Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowgirls to Take on Georgia to Begin Women's College World Series
June 02, 2021 | Cowgirl Softball
The Basics
Winners of the Stillwater Super Regional, the No. 5 national seed Oklahoma State softball team (47-10 overall) makes its 12th Women's College World Series appearance this week. The Cowgirls open with Georgia (34-21 overall), who won the Gainesville Super Regional. The other two teams in OSU's half of the bracket are top-seeded Oklahoma and James Madison.Watch, Listen, Follow
All of this weekend's games are available on the ESPN family of networks. Friday's game against Georgia is on ESPN. Each OSU game can be heard on KGFY 105.5-FM in Stillwater.
Fans can follow live stats at okstate.statbroadcast.com and can keep up with the action live on @CowgirlSB Twitter.
Oklahoma State from a Distance
Highlights of Oklahoma State's 2021 season résumé include a 25-7 record against teams who were included in the NCAA Tournament field, six wins over top-10 opponents, 11 wins over top-25 opponents and four wins over ranked non-conference opponents. The Cowgirls claimed victories over No. 1 national seed Oklahoma and No. 6 national seed Arkansas, two wins over No. 7 national seed LSU and six wins over No. 12 national seed Texas.OSU set a program record for consecutive conference victories with 15 en route to its best record in the Big 12 era.
The Cowgirl pitching staff is led by Big 12 Pitcher of the Year Carrie Eberle and fellow first-team All-Big 12 selection Kelly Maxwell. The duo sports a combined 40-7 record this season. Senior Logan Simunek is the first pitcher in relief.
First-team All-Big 12 selections Hayley Busby and Kiley Naomi are formidable weapons in the lineup, with second-team all-conference honorees Chelsea Alexander, Chyenne Factor and Alysen Febrey also crucial pieces to the Cowgirls' success this season.
Oklahoma State has 14 run-rule victories this season and is outscoring its opponents, 350-141.
Cowgirls on the Women's College World Series Stage
This marks Oklahoma State's 12th appearance in the Women's College World Series. Previous appearances came in 1980 (AIAW), 1981 (AIAW), 1982 (AIAW and NCAA), 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1998, 2011, 2019, 2021.Cowgirls with WCWS Experience
Entering this week, nine players on this year's Oklahoma State roster have appeared in at least one Women's College World Series game. The list:Chelsea Alexander, outfield
Raquel Dominguez, catcher
Jordan Doggett (with Georgia in 2018), outfield
Chyenne Factor, outfield
Alysen Febrey (with Georgia in 2018), first base
Kiley Naomi, shortstop
Sydney Pennington, third base
Michaela Richbourg, outfield
Logan Simunek, pitcher
This is Kenny Gajewski's fifth WCWS appearance and his second as a head coach. Serving as an assistant at Florida, Gajewski helped the Gators to a WCWS appearance in 2013 followed by back-to-back championships in 2014 and 2015. He led Oklahoma State to its first WCWS appearance in eight years when he took the Cowgirls to OKC in 2019.
The Cowgirls' Path to OKC
Oklahoma State steamrolled its way through the Stillwater regional, outscoring Campbell and Mississippi State by a combined score of 29-3 in its three games. The Cowgirls run-ruled Campbell in the opener, 10-0, in five innings, then came back to beat Mississippi State, 9-3, in game two. OSU run-ruled the Bulldogs, 10-2, in five innings to advance out of the regional.After going 4-0 against Texas with three regular season wins and also a win at the Big 12 Tournament, the Cowgirls faced the Longhorns again in the super regional. OSU bashed four home runs en route to a 6-1 win in game one, but was unable to solve Texas starter Shea O'Leary in a 4-2 defeat in game two. Carrie Eberle was the hero of the Cowgirls' game three win after holding the Longhorns scoreless on only four hits en route to securing a 2-0 victory and sending Oklahoma State back to OKC.
Notable Streaks, Trends and Talking Points
- Oklahoma State joins Oklahoma and UCLA as the only Power Five conference teams that rank in the top 20 nationally in both team ERA and team scoring.
- Dating back to April 3, 2019, the Cowgirls are 62-6 against unranked opponents.
- The Cowgirls are 11-5 against ranked opponents this season. Of those 11 wins, six came over teams ranked in the top 10. Of OSU's five losses, three were to No. 1 Oklahoma. Dating back to last season, OSU has won 14 of its last 20 against ranked opponents.
- The Cowgirls have won 59 of their last 69 games overall, dating back to last season.
- The Cowgirls are 42-4 when scoring more than three runs.
- The Cowgirls are 20-2 when scoring in the first inning and are 36-3 when scoring first.
- Oklahoma State is 39-1 this season when leading after four innings.
- The Cowgirls are 16-5 in games decided by two runs or less.
- The Cowgirls are 3-0 in extra-inning games.
- In NCAA postseason play, Oklahoma State has hit 13 home runs and allowed only three. Extending further back, OSU has at least one home run in 17 of its last 18 games.
- Four Cowgirls have batting averages above .450 during NCAA postseason play (regionals and super regionals) - Alysen Febrey (.500), Hayley Busby (.474), Kiley Naomi (.474) and Sydney Pennington (.471)
- Four Cowgirls have 10 or more home runs this season: Busby (19), Febrey (18), Naomi (14), and Sydney Pennington (13).
- In her two most recent starts against Texas in the Stillwater super regional, Carrie Eberle went 2-0 with an 0.50 earned run average.
- Carrie Eberle has won six of her last seven decisions, all of which came against NCAA Tournament teams.
- The Cowgirl pitching staff has 18 shutouts this season.
- Oklahoma State limits its opponents to a .202 batting average.
- Sydney Pennington has started 204 consecutive games, which amounts to every possible game of her career. She is joined by Chyenne Factor and Alysen Febrey as Cowgirls who have started every game this season.
- The Cowgirls have been ranked in the NFCA poll in each of their last 143 games, dating back to the start of the 2019 season.
- OSU has won 38 of its last 43 games at Cowgirl Stadium dating back to the 2019 season.
- Dating back to April 10, 2018, the Cowgirls have won 44 of 46 home games played against unranked opponents.
Series History vs. Opponents
Oklahoma State is 3-2 all-time against Georgia, most recently having split two games with the Bulldogs at the 2016 NCAA Athens regional. One of the more notable wins in OSU history came at the expense of the Bulldogs when the No. 19 Cowgirls were 1-0 winners over the top-ranked Bulldogs in 2011.OSU and Oklahoma have a long history with one another. The Bedlam Series rivals have squared off four times this season. The Cowgirls made national headlines after claiming a 6-4 win over the Sooners in Stillwater on May 7 and joined Georgia as the only two teams to beat Oklahoma in 2021.
OSU and James Madison have faced each other twice, with JMU claiming early-season tournament wins over the Cowgirls at the Michele Smith Invitational in 2016 and again in 2017.
Noting the Long Ball
With 92 home runs and counting, this year's Oklahoma State team broke the existing school record of 82, which was set in 2019. During NCAA regional play, Sydney Pennington became OSU's career home run queen, surpassing the previous record of 35 set by Tiffany Mikkelson (2013-16). Pennington enters the Women's College World Series with 37 career homers.
OSU's single-season home run record is 20 by Samantha Show in 2019. Hayley Busby (19) and Alysen Febrey (18) are both threats to top that mark this week.
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