Cowgirls Begin Postseason With Phillips 66 Big 12 Softball Championship

Thursday, May 9

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

11:00 a.m.

Oklahoma State University

BYU

Cowgirls Begin Postseason With Phillips 66 Big 12 Softball Championship

May 08, 2024 | Cowgirl Softball

The Basics
Fresh off a series victory over then-No. 2 Oklahoma, the No. 3/2 Oklahoma State Softball team (44-9, 21-6 Big 12) begins its postseason journey with a trip to Oklahoma City to compete in the 2024 Phillips 66 Big 12 Softball Championship at OGE Field at Devon Park from May 9-11. Playing as the third seed in the tournament, the Cowgirls will open against No. 6 BYU at 11 a.m. CT on Thursday.

Watch, Listen, Follow
Every game from the Phillips 66 Big 12 Softball Championship will be streamed on ESPN+ with Pete Sousa and Natasha Watlet on the call. The championship contest on Saturday is set to be televised nationally on ESPN2. Fans can listen to the games on stillwaterradio.net, or listen using the Varsity Network app with Bill Van Ness on the call. Live stats for all of OSU's games are available online at okstate.statbroadcast.com. Fans can follow @CowgirlSB on X all season for regular coverage and updates, including a live
scoreboard.

In The Rankings
Oklahoma State is No. 3 in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches poll and No. 2 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll. Softball America has the Cowgirls at No. 3 and D1Softball has the Pokes at No. 3. In the NCAA Softball Rating Percentage Index (RPI), OSU slots in at No. 8.

Oklahoma State from a Distance
After posting its fourth-consecutive 40-win season, the Oklahoma State Softball team has well- positioned itself to be a contender for a top-eight national seed, albeit with a team that is significantly younger than those before them. Pitchers Lexi Kilfoyl and Ivy Rosenberry both rank among the top five in the Big 12 in earned run average and are both All-American candidates. Kilfoyl has swept the Big 12 and Wilson/NFCA Pitcher of the Week honors on three separate occasions, the first Cowgirl in school history to do so. Offensively, OSU is on pace to hit more than 90 home runs and 80 doubles, both of which would rank in the top five in program history. The Cowgirls are led by freshman infielder Karli Godwin and senior catcher Caroline Wang, who have combined for 30 home runs and 22 doubles, with each having more than 45 RBIs on the year. Wang, the DI active career leader in at-bats (791), has blasted 17 long balls on the year, good for third in the conference. Oklahoma State finished third in the Big 12 standings (21-6), which marks the sixth-consecutive season finishing inside the top three (not including the shortened 2020 season due to COVID). The Pokes collected four series sweeps (UCF, Houston, Texas Tech and Kansas) to go with series wins over then-No. 19 Baylor, BYU, then-No. 2 Texas and then-No. 2 Oklahoma.

Notable Streaks and Trends
• The Cowgirls have won 38 of their last 45, including victories over No. 4 Washington, No. 16 Florida, No. 19 Baylor (twice), No. 2 Texas (twice) and No. 2 Oklahoma (twice). In that stretch, OSU has outscored its opponents by a combined margin of 252-97.
• Oklahoma State has scored first in 37 of its 53 contests this season.
• OSU has been ranked in the NFCA poll in each of its last 324 games, dating back to the start of the 2019 season.
• Oklahoma State has played 53 games so far this season, 33 of which coming against opponents ranked in the Top 75 of the NCAA RPI.
• Oklahoma State has won 16 games via run-rule.
• Oklahoma State has won 23 games by at least five runs.
• Oklahoma State has scored 10+ runs in 14 games this season.
• OSU has outscored its opponents, 19-7, from the seventh inning on.
• OSU is 9-2 in one-run games.
• Dating back to the Washington game on Feb. 22, OSU has hit 66 home runs and allowed only 22.
• Oklahoma State has hit at least three home runs in 17 different games so far this season.
• Karli Godwin has started all 53 games this season, the only player on the team to do so.

Tournament History
Oklahoma State fell in the first round of last year's Phillips 66 Big 12 Softball Championship, dropping their tournament opener against Kansas, 8-7. In 2022, the Cowgirls beat Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma to secure its first Big 12 Championship title in school history.

Gettin' Hot at the Right Time
Oklahoma State enters the postseason with a 10-1 record in its last 11 games, including a 3-0 record in its final three Big 12 series of the season against Texas Tech, Kansas and then-No. 2 Oklahoma. In their last 11 games, the Pokes have outscored their opponents by a combined margin of 80-35 and have hit 19 home runs and 13 doubles.

2023 Cowgirls vs. 2024 Cowgirls
Despite losing five starters from last year's team, the Cowgirls of 2024, comprised of mainly underclassmen, have not missed a beat. In fact, this year's group of Cowgirls have elevated their play in areas compared to last season. OSU has nearly doubled its home run total from this point last season, sitting at 81 dingers now (compared to 46 at this point last season). Additionally, OSU has hit four more triples this season, totaled 49 more total bases, and is slugging .556, compared to last year's .500.

40 Wins - Again
With their 44-9 record, the Cowgirls of 2024 became the 16th team in program history to reach the 40-win mark, and the fourth-consecutive team in the Gajewski era. Four straight 40-win seasons is good for a program record. Oklahoma State is one of just 16 teams in the nation to have at least 40 wins entering the Big 12 Softball Championship.

Sweep, Sweep Victory
Oklahoma State has Big 12 series sweeps against UCF, Houston, Texas Tech and Kansas. In those series, OSU outscored its opponents by a combined margin of 92-26 and has hit 23 home runs in those games compared to the opponents' seven.

Clutch Hitting
As a team, OSU is batting .347 with runners in scoring position. Rosie Davis (19-for-37, .514 avg.), Tallen Edwards (11-for-33, .333 avg.), Caroline Wang (18-for-49, .367 avg.), Micaela Wark (13-for-32, .406 avg.) and Karli Godwin (16-for-45, .356 avg.) lead the Cowgirl hitters with RISP. With two outs, the Cowgirls are batting .300.

Fab Freshmen
Roommates off the field, freshmen Rosie Davis and Karli Godwin have been mainstays in the OSU lineup, with Godwin the only Cowgirl to start every game this season. Both NFCA Freshman of the Year Top 25 Finalists, the pair are both inside the top five on the team in batting average (.329 for Davis and .348 for Godwin) and they combine for 74 RBIs to go with 20 home runs and 21 doubles. Additional freshman contributors are Taylor Anderson and Tia Warsop. Perhaps the two fastest players in the Gajewski era, both are threats on the basepaths and commonly used in pinch running scenarios, combining for 27 runs scored. In her first career start at BYU on March 22, Anderson blasted her first career home run. Of Oklahoma State's 304 RBIs so far this season, freshmen account for 25% of them (77/304) and of its 417 hits, freshmen account for 29% of them (119/417).

Home Sweet Home
OSU has dominated at home since 2019, boasting a 115-16 record at Cowgirl Stadium. At home this season, the Pokes are 19-1, have outscored opponents, 139-37, and have hit 30 home runs while only giving up six. With the latest addition of the right field bleachers added for the Big 12 home opener, a new attendance record was set at Cowgirl Stadium on March 30, when 1,757 fans watched OSU clinch the series against then-No. 2 Texas. In addition to its new single-game attendance record, OSU set a new home regular season attendance record, with 22,070 fans packing into Cowgirl Stadium this season.

Make it Grand
The Cowgirls have blasted two grand slams on the year, with Lexi McDonald (April 6 at Houston) and Claire Timm (April 28 vs. Kansas) each notching the first of their respective careers. They are the 37^th and 38th Cowgirls in program history to launch a grand slam.

Have A Day, Jil
On her senior day against Kansas, Jilyen Poullard blasted two home runs to lead OSU to a run-rule victory. On the year, the McNeese transfer has launched six long balls to go with a pair of doubles and 25 RBIs.

Selected Cowgirl Tidbits
Kyra Aycock - Top-10 national recruit as a prep and member of the 2023 Big 12 all-freshman team. Candidate for a breakthrough season in 2024.
Megan Bloodworth - All-region honoree while at Alabama in 2022. Enjoys hunting in her spare time.
Tallen Edwards - Outspoken advocate for people with alopecia. Enrolled at OSU a year early and earned 2023 freshman All-America honors when she should have been a senior in high school.
Karli Godwin - Top-10 national recruit who enjoys hunting and fishing in her spare time. Chose OSU largely because Stillwater feels like her home of Lake Waccamaw, N.C.
Macy Graf - Mississippi State transfer who runs her own apparel company called Shady Cowboy.
Lexi Kilfoyl - 2023 All-American and 2024 Preseason All-American. Alabama transfer who pitched in the 2021 Women's College World Series for the Crimson Tide and in the 2023 WCWS for Oklahoma State. Brother, Andrew, plays football at South Florida.
Katie Kutz - An elite-level competitive bodybuilder who has earned her pro card.
Lexi McDonald - Product of baseball hotbed Silo, Oklahoma. Brother is training to be a college softball umpire.
Kathryn Ogg - Has played internationally for the Hungarian National Team. Brother, Alexander, pitches for Michigan.
Jilyen Poullard - High-energy member of the team who was a standout at McNeese but transferred to Oklahoma State to rekindle her own love for the game. Is developing a clothing line, Yet To Come: Manifest Greatness, with her partner, Madysin.
Ivy Rosenberry - Virginia Tech transfer who grew up in Virginia but was drawn to OSU not only to play at the highest level but also because she has family in Ardmore, Oklahoma. Is enjoying a career-year in her final season of collegiate softball.
Haidyn Sokoloski - Two-time gold medalist for Team USA (U17 and U18) at the Pan American Championships. Played summer ball in Nashville in 2023 and was offensive MVP of the league. Has her own series on OSU Max, OSU's streaming service, called Hangin' with Haidyn, where she vlogs most of the road trips from this season.
Caroline Wang - Formerly Caroline Hudson before marrying Matthew Wang in the summer of 2023. Her father, John, won a Super Bowl as a member of the Baltimore Ravens and her grandfather played for the San Diego Chargers and Buffalo Bills. Mother was a gymnast at Auburn and sister played softball for Chattanooga.
Micaela Wark - A prep star in Frisco, Texas, who enrolled at Kansas but didn't play as a freshman due to injury, then transferred to Oklahoma State in part to be closer to family. A realistic candidate to have a breakout year in 2024.
Tia Warsop - Selected to play for the Great Britain senior national team at age 17 and helped the squad to silver at the 2022 European Championships - its best finish at the event since 2009. Born in Northampton, England, but her family moved to Texas when she was four years old. One of the fastest players of the Kenny Gajewski era at Oklahoma State.

Up Next
The Cowgirls will travel to Broken Bow, Okla., as part of the yearly Cowgirl Softball tradition, to await their national seed for NCAA Regionals and Super Regionals.