Pokes Back On The Road For Midweek At Tulsa, Doubleheader At Incarnate Word

Wednesday, March 29

Tulsa, OK

5 P.M. CT

Oklahoma State University

Tulsa

Pokes Back On The Road For Midweek At Tulsa, Doubleheader At Incarnate Word

March 28, 2023 | Cowgirl Softball

Watch Listen Follow Game Notes

The Basics
Riding an 11-game win streak after a midweek victory over North Texas and a series sweep of then-No. 20/22 Baylor to open conference play, the No. 2/2 Oklahoma State (29-2, 3-0 Big 12) softball team is back on the road for a midweek game at Tulsa (14-14) at 5 p.m. CT before traveling to Incarnate Word (11-14-1, 3-6 Southland) for a doubleheader with the Cardinals on Saturday. First pitch for game one is slated for 11 a.m. CT; game two from San Antonio, Texas, is set for 1:30 p.m. CT

Watch, Listen, Follow
Each of the Cowgirls' week seven games can be streamed on ESPN+ and can be heard on stillwaterradio.net or The Varsity Network with Bill Van Ness on the call.

Live stats for all of Oklahoma State's games are available online at statbroadcast.com.

Fans can follow @cowgirlsb on Twitter for regular in-game coverage and updates.

In The Rankings
As of March 28, Oklahoma State ranks:
• No. 1 in the NCAA DI Rating Percentage Index
• No. 2 in the USA Today/NFCA DI Top 25 Coaches Poll.
• No. 2 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25.
• No. 2 in the D1Softball Top 25.
• No. 2 in the Softball America NCAA Division I Softball Top 25.

Oklahoma State From A Distance
Six starters are back from a 2022 Oklahoma State team that put together a 40-win season, which ended at the Women's College World Series for an NCAA era program record third consecutive year. Five of OSU's returning starters were also starters on the Cowgirls' 2021 WCWS team and two of them started
for OSU during its 2019 WCWS appearance.

Returning for the Cowgirls are All-Americans Kelly Maxwell and Katelynn Carwile, as well as a pair of graduate veterans and All-Big 12 regulars Chyenne Factor and Kiley Naomi.

Impact newcomers include two-time All-Big Ten honoree and All-American infielder Rachel Becker, All-SEC Newcomer and All-Region pitcher Lexi Kilyfoyl and 2022 NFCA DI Freshman of the Year finalist Megan Bloodworth.

A talented freshman class – including six members of the Extra Inning Softball Elite 100 – enter the mix. Tallen Edwards (No. 3 overall), Haidyn Sokoloski (No. 17 overall) and Kyra Aycock (No. 26 overall) are all likely candidates to see meaningful playing time in their first year with the Cowgirls. Angelina
Craig, Katie Lott, Lexi McDonald and Claire Timm round out the 20th ranked signing class in the country, per Extra Inning Softball.

Series History
Against in-state foe Tulsa, Oklahoma State owns the all-time lead 35-22, including each of the last six games of the series, the most recent of which was a 12-1 OSU victory in Tulsa on April 20, 2022.

Oklahoma State will meet Incarnate Word for the first time this weekend.

Notable Streaks & Trends
• OSU has been ranked in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Poll in each of its last 234 games, dating back to the start of the 2019 season.
• OSU has claimed six of the 12 Big 12 Conference weekly honors awarded this season.
• OSU has outscored its opponents 217-66.
• OSU has outscored its opponents 56-3 in the first inning.
• OSU has outhit its opponents in 28 of its 31 games this season.
• OSU has scored first in 24 of its 31 contests this season.
• OSU has committed zero errors in 21 of its 31 games this season.
• OSU has earned 10 of its 29 wins this season via run-rule.
• Rachel Becker has reached base safely at least once in each of the Cowgirls' 31 games this season.
• Kelly Maxwell has recorded 126 of the Cowgirls pitching staff's 237 strikeouts this season, which equates to 53.1 percent of Oklahoma State's strikeouts.

Leading The Nation
Ahead of its midweek contest at Tulsa, Oklahoma State ranks No. 1 in the NCAA DI Rating Percentage Index. A handful of contributing factors play into the Cowgirls' position atop Division I softball, perhaps the most valuable being a 29-2 record (.935 win percentage) – including a 7-1 record against RPI 1-25 opponents. Oklahoma State's success taking into account its strength of schedule – ranked No. 16 among all DI programs – bolsters its spot as the best in the country.

National Powerhouse
Oklahoma State has positioned itself among the elite through the first six weeks of the 2023 season.As a unit, OSU enters its midweek game at Tulsa with a plethora of top-10 statistical rankings:
• .340 batting average (eighth in NCAA DI).
• .441 on-base percentage (seventh in NCAA DI).
• .983 fielding percentage (fifth in NCAA DI).
• 7.00 runs per game (ninth in NCAA DI).
• 14 shutouts (fourth in NCAA DI).
• .935 win percentage (third in NCAA DI).

Becker's Batting Bonanza
Graduate infielder Rachel Becker has played at an All-American caliber in her first season at Oklahoma State and the final season of her collegiate career.Her .643 on-base percentage leads all NCAA DI hitters, while her .518 batting average ranks third in NCAA DI.

Becker also pieced together an 18-game hitting streak – the longest by any Cowgirl this season – from February 11 to March 5, which is the second-most consecutive games with at least one hit in program history, behind freshman Taylor Lynch's 23-game hitting streak in 2016.

Killing It, Kilfoyl
Lexi Kilfoy became just the second Big 12 student-athlete to receive more than one 2023 Big 12 weekly honor after her selection as week six's Big 12 Pitcher of the Week. The senior righty elevated her season record to 8-1 with a pair of wins over North Texas and then-No. 20/22 Baylor. In three appearances and 14.0 total innings of work, Kilfoyl maintained a 0.00 ERA while allowing only four hits and one walk; she kept opposing batters to a .085 batting average.