Oklahoma State Drops Big 12 Tournament Opener vs. Arizona State

Oklahoma State’s postseason is off to a rough start.

On Thursday, OSU softball lost its Big 12 Tournament opener against Arizona State 2-1 to send the Cowgirls home early. As the No. 4 seed, OSU looked to make a deep run and contend for a conference championship, but the No. 5 seed Sun Devils had just enough to get past the Cowgirls.

Arizona State scored its winning run in the top of the sixth inning, when Tanya Windle flied out to left field to send Samantha Swan in for the 2-1 lead, which would be the final score. While the Cowgirls didn’t allow the Sun Devils many opportunities, Arizona State seemed to take better advantage of their chances than OSU. 

The Sun Devils were the first to get on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth inning. After going without a hit through the first three innings, Swan hit a solo home run to take a 1-0 lead.

The Cowgirls responded to Swan’s solo home run and got their first and only run in the bottom of the fifth. With runners on first and second, Ruby Davis hit a double to send one run in and gave the Cowgirls some life.

On the ensuing at-bat, Amanda Hasler was hit by a pitch to load the bases in the bottom of the fifth, and the Cowgirls were still with only one out. However, OSU’s momentum was halted dramatically with back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning and leave the Cowgirls with the bases loaded and only one run to show for their big fifth inning.

The fifth inning was not the only time the Cowgirls had struggles to capitalize. Throughout the day, OSU left seven runners on base, which is something Kenny Gajewski’s team can’t afford in a postseason setting.

While the Cowgirls found ways to get on base, they still only had three hits against the Sun Devils. Although the Cowgirls struggled to get much offense going, they only allowed four hits throughout the matchup, so there is at least some bright spot for the Cowgirls.