Cowgirls Continue Hot Start by Blanking Wichita State

Wednesday, March 6

Stillwater, OK

5 p.m. CT

Oklahoma State University

15-5

Wichita State

14-5

Wichita State

Oklahoma State

March 06, 2019 | Cowgirl Softball

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STILLWATER – The No. 19 Oklahoma State softball team opened up midweek play with a 3-0 victory over Wichita State at Cowgirl Stadium Wednesday night.

OSU (15-5; 0-0 Big 12) is off to its best 20-game start since 2011 when the Cowgirls also posted 15 victories in their first 20 games of the season. Wednesday's victory also improved OSU to 80-12 all-time against it regional rival.

"I thought it was a well-played game by both teams that was clean on the defensive side," coach Kenny Gajewski said. "We have to have less wasted at-bats on our end. We had five free bags (walks) and hit some balls hard that were right at them. I thought our pitching staff threw extremely well. It was good to see Gabby (Sprang) and Samantha (Clakley) pitch well in a tight game for a bit there."

Samantha Clakley handled starting duties for Oklahoma State against the Shockers Wednesday, and she impressed in her three-inning effort. Clakley allowed only two hits and struck out three Wichita State batters to keep the opposition off the board.

When Clakley departed, sophomore Gabby Sprang stepped in between the chalk and continued to mow batters down. She also pitched three innings, striking out four and allowing four hits in a three-inning relief effort. Sprang earned the victory to improve to 4-0 this year and her ERA now sits at a team-best 1.98.

Samantha Show came in to close out WSU in the seventh inning, pounding out a three up, three down frame to earn her first save as a Cowgirl.

Offensively, Rylee Bayless and Chyenne Factor provided all three Cowgirl runs.

The first run came in the game's opening frame as Bayless led off with a four-pitch walk. She stole second base, then moved to third on a groundout to the right side, and Factor drove her home with a two-out single down the left-field line.

Both Cowgirls also hit solo home runs, with Factor's coming in the bottom of the third inning and Bayless' in the fourth.

Factor has been on a tear at Cowgirl Stadium so far this year, batting 8-for-11 with five extra-base hits, five runs batted in, three walks and six runs scored in five games. Her continued hot streak comes days after leading the Big 12 in batting average (.750), on-base percentage (.813) and slugging percentage (1.500) last weekend.

"She's just a kid that has no heartbeat, it's crazy," Gajewski said of Factor. "I've seen very few kids around in my time coaching that just walk around the exact same every single day. The heartbeat doesn't change. It doesn't matter what the moment is, it's just fun to watch her. I'm excited for her, and we've been talking about her since last year when she signed. She's a kid that can really hit and actually plays a really good outfield as well, so it's fun to watch her run around."

OSU is on the road for 11 of its next 12 games, beginning with a three-game series against No. 24 Oregon in Eugene this weekend. The two historic programs have met 18 times previously, with the Cowgirls claiming victory in 10 of those contests, but this weekend will mark the first between between the teams at a non-neutral site.

The Pokes' only home contest of their next 12 is a midweek matchup against Central Arkansas on March 13.

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Oklahoma State is proud to celebrate more than 40 years of rich softball tradition and its 20th season of play at Cowgirl Stadium this year. To renew or purchase your tickets for the 2019 campaign, visit okstate.com/tickets or call the OSU ticket office at 877-ALL-4-OSU.