Oklahoma State University Athletics
Sunday, March 4
Stillwater, OK
12:30 P.M. CT
Oklahoma State University
9
vs
3
Saint Francis
Photo by: OSU Athletics
Cowgirls Cap Off Unblemished Mizuno Classic Run
March 04, 2018 | Cowgirl Softball
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PDF Box Score
Updated Overall Stats
Mizuno Classic Stats
STILLWATER – The No. 24 Oklahoma State softball team completed the Mizuno Classic on Sunday, as the Cowgirls bested Saint Francis, 9-3, in the finale at Cowgirl Stadium.
It is the first time this season that OSU (14-6) completed a five-game invitational with a 5-0 record. The Cowgirls' start to the year is also their best since opening the 2011 season with a 15-5 record after 20 games.
"Obviously getting five wins is what you want to do," head coach Kenny Gajewski said. "I feel like our pitching set the tone. Saint Francis was some of the toughest outs that we've faced all year. Those kids swung and they battled. They were aggressive and had a good plan. For our offense to match that, we had some good at-bats and just kind of grinded them out. We had seven walks, eight hits and three home runs.
"The top of our order was really good again. (Vanessa) Shippy is on base almost every time. It's crazy."
For the second consecutive outing, the Cowgirls found themselves trailing early after Saint Francis pounded a two-out two-run home run in the top of the first. OSU quickly responded, however, with a pair of sacrifice flies in the home half of the inning to tie the game at 2-2.
The Cowgirl offense continued to click on all cylinders in the second inning, as Taylor Lynch smoked a three-run shot off the scoreboard in right to put OSU on top for the first time. Immediately after Lynch, Madi Sue Montgomery floated her fourth home run of the season over the right-field wall to push the Pokes out to a 6-2 lead.
Lynch and Montgomery's back-to-back home runs marked the second time this weekend that the Cowgirls went back-to-back after Sydney Pennington and Jessi Haffner did so against Maine on Saturday.
"It made me a little nervous because I was like "Oh, I've got to follow this up" but it worked out," Montgomery said of following Lynch's home run with one of her own. "We love being back home and this was good for us after the weekend we had last week. We got back on a high note and had a lot of fun."
Haffner contributed the third home run for the Cowgirls on Sunday, blasting one to left-center field in the bottom of the fifth inning. The two-run shot was Haffner's fourth of the weekend and seventh of the season.
Her four home runs this weekend matches her total from the entire 2017 campaign and her seven home runs marks a career high for the right-handed hitter. She finished the Mizuno Classic 7-for-11 at the plate while also scoring seven runs, driving in eight and walking four times.
Along with Haffner, four other Cowgirls (Montgomery, Vanessa Shippy, Maddi Holcomb and Sydney Pennington) recorded at least seven hits during OSU's first home action of the year. Pennington led that group with 10 hits, while Montgomery added eight, and the Cowgirls' No. 1 and No. 9 hitters - Shippy and Holcomb - both matched Haffner with seven.
Shippy also led the Cowgirls this weekend in walks (5), runs scored (8) and runs batted in (9). She is currently batting a Big 12-best .540 this season and also leads the conference with an astronomical .680 on-base percentage, among other impressive numbers.
In the circle, Logan Simunek continued to be effective after tossing the first no-hitter by a Cowgirl since Feb. 2014 on Saturday against Maine. She pitched five innings, allowing just four hits and striking out four in that time.
Saint Francis did get a run off Simunek in the top of the fifth though, as a solo home run ended the right-hander's season-long streak of 21.2 consecutive innings pitched without allowing an earned run.
The Piedmont, Oklahoma, native finished off the game after having her streak snapped and improved to 3-0 on the year.
"Logan was who she has been," Gajewski said. "Five innings of one-run ball and she threw very well. Too many walks out of the pitchers today, but they pitched very well for us. We've got to get better, but this is a good way to go into next week."
Oklahoma State will be back in action next weekend when the Cowgirls host the OSU Hall of Fame Classic at the ASA Hall of Fame Complex in Oklahoma City. The Cowgirls will open the invitational against Purdue before squaring off with Drake, Saint Francis, Connecticut and Pacific over the weekend.
For more information on what's happening within the OSU softball program, follow the team on Twitter (@CowgirlSB), Facebook (Cowgirl Softball) and Instagram (osusoftball).
PDF Box Score
Updated Overall Stats
Mizuno Classic Stats
STILLWATER – The No. 24 Oklahoma State softball team completed the Mizuno Classic on Sunday, as the Cowgirls bested Saint Francis, 9-3, in the finale at Cowgirl Stadium.
It is the first time this season that OSU (14-6) completed a five-game invitational with a 5-0 record. The Cowgirls' start to the year is also their best since opening the 2011 season with a 15-5 record after 20 games.
"Obviously getting five wins is what you want to do," head coach Kenny Gajewski said. "I feel like our pitching set the tone. Saint Francis was some of the toughest outs that we've faced all year. Those kids swung and they battled. They were aggressive and had a good plan. For our offense to match that, we had some good at-bats and just kind of grinded them out. We had seven walks, eight hits and three home runs.
"The top of our order was really good again. (Vanessa) Shippy is on base almost every time. It's crazy."
For the second consecutive outing, the Cowgirls found themselves trailing early after Saint Francis pounded a two-out two-run home run in the top of the first. OSU quickly responded, however, with a pair of sacrifice flies in the home half of the inning to tie the game at 2-2.
The Cowgirl offense continued to click on all cylinders in the second inning, as Taylor Lynch smoked a three-run shot off the scoreboard in right to put OSU on top for the first time. Immediately after Lynch, Madi Sue Montgomery floated her fourth home run of the season over the right-field wall to push the Pokes out to a 6-2 lead.
Lynch and Montgomery's back-to-back home runs marked the second time this weekend that the Cowgirls went back-to-back after Sydney Pennington and Jessi Haffner did so against Maine on Saturday.
"It made me a little nervous because I was like "Oh, I've got to follow this up" but it worked out," Montgomery said of following Lynch's home run with one of her own. "We love being back home and this was good for us after the weekend we had last week. We got back on a high note and had a lot of fun."
Haffner contributed the third home run for the Cowgirls on Sunday, blasting one to left-center field in the bottom of the fifth inning. The two-run shot was Haffner's fourth of the weekend and seventh of the season.
Her four home runs this weekend matches her total from the entire 2017 campaign and her seven home runs marks a career high for the right-handed hitter. She finished the Mizuno Classic 7-for-11 at the plate while also scoring seven runs, driving in eight and walking four times.
Along with Haffner, four other Cowgirls (Montgomery, Vanessa Shippy, Maddi Holcomb and Sydney Pennington) recorded at least seven hits during OSU's first home action of the year. Pennington led that group with 10 hits, while Montgomery added eight, and the Cowgirls' No. 1 and No. 9 hitters - Shippy and Holcomb - both matched Haffner with seven.
Shippy also led the Cowgirls this weekend in walks (5), runs scored (8) and runs batted in (9). She is currently batting a Big 12-best .540 this season and also leads the conference with an astronomical .680 on-base percentage, among other impressive numbers.
In the circle, Logan Simunek continued to be effective after tossing the first no-hitter by a Cowgirl since Feb. 2014 on Saturday against Maine. She pitched five innings, allowing just four hits and striking out four in that time.
Saint Francis did get a run off Simunek in the top of the fifth though, as a solo home run ended the right-hander's season-long streak of 21.2 consecutive innings pitched without allowing an earned run.
The Piedmont, Oklahoma, native finished off the game after having her streak snapped and improved to 3-0 on the year.
"Logan was who she has been," Gajewski said. "Five innings of one-run ball and she threw very well. Too many walks out of the pitchers today, but they pitched very well for us. We've got to get better, but this is a good way to go into next week."
Oklahoma State will be back in action next weekend when the Cowgirls host the OSU Hall of Fame Classic at the ASA Hall of Fame Complex in Oklahoma City. The Cowgirls will open the invitational against Purdue before squaring off with Drake, Saint Francis, Connecticut and Pacific over the weekend.
For more information on what's happening within the OSU softball program, follow the team on Twitter (@CowgirlSB), Facebook (Cowgirl Softball) and Instagram (osusoftball).
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