Oklahoma State Regional Champions Following 11-5 Win Over Stanford
Oklahoma State Cowgirl softball is one step closer to getting back to Oklahoma City. The Cowgirls beat Stanford 11-5 in the regional championship on Sunday afternoon at Cowgirl Stadium.
“Very happy with our team and our performance,” Kenny Gajewski said. “Just can’t say enough about these kids and what they continue to do; they represent this school, this community, this state in the best way. They’re great people, first and foremost, they care about this school, they care about this program and so I’m very thankful and I’m very honored to be their coach.”
Designated player Amanda Hasler was the difference maker at the plate. She scored the first run for the Cowgirls in the top of the second on an error by Stanford shortstop River Mahler.
Hasler gave the Cowgirls the lead in the third on a double which scored Lexi McDonald.
Hasler’s hot day at the plate also included a two-run home run in the fifth inning to extend the Cowgirl lead to 5-2.
Right fielder Claire Timm delivered the dagger in the Cowgirls six-run fifth with a grand slam off of Cardinal pitcher Ava Bulanti.
“Just another offensive game, which is what we needed,” Gajewski said. “What I’m just so proud of is [Stanford] was having trouble throwing strikes, we were doing a great job of not swinging at balls. When you walk 11 times and get hit by a pitch a couple of times, we only had six hits, but we had some hard outs. We had some things happen, we had a lot of runners, and it just kept the pressure on them. Obviously, we had some big [home runs,] Amanda [Hasler] here had the day here today. It was really cool to see; I told her on the drive over here I could see in her last at-bat that she was gonna spray a ball down the right field line and I was gonna send her, I wanted to see the cycle. But just a big blow there in the fifth, just an absolute bomb. Then Claire [Timm,] obviously, the bigger blow at the end of that inning that kind of put the game out of reach.’’
The Cowgirls faced four different Stanford pitchers. Starter Zoe Prystajko made three separate appearances in the circle which totaled two innings Alyssa Houston added two of her own, Bulanti added one and Anna Brewer threw the two innings. Prystajko also played right field.
Cowgirl ace Ruby Meylan pitched another complete game and had five strikeouts.
“I’m proud of Ruby [Meylan,] just the way she fought through this thing,” Gajewski said. “Again, go seven [innings,] pitch count at 93, I mean it’s just efficient. I’m proud of her, she’s grinding. We’ve had a lot of great pitchers in our history here and I gotta think she’s cementing herself as one of our very best and it’s really cool to be a part of that.”
The Cowgirls fell behind early when Stanford centerfielder Emily Jones hit her third home run of the season to give the Cardinal a 1-0 lead in the first inning. The long ball also saved the Cardinal from being run-ruled. Ava Gall’s two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth cut the deficit back to six.
Stanford finished with seven hits off of Meylan. Mahler and Gall were the only Cardinal hitters with multiple hits.
The Cowgirls went 3-0 in the regional and will go to Nebraska in the super regionals.
