How Oklahoma State softball ace Lexi Kilfoyl helped Cowgirls bounce back after shaky week
STILLWATER — Following a week with a couple of shaky losses, Oklahoma State softball didn’t let the unsteadiness linger.
The eighth-ranked Cowgirls won three games in all last week, taking two of three from second-ranked Texas.
OSU should return to the top five when this week’s rankings are released Tuesday, and more importantly, the Cowgirls are showing a consistent capability of hanging with some of the best teams in the country.
Here’s a look at what we learned about OSU last week:
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No. 8 Oklahoma State
Overall record: 29-6 (9-3 Big 12)
Last week: 3-1 (Beat Missouri State 9-3, beat Texas 5-0 and 3-0, lost to Texas 2-1)
This week: at North Texas, 6 p.m. Wednesday; at Houston (6 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday, noon Sunday)
Lexi Kilfoyl downs Horns
OSU ace Lexi Kilfoyl continues to show she’s one of the best pitchers in the country and added two dominant performances to her stat sheet against Texas.
She went the distance in a pair of shutouts, allowing nine hits with two walks and 11 strikeouts over 14 innings. The Longhorns managed just two hits and one walk in the Cowgirls’ 3-0 win Saturday.
Kilfoy has allowed just one earned run while striking out 21 over her last 24 innings pitched. In that span, she’s had three complete games, needing more than 100 pitches in just one of them.
At the same time, she has lowered her ERA to 0.80, ranking in the top 10 nationally.
More: How Liberty transfer Caroline Wang made a seamless transition to Oklahoma State softball
Long ball in clutch moments
Seventeen OSU hitters were retired in order by Texas pitching Saturday, but all the damage was done before that streak.
Caroline Wang had given OSU a 3-0 lead with one out in the first inning, and Kilfoyl’s dominant pitching did the rest.
But Wang’s homer was just a sign of the week for the Cowgirl offense.
OSU had three home runs in each of its Tuesday and Thursday wins against Missouri State and Texas.
Micaela Wark had a solo home run in each of those games, and added a two-run double in the 5-0 win over Texas. Wark is batting .303 for the season and is second on the team in home runs (7) and slugging percentage (.658).
Wang had another homer earlier in the week and leads the squad with 11 and a .755 slugging percentage.
Tallen Edwards, Karli Godwin and Audrey Schneidmiller also got in on the home run party.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: How Lexi Kilfoyl turned Oklahoma State softball around from shaky week
