Cowgirls Clinch KU Series with Doubleheader Sweep

Friday, April 5

Stillwater, OK

4 p.m. CT

Oklahoma State University

27-11, 5-2

Kansas

14-22, 2-2

Kansas

Oklahoma State

April 05, 2019 | Cowgirl Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

PDF Box Score - Game One
PDF Box Score - Game Two
Photo Gallery

STILLWATER – The No. 16 Oklahoma State softball team defeated Kansas twice, 8-1 and 5-0, to sweep a doubleheader and clinch its third-straight Big 12 series victory Friday at Cowgirl Stadium.

OSU (28-11; 6-2 Big 12) has won 10 of its last 11 conference series, dating back to the start of Big 12 play last year.

"Any time you can win conference games, it's a good day," coach Kenny Gajewski said. "I thought we pitched well and that's probably the best thing we did all day. The disappointing thing is just offense. We scored 13 runs, but any time you get 18 walks and 20 or so hits, I think we have to score more than 13 runs. Credit Kansas because they held us down some and made some good pitches, but we've got to figure out a way to adjust and get those things done."

In the opener, Oklahoma State scored eight runs on the back of three home runs. Two of those long-ball efforts came from senior Samantha Show, and the third off the bat of sophomore Sydney Pennington.

Show broke open a 2-1 game in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run home run that smacked off the middle of the batter's eye in straightaway center. She followed it up with a towering solo home run to left field in the bottom of the sixth.

Show has hit a team-high 13 home runs so far this season, bringing her within two of Madi Sue Montgomery's OSU single-season record that was set last season.

The third Cowgirl homer came from Sydney Pennington in the bottom of the fifth, as she launched a three-run shot to left center. Pennington's ninth home run of the season sent a packed crowd at Cowgirl Stadium into a frenzy when her father, Brett, was the one who caught the ball barehanded beyond the outfield wall.

"I saw him catch it as I was rounding second base - I just saw him jumping up and down," Pennington said. "The team kind of makes fun of me for having big hands, and they were like, 'He just barehanded that ball!' So I said, 'Well you should see his hands!'"

Samantha Clakley pitched the full seven innings for OSU in Friday's opener. She allowed only one run - a first-inning solo home run - and struck out two en route to earning her seventh win of the season. Clakley, the reigning Big 12 Pitcher of the Week, has allowed just the one earned run in her last 14 innings pitched.

In the nightcap, Samantha Show tossed her fifth complete-game shutout of the year as she allowed only four hits in a seven-inning outing. Show has pitched 11 complete games so far in 2019, and she has not allowed more than two earned runs in any of those outings.

The right-hander improved to 12-5 with the victory in Friday's finale.

Offensively, OSU mustered 10 hits off the Jayhawks and were led by Sydney Pennington and Sydney Springfield's multi-hit outings. Pennington went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, while Springfield went 2-for-4 with two runs batted in.

Freshman Mady Lohman capped the Cowgirls' run-scoring efforts in the bottom of the sixth with a two-run double to left field.

The Cowgirls and Jayhawks will attempt to finish off their three-game series on Saturday at its scheduled 1 p.m. start time, but the Stillwater forecast could shift the schedule. Follow @CowgirlSB on Twitter for further schedule updates as the day progresses Saturday.

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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 purchase your tickets for the 2019 campaign, visit okstate.com/tickets or call the OSU ticket office at 877-ALL-4-OSU.