Cowgirl Softball Hosts Bedlam To Conclude Regular Season

The Basics
Rounding out the 2023 regular season on its home field, the No. 7/6 Oklahoma State softball team hosts No. 1/1 Oklahoma for a Phillips 66 Bedlam clash in Stillwater, Oklahoma, from May 5-7.

Friday's series opener on ESPN2 starts at 6 p.m. CT. Game two on Saturday is set for a 4 p.m. CT first pitch on ESPN. Sunday's series finale on ESPN+ is slated to start at 2 p.m. CT.

Watch, Listen, Follow
Each game of the Phillips 66 Bedlam series can be seen on the ESPN family of networks and heard on The Varsity Network or stillwaterradio.net with Bill Van Ness on the call.

Friday's game (ESPN2) and Saturday's game (ESPN) feature Beth Mowins, Michele Smith and Amanda Scarborough on the call. Sunday's series finale on ESPN+ will have Casey Kendrick and Ali McCutcheon 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 May 4, Oklahoma State ranks:
• No. 4 NCAA DI Adjusted Rating Percentage Index
• No. 6 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25
• No. 7 in the USA Today/NFCA DI Top 25 Coaches Poll
• No. 7 in the D1Softball Top 25
• No. 7 in the Softball America College Top 25
• No. 11 in the Extra Inning Softball Top 25

Oklahoma State From A Distance
In its fourth Big 12 series victory of 2023 over Texas Tech a week ago, OSU secured its third consecutive 40-win season, a feat it has accomplished just three times in its history (1988-90 & 1992-94). The Cowgirls already have ranked wins over Oregon (RPI No. 16), Virginia Tech (RPI No. 22), Michigan (RPI No. 42) and Missouri (RPI No. 45), as well as a pair of wins over Florida State (RPI No. 5) and a series sweep of Baylor (RPI No. 22).

Leading the way for Oklahoma State on offense is a pair of All-American candidates in Rachel Becker and Kiley Naomi. The graduates form a dynamic middle infield duo and their role in the top half of the OSU batting order has been equally impactful.

As the Cowgirls' day one second baseman and leadoff hitter after transferring from Purdue, Becker currently ranks in the top 10 nationally in batting average (.459 – ninth), doubles (18 – fourth) and on-base percentage (.571 – sixth). Naomi is further solidifying her name in OSU program record books in her fifth and final year as a Cowgirl. The NCAA DI active career leader in games played (254), the Cowgirls' shortstop has claimed OSU career records for double plays turned, assists and runs scored.

An All-American and returning member of the United States Women's National Team, redshirt-senior Kelly Maxwell anchors the Oklahoma State pitching staff as the Big 12 Conference leader in hits allowed per seven innings (3.37), saves (five), strikeouts (187) and strikeouts per seven innings (11.4).

Series History
The most recent meeting between Oklahoma State and Oklahoma was a historic victory for the Cowgirls, as they claimed their first conference trophy of the Big 12 era in an extra-inning thriller with the Sooners at the 2022 Phillips 66 Big 12 Softball Championship.

Notable Streaks & Trends
• OSU has been ranked in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Poll in each of its last 254 games, dating back to the start of the 2019 season.
• OSU has 10 wins over RPI top 25 opponents.
• OSU has outscored its opponents, 319-111, for a +208 run differential.
• OSU has outscored its opponents, 65-5, in the first inning.
• OSU has earned 15 of its 41 wins this season via run-rule.
• OSU has claimed 22 of its 41 wins this season by five or more runs.
• OSU has held opponents to five runs or less in 41 of its 47 games this season.
• OSU is 33-5 when scoring first and 23-2 when scoring in the first inning.
• OSU is 28-4 when it commits zero errors.
• Rachel Becker reached base safely in 49 consecutive games from February 10 to April 29, the longest on-base streak in OSU program history.
• Kelly Maxwell has recorded 187 of the Cowgirls pitching staff's 363 strikeouts this season, which equates to 50.2 percent of Oklahoma State's strikeouts.

National Powerhouse
Oklahoma State has positioned itself among the elite in 2023, with the numbers to show for it.
As a unit, OSU prepares for Bedlam with several top-10 statistical rankings:
• .328 batting average (eighth in NCAA DI).
• .54 double plays per game (sixth in NCAA DI).
• 89 doubles (third in NCAA DI).
• 1.78 doubles per game (fourth in NCAA DI).
• .420 on-base percentage (eighth in NCAA DI).
• .981 fielding percentage (sixth in NCAA DI).
• 19 shutouts (fourth in NCAA DI).
• .820 win percentage (ninth in NCAA DI).

Becker's Batting Bonanza
Graduate infielder Rachel Becker has played at an All-America level in her first season at Oklahoma State and the final season of her collegiate career. Her .575 on-base percentage ranks sixth among NCAA DI hitters, while her .462 batting average ranks ninth in NCAA DI.

Consistency is key to Becker's success at the plate: she has pieced together a 21-game hitting streak (second-longest in OSU history) from March 17 to April 22 and a separate 18-game hitting streak from February 11 to March 5 (third-longest in OSU history).

To The Max
In All-American form, Kelly Maxwell has anchored the Oklahoma State pitching staff in her second year as the Cowgirls' ace. The redshirt senior lefty leads the Big 12 Conference in hits allowed per seven innings (3.27), saves (five), strikeouts (187) and strikeouts per seven innings (11.5).

For reference, her 187 strikeouts this season is more than 100 NCAA DI teams.

We've Got Five On It
One of three graduate Cowgirls to have spent her entire collegiate career at Oklahoma State, Kiley Naomi is solidifying her place in Oklahoma State program history, having already claimed career record for double plays turned, assists and runs scored

The Lafayette, Louisiana native has shown notable improvement over the last year, having already surpassed her 2022 season totals in a number of statistical categories.

Who Else?
With wins over Oklahoma in 2021 and 2022, Oklahoma State joins Wisconsin (2019-20) as the only teams to claim victories over the Sooners in back-to-back seasons in the past five years.

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Players Mentioned

Rachel Becker

Kelly Maxwell

Kiley Naomi

Oklahoma State University Athletics