Cowgirls Softball is Too Hot to Touch and Smoking the Competition with the Bats and Arms
STILLWATER -- Earlier this week Oklahoma State softball head coach Kenny Gajewski said he was really proud when his athletic director and boss spent last weekend camped in a seat at Cowgirls Stadium and told him after the Cowgirls finished a perfect 5-0 weekend that included a walk-off extra inning single to beat No. 10 Oregon that he had the hottest team on campus.
"If Oklahoma State fans want to see the best team on campus then they need to come see your team," Gajewski relayed that Oklahoma State athletic director Mike Holder had told him.
A week later and nothing has changed as the Cowgirls hosted Missouri State, Murray State, Mercer, and No. 25 Utah for the Mizuno Classic, a tournament now played in both Stillwater and Norman. The Cowgirls went 5-0 for the second weekend in a row and now dating back to ace pitcher Carrie Eberle's no-hitter and 3-0 win at UAB, Oklahoma State has won 11 games in a row.
The total tally this weekend in two wins over Missouri State and one each over Murray State, Mercer, and No. 25 Utah was 55-12 in runs. The Cowgirls played five games shortened by the run rule.
In the opener Friday they used a 12-run first inning and five home runs (Kiley Naomi and Sydney Pennington with two each and Hayley Busby with one) to beat the Bears 15-1 in five innings. After a 7-3 win over Murray State that was closed with a three-run homer by freshman second baseman Karli Petty, the sticks were really powerful on Saturday. In an 11-2 five inning win over Mercer Pennington, Alysen Febrey, and Michaela Richbourg all homered. In the nightcap, an 11-2 win in six innings over No. 25 Utah with a nine-run fourth inning there were two home runs by Febrey.
Finally, on Sunday and an 11-0 win in five innings over Missouri State the Cowgirls got home runs by Febrey (four for the weekend) and by Naomi (three for the weekend).
Febrey's home run was a "frozen rope" meaning it went out on a line drive and wasted no time. It went out just to the right of the center field batter's background. Had it hit the background, I believe it would have put a hole in it.
"She hit it hard, head coach Kenny Gajewski said of his team that is now 18-5. "We are hitting the ball well right now."
Something else about the concluding win of the weekend, with the wind blowing out, red-shirt freshman Kelly Maxwell drew the pitching assignment and feeling little pressure because of her teammate's prowess at the plate, Maxwell threw her second career no-hitter, second this season allowing just two walks and striking out eight Bears hitters.
It was her second no-hitter of the season as she opened her collegiate career in Baton Rouge with a five inning perfect game over Florida A&M.
"I think a no-hitter that is a huge accomplishment in general, so they all kind of feel the same," Maxwell answered when asked if this one may have been better coming at home. "It's awesome here, I love it. The atmosphere the fans bring and my teammates, it is really easy to play here."
Maxwell is a quiet, shy type. She has a quality that will always help with a pitcher or a fire fighter, anyone that has to put fires out, She is incredibly calm and doesn't let anything rattle her.
"I've always been that way and even away from here, I'm not one to scream and yell," Maxwell self described. "I keep my composure all the time."
"She has number one stuff," Gajewski said. "Most of the time in society someone in her situation would have left. Thought it wasn't fair that she wasn't playing, but she just worked and went home and worked with her old pitching coach. She came back and started working with John (Bargfeldt) and that's the coolest thing about this is most people in this day and age give up. Kelly just worked and make it happen."
Her numbers on the season are strong. She is 6-3 with a 1.51 ERA. She has only allowed 10 earned runs in 46.1 innings pitched. She has walked just 16 hitters and struck out 57.
Of course, the biggest numbers for Kenny Gajewski are a team batting average of .303 and 30 home runs so far.
The Cowgirls get to extend the streak on Wednesday when they host Wichita State at 6 p.m.