STILLWATER – Oklahoma State took care of Oregon to open up Super Regionals on Thursday.
The 6-seeded Cowgirls started slow on offense, but kicked it into high gear, securing a 8-1 win over Oregon in game one of Super Regionals at Cowgirl Stadium.
“I’m proud of our team and the way we continue to play,” OSU coach Kenny Gajewski said. “Our crowd was maybe as good as I’ve seen here. It was electric. It was loud. You could feel the energy.”
Oregon got out in front first in the second inning, putting some early adversity on the Cowgirls. OSU didn’t score any runs in the first three innings, but that all changed in the fourth inning.
The Cowgirl offense scored three runs in the fourth, including a solo home run from Kiley Naomi. After Naomi’s long ball, OSU got the next five batters on base due to Orgeon’s miscues on defense.
“I thought that Kiley’s home run just leveled the field,” Gajewski said. “It just gave our kids a little bit of energy and just kind of got us going there.”
Naomi wasn’t the only Cowgirl to get a home run on Thursday. Morgyn Wynne hit her 10th home run of the season in the fifth inning, a three-run bomb that signified as a dagger for OSU.
“It was a really cool moment,” Wynne said. “Just to get that hit after working through things this week, it was a cool experience to come up big for my team.”
Another weapon OSU had on Thursday was right-handed pitcher Lexi Kilfoyl. After giving up the lone run in the second inning, Kilfoyl retired the next 17 Oregon batters, taking command of the Duck’s offense for the rest of the game.
“The story of the day is Lexi finishing with 17 in a row,” Gajewski said. “It’s just crazy against a really good team and a team that can run and do some stuff. I’m just really impressed.”
Kilfoyl limited the damage from the Ducks offense. She gave up one run on three hits with three strikeouts in her complete-game performance.
“I felt good from the start,” Kilfoyl said. “I came out and trusted my drop ball. They were putting it in play right to our players, and they’re covering every single inch of that field and they did that tonight.”
Oregon got the first run on the board in the second thanks to a RBI-single from Alyssa Daniell, giving Orgeon the early 1-0 lead.
That is all OSU surrendered as Kilfoyl remained calm and got the next two outs to limit the damage for Oklahoma State.
Micaela Wark got the Cowgirls their first hit of the game off her single to left field. But OSU couldn’t get anything going after that as Wynne hit into a double play, getting the Ducks out of the inning.
Naomi got OSU on the board in a huge way in the fourth as the senior hit her 12th home run of the year, tying the game at 1-1.
BEEN TRYING TO TELL Y'ALL WE GOT FIVE ON IT.
B4 | UO 1 – OSU 1#AllOne | #GoPokes | 📺 ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/fjYOsRXJkU
— OSU Cowgirl Softball (@cowgirlsb) May 26, 2023
Wark kept it going after the Naomi bomb with a walk. Katelynn Carwile followed that up with a one-out double after the ball tipped off first baseman’s KK Humphreys’ glove and into right field, setting up another scoring opportunity for Oklahoma State.
Wynne then hit a ground ball right back to the pitcher Raegan Breedlove, but Breedlove’s throw to home was off target, allowing Wark to score and give OSU the 2-1 lead.
Tallen Edwards added to the crooked number as she hit a one-out RBI single to left field, scoring Carwile and increasing the Cowgirl lead to 3-1.
After Morgan Scott came in to pitch for Oregon, Taylor Tuck drew a walk off her, but Megan Bloodworth popped into a double play to end the inning for OSU.
Rachel Becker lead-off the fifth inning with a walk, her 44th of the season. Chyenne Factor laid down a bunt to Humphreys, but Humphreys throw was wide at second base, letting Becker advance to third and Factor advance to second.
Wark did her job as her ground out got Becker to cross home plate, pushing the Cowgirl lead to 4-1, and putting runners at first and third for Wynne.
Wynne blew the game wide open, hitting a three-run shot over the left field wall that got out in a hurry, giving OSU the 7-1 lead.
MO WYNNE LASER BEAM THREE RUN BLAST.
B5 | UO 1 – OSU 7#AllOne | @morgynwynne | 📺 ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/GqU90uiRND
— OSU Cowgirl Softball (@cowgirlsb) May 26, 2023
Pinch-hitter Katie Lott got things going in the sixth inning for the Cowgirls, hitting a one-out double, giving the OSU offense another opportunity to get runs on the board.
Factor got OSU one more run, hitting an RBI-single to right field, scoring Lott and putting OSU up 8-1.
Kilfoyl shut the door in the seventh, giving OSU the always-important game one victory.
Oklahoma State will look to claim a spot in the Women’s College World Series when it takes on Oregon in game two in the best-of-three series on Friday at 5 p.m. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN2.
