Series Notes: Cowgirls Hosting Top-10 Texas in Weekend Series

Friday, March 29

Stillwater, OK

6 p.m. CT

Oklahoma State University

Texas

Series Notes: Cowgirls Hosting Top-10 Texas in Weekend Series

March 28, 2019 | Cowgirl Softball

PDF Notes - Texas

STILLWATER – The No. 21/16 Oklahoma State softball team returns home for its first action in Stillwater since March 6 this weekend, as the Cowgirls host No. 9/10 Texas in a three-game conference set beginning Friday night at Cowgirl Stadium. The Longhorns lead the all-time series between the schools, 34-19, but the Pokes have taken five of the last six meetings, including a three-game sweep in Stillwater back in 2017.

In the Rankings
Oklahoma State is ranked in both national polls this week, as the Cowgirls sit at No. 21 in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll and at No. 16 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25. The Cowgirls have been ranked in at least one of the national polls in 19 of the last 21 weeks, with a No. 14 ranking in ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 on March 12 marking the program's best standing since finishing the 2011 season at No. 8.

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 incites 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 41-27 in games decided by two runs or less since the start of the 2016 season.
- Oklahoma State starting pitchers have gone at least five innings in 21 of the Cowgirls' first 33 games.
- Oklahoma State is 7-0 in 2019 when Rylee Bayless logs multiple hits as the Cowgirls' leadoff batter.
- Rylee Bayless has drawn 29 walks in 33 games to lead the Big 12 in walks and walks per game.
- Samantha Clakley has allowed more than three earned runs only once in 14 appearances this year.
- Samantha Clakley has walked more than two batters only five times in her last 46 appearances.
- Chyenne Factor has recorded a hit in 16 of her last 18 games and in 15 of the 17 games she has started.
- Chyenne Factor has driven in a run in 13 of her last 18 games and in 13 of the 17 games she started.
- Taylor Lynch has reached base safely in 30 of her last 35 games and has logged a hit in 26 of those.
- Madi Sue Montgomery has started 215 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.
- Kiley Naomi has reached base safely in every game but six so far this season.
- Sydney Pennington has posted a hit in 7 of her last 11 games, and has five multi-hit games in that run.
- Samantha Show has logged a hit in 22 of 33 games this season and posted six multi-hit outings.
- Samantha Show has pitched at least five innings in 11 of her 13 starts this year.
- Logan Simunek has starred against the best competition, allowing only four earned runs in 22.0 innings against top-10 ranked opposition since the start of the 2018 season.