Cowgirls clinch fifth straight Super Regional bid with another Kilfoyl gem

May 19—As Oklahoma State phenom pitcher Lexi Kilfoyl sat at the postgame press conference following yet another masterful postseason performance, there was no visible indication that she had just pitched 19 of the 21 innings over an undefeated regional weekend.

No ice, no wraps, no visible fatigue — just a woman giving everything she has in her final postseason for her coaches, her team and herself.

Once again, her inspired performance kept the opposing team out of sorts, leading to OSU clinching its home regional with a 4-1 win over Michigan on Sunday afternoon.

As the postgame interviews played out, head coach Kenny Gajewski couldn't help but smile. Hearing what his star pitcher had to say, it's hard to blame him.

"The whole journey has been so amazing, and that's what I absolutely love about this place is the fun is always first," Kilfoyl said. "That's at the end of the day what I needed softball to be and that's what it's become. It's everything I've ever dreamed of."

Gajewski reciprocated that praise to his workhorse pitcher.

"The story of the weekend is Lexi over here and just the way she carried this team," Gajewski said. "She's been waiting for this moment, whether she knows it or not, and it's really cool to see kids just be able to answer and just be so under control and be so normal and be so caring about the program and teammates."

The first inning felt all too familiar for Kilfoyl after center fielder Jilyen Poullard and third baseman Tallen Edwards gave the Cowgirls a 1-0 lead. The Cowgirls were the designated visiting team in the game, and Edwards drove in Poullard in the top frame with an RBI single.

Hit after hit kept falling for the Wolverines in the bottom frame, finding seemingly every gap in the defense. Four hits later, and the Wolverines tied the game 1-1 and had the bases loaded with two outs.

But Kilfoyl pitched out of the jam allowing just one run, and that was about it for the Michigan offense.

"I knew once we got through that, I felt good, really good," Gajewski said.

The rest of the offense came from two swings — the first from Lexi McDonald. After some quality at-bats against Northern Colorado on Friday, Gajewski praised his sophomore outfielder. On Sunday, she gave the Cowgirls the lead with a solo blast to left field.

"She's really grown from last year," Gajewski said. "When I saw her in high school, she was a kid that I wanted here. Tough. Could get the barrel to the ball. Doesn't really flash a lot of power, even though it's in there. It's coming and it will come at some point."

McDonald grew up about 25 miles from the Texas state line in the town of Silo, Oklahoma. Her family was in attendance Sunday, including her brother, Cord, who was wearing his state championship ring that he won with Silo baseball in 2019.

She struggled to acclimate her freshman year, batting .188 in limited appearances. Now, in year two, she's batting .320 and has earned a spot in the lineup down the stretch of this season.

Gajewski remembers a comment that he heard from McDonald earlier in the season; "I finally just got over the hump of trying to prove that I belong here."

"I thought that was a very mature comment because she does, she belongs here," Gajewski said. "She wouldn't be here if she didn't, and it's hard. This stage is big and the expectations are big, and so for an Oklahoma kid from Silo, this is just another step for her. She's got to get over that hump and she's done that."

McDonald's home run landed in the first row of the left field corral.

Karli Godwin's two-run shot in the fifth inning might still be soaring.

OSU's freshman slugger was frustrated for most of the day, but finally it clicked. As Godwin readied to step into the on-deck circle earlier in the game, Poullard pulled her aside.

"We don't need you to be a hero," Poullard said to Godwin. "We just need you to be Karli Godwin."

Godwin said that she had possibly her worst batting practice of the season before Sunday's game. She hadn't homered since the Bedlam-opening win on May 3, and she felt dissatisfied with herself.

"Sometimes you just get worked up and you just need to take a deep breath," Godwin said.

Michigan ace pitcher Lauren Derkowski delivered an inside fastball and Godwin punished it. The ball left Cowgirl Stadium in short notice and eventually came to a rest on the other side of McElroy Rd.

As she rounded third, Godwin smiled at Gajewski before their quick high five.

"Sometimes she's the hardest person on herself," Gajewski said. "She wants to pick her team up every single time. She thinks she's gotta do it every single time."

That was all the run support that Kilfoyl needed, and she used the momentum from her 15 consecutive batters retired to get the final three outs. The final out was a swinging strikeout, her eighth punch out of the game.

It's the fifth straight postseason that the Cowgirls have advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals — a feat that Gajewski doesn't take lightly.

"Five straight supers is not easy to do in this day and age with the parity that we have," Gajewski said.

Oklahoma State will host yet another Super Regional, and with No. 12-seeded Arkansas eliminated from its regional, the Cowgirls will welcome the Arizona Wildcats out of the Fayetteville Regional. Game one is scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPNU. Saturday's game is slated for 6 p.m.

The winner of the series will advance to the Women's College World Series. The Cowgirls are now two wins away from a fifth-straight trip to Oklahoma City.

"Celebrating the moments, this doesn't get old," Gajewski said. "It feels a little harder to be honest. I mean I'll just be very honest with that. But we talk about this with these guys a lot, like just stay together, just do what we do."