Cowgirls Win Two in Florida

Friday, March 18

Clearwater, Fla.

7:00 PM

Oklahoma State University

22-6

Florida Atlantic

14-14

Florida Atlantic

Oklahoma State

Senior Ashley Boyd went 5-for-5 on the first day of the USF-The Game Tournament

March 18, 2011 | Cowgirl Softball

Box Score

March 18, 2011

Final Stats

CLEARWATER, Fla. (OSU Athletics ) -- The 20th-ranked Oklahoma State softball picked up two wins on Friday evening as they run-ruled Kent State 8-0 and defeated Florida Atlantic 8-2. Senior Ashley Boyd went 5-for-5 on the day with three doubles and senior Mariah Gearhart finished with five runs batted in during the first day of the USF-The Game Tournament.

In the first game of the evening, Kat Espinosa threw a two-hit shutout against Kent State (6-13). The sophomore threw a perfect game until the sixth inning when the Flashes picked up two hits. They were the only two base runners of the game.

OSU (22-6) walked two runs in during the second inning when Sammy Jo Diffendaffer and Mariah Gearhart each walked with the bases loaded. Gearhart picked up another RBI in the third inning when she hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Aaron Adams from third.

In the fifth inning the Cowgirls had five hits, including four doubles to score three runs. Tamara Brown, Ashley Boyd and Diffendaffer hit back-to-back-to-back doubles to score two runs and the third run was scored on a double by Gearhart.

Julie Ward hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning to break the school record for home runs in a career. She now has 28 in her career and eight on the season.

Espinosa improved to 11-2 after throwing all six innings, allowing two hits and striking out eight.

In the second game of the night, the Cowgirls scored eight runs off 11 hits, including a two-run home run by Chelsea Garcia. The junior finished with three RBIs in the game.

FAU (14-14) got on the board first when Brittany Walker hit a solo home run in the first inning. OSU responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning to take the lead and never gave it back. Garcia hit a grounder to second base with the bases loaded to score one runner and another runner scored on an FAU error.

In the third, Ward singled to center field and was followed by Garcia's shot over the right field fence to make the score 4-1. In the fourth inning, Gearhart and Ari Morrison each reached base on fielder's choices and both scored when Ward hit a single through the left side and the FAU shortstop threw the ball over the dugout. The final two Cowgirl runs came from a single up the middle by Gearhart scoring Boyd and Diffendaffer in the fifth inning.

Freshman Morgan Hawkins started in the circle for Oklahoma State and picked up her third win of the season. She threw four innings, gave up four hits for one run, struck out seven and walked two. Senior Sarah Odom came in for the final three innings to pick up her first save of the season. She allowed three hits for no earned runs, struck out four and walked one.

OSU will play again tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. against Florida Gulf Coast and at 4:30 p.m. against host South Florida.