Cowgirls Knock Off No. 7 Arizona in Opening-Day Split

Friday, February 9

Tempe, AZ

10 A.M. CT

Oklahoma State University

0-1

Oregon State

1-0

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Oregon State	0	0	0	3	2	1	2	8	12	2
Oklahoma State	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	10	2

Photo by: Charles Taylor

February 09, 2018 | Cowgirl Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

PDF Box Score - OSU vs. Oregon State
PDF Box Score - OSU vs. Arizona
Postgame Quotes

TEMPE, Ariz. – The No. 24/21 Oklahoma State softball team picked up its first win of the 2018 Kajikawa Classic on Friday, defeating No. 7/7 Arizona, 9-4, at Farrington Stadium. The win helped the Cowgirls earn a split on opening day after falling to Oregon State, 8-2, in earlier in the day.

It is Oklahoma State's second win over a top-10 opponent during head coach Kenny Gajewski's tenure. The other was the Cowgirls' 1-0 win over top-ranked Florida during the NCAA Tournament last season.

"Obviously this one was a really good win," Gajewski said." In the first game, I didn't think we played well. But credit Oregon State for what they did. I thought we bounced back though. I'm excited for Emmie (Robertson). We had that big home run in the first inning that really got this team rolling like we can.

"I'm just excited for these kids, but the most important thing now is that we have to come back out tomorrow and play well again."

The Cowgirls jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning thanks to an RBI double from Sydney Pennington and a three-run home run from Madi Sue Montgomery. Montgomery smoked a second home run - this one a two-run shot - to straightaway center in the bottom of the sixth inning to give OSU a 9-4 advantage.

Montgomery finished 2-for-4 at the plate with those two home runs and a career-high five runs batted in. Her standout performance came just hours after a rough showing against Oregon State to open the day.

"I think I just saw the ball really well and I just wanted to go up there and see the first strike," Montgomery said. "I was tired of being hesitant and worried about it. I wanted to be more aggressive and just knowing that I'm going to be OK and to have that confidence in myself is a lot of what I think helped me."

Along with Montgomery, Oklahoma State got another day of seemingly endless production from Vanessa Shippy.

Shippy, ever the anchor in the Cowgirls' lineup, reach base in each of her eight plate appearances Friday, as she finished 5-for-5 at the plate and drew three walks. Her performance pushed her into eighth in Oklahoma State history with 198 career hits. Her three walks drawn Friday also helped her pass Tiffany Mikkelson for the top spot on OSU's career walks list. Shippy currently has 123 career walks to her name.

That's what my whole job has been here - to get on base," Shippy said. "I've know that its been my role since day one and I'm just glad I can do that again. To be on base for those people behind me - we have such a powerful offense this year that the more baserunners we can get on base, the better we're going to do, obviously. Just being able to do that so many times helps put our team in a good position and I'm glad I can do that."

In the circle, Emmie Robertson shut down one of the nation's best most potent offenses during her debut with the Cowgirls.

Robertson came up with big pitches at key moments throughout, including three inning-ending strikeouts to limit the Wildcats' offense to just four runs over seven frames. The right-hander logged four strikeouts in total and gave up just six hits during the complete-game performance.

Fresh faces dominated the circle for OSU throughout Friday's action, as junior transfer Samantha Clakley pitched six innings during the morning loss to Oregon State. Clakley struck out four and walked only two batters during her Oklahoma state debut.

"I'm excited about these two kids," Gajewski said. "Sam was a little unlucky today and kind of put herself in some bad spots too. That's just the way this game works. She'll bounce back tomorrow for sure. Emmie was really good. I could just tell. I asked Jeff (Cottrill) how she was in the bullpen and he said her heartbeat was good and it carried over.

"She's a kid who took a big risk to leave her school and come her to show people that she's capable of this. I'm very proud of her for making it happen."

Gajewski and the Cowgirls will be back in action tomorrow night for a doubleheader against Missouri and New Mexico. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. CT against the Tigers with the contest against the Lobos scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m. CT. Fans can catch all of the Cowgirls' remaining contests this weekend on FloSoftball (subscription required).

To keep up with everything else happening within the Oklahoma State softball program, follow the Cowgirls on Twitter (@CowgirlSB), Facebook (Cowgirl Softball) and Instagram (osusoftball).