Oklahoma State University Athletics
Thursday, February 14
Clearwater, FL
9 a.m. CT
Oklahoma State University
vs
LSU
Tournament Notes: Stacked SPC Elite Invitational Field Awaits Cowgirls
February 13, 2019 | Cowgirl Softball
PDF Notes - St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational
STILLWATER – The Oklahoma State softball team continues to run the gauntlet of its 2019 schedule this week, as the Cowgirls head to Clearwater, Florida, to take part in the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational. OSU went 4-1 in its trip to the Sunshine State last year, and will look to find similar success against stiff opposition this year. The Cowgirls are slated to face LSU, Notre Dame, Utah, California and Hofstra in week two.
In The Rankings
Oklahoma State is ranked in both national polls this week, climbing two spots to No. 20 in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll and up four spots to No. 17 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 this week. The Cowgirls have been ranked in at least one of the national polls for 13 of the last 15 weeks, peaking as high as No. 15 and falling out of the top 25 only twice.
Oklahoma State From a Distance
Slowly, but surely, the Oklahoma State softball program has returned to the forefront of college softball under fourth-year head coach Kenny Gajewski, and in 2019, the Cowgirls will be hoping to reclaim their perch among the sport's elite teams.
Gajewski has assembled a roster of 22 star student-athletes that can go toe-to-toe with any team in the country on any given field and on any given night. Through grueling fall camp, winter workouts and beyond, the Cowgirls have seen and heard about the potential this year's team possesses, but now is their chance to show that Oklahoma State does more than talk the talk.
In Taylor Lynch and Madi Sue Montgomery, Oklahoma State fields two strong pillars to anchor the program. As the only players to be active on the roster through Gajewski's first four years in Stillwater, the Texas tandem stands as a driving force for whatever success lays ahead for OSU. Beside them, the Cowgirls boast talented names like returning senior Rylee Bayless, sophomore captain Sydney Pennington, rising pitcher Logan Simunek and a former Texas A&M two-way standout in Samantha Show.
For the first time under Gajewski, Oklahoma State has a lineup that will incite fear in the opposition at every spot, and a pitching staff that contains five arms, each with a dynamic skillset to send opposing hitters back to the bench in a hurry. The Cowgirls, for all of the flash and hype that has been heaped upon the 2019 squad, have remained focused on their goal – Oklahoma City.
Notable Streaks and Trends
- OSU is 37-24 in games decided by two runs or less since the start of the 2016 season.
- Oklahoma State has won 43 of its 69 (.623 win pct) neutral-site invitational games during Kenny
Gajewski's tenure as head coach.
- Oklahoma State is 33-6 during Kenny Gajewski's tenure when hitting at least two home runs.
- Oklahoma State starting pitchers have gone at least five innings in each of the Cowgirls last four contests (Show - 7, Clakley - 6, Sprang - 5, Show - 6).
- Madi Sue Montgomery and Kiley Naomi have drawn at least one walk in all five games so far this season.
- Madi Sue Montgomery has started 187 consecutive games, giving her a chance to set the OSU records for most games played, most games started and most consecutive games started in 2019.
- Madi Sue Montgomery logged 67 hits in 2018 and 31 of those resulted in extra bases. This year she has posted five hits, one of which was a double.
- Taylor Lynch has logged at least one hit in 54 of her last 66 games played, including in all five this year.
- Rylee Bayless has drawn at least one walk in 19 of her last 27 games.
- Rylee Bayless has reached base as the Cowgirls' first batter of the contest in three of five games so far in 2019, and in seven of her last nine times at the top of the lineup, dating back to 2018.
- Logan Simunek starred against the best competition last season, allowing only four earned runs in 19.1 innings against top-10 ranked opposition.
- Samantha Clakley has walked more than two batters only three times in her last 34 appearances.
STILLWATER – The Oklahoma State softball team continues to run the gauntlet of its 2019 schedule this week, as the Cowgirls head to Clearwater, Florida, to take part in the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational. OSU went 4-1 in its trip to the Sunshine State last year, and will look to find similar success against stiff opposition this year. The Cowgirls are slated to face LSU, Notre Dame, Utah, California and Hofstra in week two.
In The Rankings
Oklahoma State is ranked in both national polls this week, climbing two spots to No. 20 in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll and up four spots to No. 17 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 this week. The Cowgirls have been ranked in at least one of the national polls for 13 of the last 15 weeks, peaking as high as No. 15 and falling out of the top 25 only twice.
Oklahoma State From a Distance
Slowly, but surely, the Oklahoma State softball program has returned to the forefront of college softball under fourth-year head coach Kenny Gajewski, and in 2019, the Cowgirls will be hoping to reclaim their perch among the sport's elite teams.
Gajewski has assembled a roster of 22 star student-athletes that can go toe-to-toe with any team in the country on any given field and on any given night. Through grueling fall camp, winter workouts and beyond, the Cowgirls have seen and heard about the potential this year's team possesses, but now is their chance to show that Oklahoma State does more than talk the talk.
In Taylor Lynch and Madi Sue Montgomery, Oklahoma State fields two strong pillars to anchor the program. As the only players to be active on the roster through Gajewski's first four years in Stillwater, the Texas tandem stands as a driving force for whatever success lays ahead for OSU. Beside them, the Cowgirls boast talented names like returning senior Rylee Bayless, sophomore captain Sydney Pennington, rising pitcher Logan Simunek and a former Texas A&M two-way standout in Samantha Show.
For the first time under Gajewski, Oklahoma State has a lineup that will incite fear in the opposition at every spot, and a pitching staff that contains five arms, each with a dynamic skillset to send opposing hitters back to the bench in a hurry. The Cowgirls, for all of the flash and hype that has been heaped upon the 2019 squad, have remained focused on their goal – Oklahoma City.
Notable Streaks and Trends
- OSU is 37-24 in games decided by two runs or less since the start of the 2016 season.
- Oklahoma State has won 43 of its 69 (.623 win pct) neutral-site invitational games during Kenny
Gajewski's tenure as head coach.
- Oklahoma State is 33-6 during Kenny Gajewski's tenure when hitting at least two home runs.
- Oklahoma State starting pitchers have gone at least five innings in each of the Cowgirls last four contests (Show - 7, Clakley - 6, Sprang - 5, Show - 6).
- Madi Sue Montgomery and Kiley Naomi have drawn at least one walk in all five games so far this season.
- Madi Sue Montgomery has started 187 consecutive games, giving her a chance to set the OSU records for most games played, most games started and most consecutive games started in 2019.
- Madi Sue Montgomery logged 67 hits in 2018 and 31 of those resulted in extra bases. This year she has posted five hits, one of which was a double.
- Taylor Lynch has logged at least one hit in 54 of her last 66 games played, including in all five this year.
- Rylee Bayless has drawn at least one walk in 19 of her last 27 games.
- Rylee Bayless has reached base as the Cowgirls' first batter of the contest in three of five games so far in 2019, and in seven of her last nine times at the top of the lineup, dating back to 2018.
- Logan Simunek starred against the best competition last season, allowing only four earned runs in 19.1 innings against top-10 ranked opposition.
- Samantha Clakley has walked more than two batters only three times in her last 34 appearances.
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