Cowgirls Win NCAA Tournament Opener With Dominant 6th Inning vs. Indiana

The Cowgirls began the NCAA Tournament with a bang.

On Friday, Oklahoma State softball began the Fayetteville Regional with an 11-6 win against Indiana. After having to go on the road for a Regional for the first time since 2018, the Cowgirls delivered a win in their opening performance.

The matchup was tight for most of the afternoon, with the teams trading two runs in the first inning before Indiana’s run in the top of the third helped it carve out an advantage. The Hoosiers piled on another three runs in the top of the fourth to give them a commanding 6-2 lead. 

From there, it was all Cowgirls.

OSU got back into the matchup with a couple of runs in the bottom of the fourth but did most of its damage in the bottom of the sixth. Still trailing by two runs, OSU put together a dominant inning.

OSU scored seven runs in the bottom of the sixth and suddenly shifted momentum drastically into the Cowgirls’ favor. After failing to lead through the first five innings, OSU’s sixth inning was enough to make the game look like it was in the Cowgirls’ control throughout.

The Cowgirls will look to take the upper hand in the Regional battle with a matchup against Arkansas on Saturday at noon. If OSU is able to beat Arkansas, it would be in the driver’s seat for a trip to the Super Regional.

The Razorbacks earned their spot in the matchup against the Cowgirls by beating Saint Louis on Friday 10-0 in five innings. Considering Arkansas is at home and has shown its dominance throughout the year, this will be one of the toughest tests of the season for this OSU team.

Along with having a tough test against the Razorbacks, this game could also show what hopes OSU has of making a deep run. The Razorbacks are a top five team and could easily be in the running for a national title, but an OSU win could suddenly put the Cowgirls in a position to have warranted belief they can make yet another run to Oklahoma City.