a postseason opportunity. OSU of course won four of its last six games to finish in fourth and return to the postseason for the first time since 2011.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT: OKLAHOMA

Oklahoma

2017: Comes into the week as one of the best teams in the country with a 44-8 record, including a perfect 14-0 mark on the road this season. The Sooners have won 24 straight dating back to last season. The sooners have won their last 42 conference series. Oklahoma has been ranked in each of the last 333 polls, the only team in the country to do so.
2016: Finished 57-8 on its way to its third national title in program history.
2016 Oklahoma State/ Oklahoma Series: The Sooners got the better of the Cowgirls in the 2016 edition of Bedlam softball as the Sooners swept the season series.