Oklahoma State University Athletics
Friday, May 18
Fayetteville, AR
1:30 P.M. CT
Oklahoma State University
vs
Wichita State
Photo by: OSU Athletics
Cowgirls Set For Third-Straight NCAA Tournament Appearance
May 16, 2018 | Cowgirl Softball
PDF Postseason Guide
STILLWATER – The Oklahoma State softball season continues this weekend when the Cowgirls head to Fayetteville, Arkansas, for NCAA Tournament regional action. OSU will face several familiar foes in the Fayetteville Regional, as head coach Kenny Gajewski's team begins the NCAA Tournament Friday against Wichita State, before awaiting either DePaul or the regional hosts themselves, No. 13-seeded Arkansas, on Saturday.
In the Rankings
Oklahoma State is receiving votes in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll and in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 this week. The Cowgirls have been ranked in at least one of the national polls 11 times this season, peaking as high as No. 15 and falling out of the top 25 only twice.
Oklahoma State From a Distance
Oklahoma State enters the 2018 NCAA Tournament with a swell of support surrounding the program. Much of that has to do with a successful regular season that saw the Cowgirls achieve feats for the first time in nearly a decade, and some for the first time ever in the program's tenure. OSU's immense success is rooted in a loaded roster that features several All-Big 12 performers and an interesting mix of youth and experience throughout the batting order and pitching staff.
Leading the line for the Cowgirls is Vanessa Shippy, whose incredible 2018 campaign has seen her named one of 10 finalists for the 2018 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, as well as earning her second Big 12 Player of the Year honor. The Texas two-step of Taylor Lynch and Madi Sue Montgomery follow Shippy, with the pair combining to hit 23 home runs so far this year. All three rank as some of the most successful Cowgirls in OSU lore and have been the three anchors in head coach Kenny Gajewski's lineup over the past three seasons.
Along with the talented trio, the lineup features freshman talents in Sydney Pennington and Chelsea Alexander, who have blossomed into everyday starters for the Pokes. In the circle, junior transfer Samantha Clakley is the staff's workhorse, while Emmie Robertson and Logan Simunek round out a dynamic staff.
Notable Streaks and Trends
- OSU is 36-23 in games decided by two runs or less since the start of the 2016 season.
- Vanessa Shippy has started 231 consecutive games, tying the OSU records for: most games played, most games started and most consecutive games started.
- Madi Sue Montgomery has started 179 consecutive games and has never missed a game in her career.
- Vanessa Shippy has tallied 222 hits to only 54 strikeouts since Gajewski became head coach at OSU.
- Samantha Clakley has walked more than two batters only once in her last 30 appearances.
- Taylor Lynch has logged at least one hit in 46 of 58 games played this season.
- Madi Sue Montgomery has driven in multiple runs on 17 occasions this season, including a career-high six in Oklahoma State's run-rule win over No. 16 Baylor on April 13.
- Madi Sue Montgomery has logged 64 hits in 2018, with 30 of those resulting in extra bases.
- Sydney Pennington has recorded at least one hit in 41 of her 58 games played thus far and has driven in at least one run on 24 occasions so far in 2018.
Oklahoma State in the NCAA Tournament
OSU softball has a long tradition in the postseason, dating back to the late 1970's and early '80's when the Cowgirls were annually among the nation's final teams competing for a national championship in what was then the AIAW World Series. Fast forward three-plus decades and the Cowgirls are building their way back to being one of college softball's elite programs.
The Cowgirls are making their 21st appearance in the postseason this year, and it's the third-straight season that head coach Kenny Gajewski has guided the squad to the NCAA Tournament. He is the first coach in program history to lead the Cowgirls to the NCAA Tournament in each of his (or her) first three seasons.
Oklahoma State's seven Women's College World Series appearances are tied for the 13th most in NCAA history. The Cowgirls last appeared in the World Series in 2011, but were bounced quickly from the event. The 2018 season has seen the Cowgirls achieve several feats for the first time since that 2011 season, so perhaps that will serve as a good omen for the team entering a tough NCAA Tournament run.
NCAA Tournament Talking Points
- Oklahoma State softball is a growing brand and for proof of that, look no further than the fact that the Cowgirls were involved in the most watched regular season college softball game since 2015. The highly-viewed contest was a May 5 clash with No. 3/3 Oklahoma that aired on ESPN and garnered 575,000 viewers - 256,000 more viewers than any other televised regular season game in 2018, according to Fastpitch News.
- OSU has shown itself to be capable of scoring runs with anyone in the country, as the Cowgirls have scored at least seven runs on 69 different occasions during head coach Kenny Gajewski's two-plus years at the helm. Included in those showings were three 21-run performances, which is tied for the program's all-time single-game runs record. Oklahoma State is 62-7 in Gajewski's tenure when scoring at least seven runs.
- Lost in the shuffle of a late-season slump, OSU's immense 2018 season has seen the Cowgirls set, or come close to setting, several team records. So far in 2018, the Cowgirls have broken the team's single-season records for home runs and total bases. OSU is also on the cusp of breaking team records for: batting average, hits, runs batted in and slugging percentage. The Cowgirls have broken more than 10 team records since Kenny Gajewski took over as head coach prior to the 2016 season.
- Oklahoma State's pitching staff has pitched admirably all season, but especially so in Big 12 play. The Cowgirl arms surrendered just eight runs to a potent Baylor offense over three games in April, and the Cowgirls allowed more than three runs only seven times in 18 conference contests.
Second Place Secured
Oklahoma State, by virtue of series wins over Texas and Baylor, has secured second place in the Big 12 Conference for the first time since 2003 and the third time overall since the league began play in 1996. The Cowgirls have improved each season under Coach Gajewski, finishing fifth in 2016 and third a season ago.
Win Indicators
There are many things that factor into a team's ability to win a game, but a look at the trends during Kenny Gajewski's short tenure at Oklahoma State shows that simply out-hitting opponents and grabbing an early lead are two of the biggest predictors of an OSU victory.
Since the start of the 2016 season, when the Cowgirls out-hit their opponents, they are 81-9. The inverse is true when the opponent tallies more hits, as OSU has gone 20-58 in those instances.
Grabbing an early lead has also been a key part of Gajewski's ability to turn the program around. In his two-plus years at the helm, OSU is 65-10 when leading after the game's first two innings. The Cowgirls' winning percentage only rises as the game goes on. Last season, they went 28-0 when leading after three innings, an unblemished mark which followed up on a 25-2 record when leading after three innings in 2016.
Evidence of the Turnaround
The 2018 regular season ended on a sour note for Oklahoma State, as the Cowgirls lost their final four games, all to unanimously-ranked top-three opponents. However, the 2018 season will be looked back on as one where the Cowgirls truly stepped back into the upper tier of college softball.
OSU's 36 regular seasons wins marked the most for the program since the 2011 team that advanced to the Women's College World Series notched 37. The Cowgirls' 12 wins in conference play, coupled with their 12 Big 12 wins in 2017, marked the first time that Oklahoma State has won double-digit league games since the 1996 and 1997 seasons.
STILLWATER – The Oklahoma State softball season continues this weekend when the Cowgirls head to Fayetteville, Arkansas, for NCAA Tournament regional action. OSU will face several familiar foes in the Fayetteville Regional, as head coach Kenny Gajewski's team begins the NCAA Tournament Friday against Wichita State, before awaiting either DePaul or the regional hosts themselves, No. 13-seeded Arkansas, on Saturday.
In the Rankings
Oklahoma State is receiving votes in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll and in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 this week. The Cowgirls have been ranked in at least one of the national polls 11 times this season, peaking as high as No. 15 and falling out of the top 25 only twice.
Oklahoma State From a Distance
Oklahoma State enters the 2018 NCAA Tournament with a swell of support surrounding the program. Much of that has to do with a successful regular season that saw the Cowgirls achieve feats for the first time in nearly a decade, and some for the first time ever in the program's tenure. OSU's immense success is rooted in a loaded roster that features several All-Big 12 performers and an interesting mix of youth and experience throughout the batting order and pitching staff.
Leading the line for the Cowgirls is Vanessa Shippy, whose incredible 2018 campaign has seen her named one of 10 finalists for the 2018 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, as well as earning her second Big 12 Player of the Year honor. The Texas two-step of Taylor Lynch and Madi Sue Montgomery follow Shippy, with the pair combining to hit 23 home runs so far this year. All three rank as some of the most successful Cowgirls in OSU lore and have been the three anchors in head coach Kenny Gajewski's lineup over the past three seasons.
Along with the talented trio, the lineup features freshman talents in Sydney Pennington and Chelsea Alexander, who have blossomed into everyday starters for the Pokes. In the circle, junior transfer Samantha Clakley is the staff's workhorse, while Emmie Robertson and Logan Simunek round out a dynamic staff.
Notable Streaks and Trends
- OSU is 36-23 in games decided by two runs or less since the start of the 2016 season.
- Vanessa Shippy has started 231 consecutive games, tying the OSU records for: most games played, most games started and most consecutive games started.
- Madi Sue Montgomery has started 179 consecutive games and has never missed a game in her career.
- Vanessa Shippy has tallied 222 hits to only 54 strikeouts since Gajewski became head coach at OSU.
- Samantha Clakley has walked more than two batters only once in her last 30 appearances.
- Taylor Lynch has logged at least one hit in 46 of 58 games played this season.
- Madi Sue Montgomery has driven in multiple runs on 17 occasions this season, including a career-high six in Oklahoma State's run-rule win over No. 16 Baylor on April 13.
- Madi Sue Montgomery has logged 64 hits in 2018, with 30 of those resulting in extra bases.
- Sydney Pennington has recorded at least one hit in 41 of her 58 games played thus far and has driven in at least one run on 24 occasions so far in 2018.
Oklahoma State in the NCAA Tournament
OSU softball has a long tradition in the postseason, dating back to the late 1970's and early '80's when the Cowgirls were annually among the nation's final teams competing for a national championship in what was then the AIAW World Series. Fast forward three-plus decades and the Cowgirls are building their way back to being one of college softball's elite programs.
The Cowgirls are making their 21st appearance in the postseason this year, and it's the third-straight season that head coach Kenny Gajewski has guided the squad to the NCAA Tournament. He is the first coach in program history to lead the Cowgirls to the NCAA Tournament in each of his (or her) first three seasons.
Oklahoma State's seven Women's College World Series appearances are tied for the 13th most in NCAA history. The Cowgirls last appeared in the World Series in 2011, but were bounced quickly from the event. The 2018 season has seen the Cowgirls achieve several feats for the first time since that 2011 season, so perhaps that will serve as a good omen for the team entering a tough NCAA Tournament run.
NCAA Tournament Talking Points
- Oklahoma State softball is a growing brand and for proof of that, look no further than the fact that the Cowgirls were involved in the most watched regular season college softball game since 2015. The highly-viewed contest was a May 5 clash with No. 3/3 Oklahoma that aired on ESPN and garnered 575,000 viewers - 256,000 more viewers than any other televised regular season game in 2018, according to Fastpitch News.
- OSU has shown itself to be capable of scoring runs with anyone in the country, as the Cowgirls have scored at least seven runs on 69 different occasions during head coach Kenny Gajewski's two-plus years at the helm. Included in those showings were three 21-run performances, which is tied for the program's all-time single-game runs record. Oklahoma State is 62-7 in Gajewski's tenure when scoring at least seven runs.
- Lost in the shuffle of a late-season slump, OSU's immense 2018 season has seen the Cowgirls set, or come close to setting, several team records. So far in 2018, the Cowgirls have broken the team's single-season records for home runs and total bases. OSU is also on the cusp of breaking team records for: batting average, hits, runs batted in and slugging percentage. The Cowgirls have broken more than 10 team records since Kenny Gajewski took over as head coach prior to the 2016 season.
- Oklahoma State's pitching staff has pitched admirably all season, but especially so in Big 12 play. The Cowgirl arms surrendered just eight runs to a potent Baylor offense over three games in April, and the Cowgirls allowed more than three runs only seven times in 18 conference contests.
Second Place Secured
Oklahoma State, by virtue of series wins over Texas and Baylor, has secured second place in the Big 12 Conference for the first time since 2003 and the third time overall since the league began play in 1996. The Cowgirls have improved each season under Coach Gajewski, finishing fifth in 2016 and third a season ago.
Win Indicators
There are many things that factor into a team's ability to win a game, but a look at the trends during Kenny Gajewski's short tenure at Oklahoma State shows that simply out-hitting opponents and grabbing an early lead are two of the biggest predictors of an OSU victory.
Since the start of the 2016 season, when the Cowgirls out-hit their opponents, they are 81-9. The inverse is true when the opponent tallies more hits, as OSU has gone 20-58 in those instances.
Grabbing an early lead has also been a key part of Gajewski's ability to turn the program around. In his two-plus years at the helm, OSU is 65-10 when leading after the game's first two innings. The Cowgirls' winning percentage only rises as the game goes on. Last season, they went 28-0 when leading after three innings, an unblemished mark which followed up on a 25-2 record when leading after three innings in 2016.
Evidence of the Turnaround
The 2018 regular season ended on a sour note for Oklahoma State, as the Cowgirls lost their final four games, all to unanimously-ranked top-three opponents. However, the 2018 season will be looked back on as one where the Cowgirls truly stepped back into the upper tier of college softball.
OSU's 36 regular seasons wins marked the most for the program since the 2011 team that advanced to the Women's College World Series notched 37. The Cowgirls' 12 wins in conference play, coupled with their 12 Big 12 wins in 2017, marked the first time that Oklahoma State has won double-digit league games since the 1996 and 1997 seasons.
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