Oklahoma State softball erases ugly start, tops Kentucky to reach Stillwater Regional final

STILLWATER — A bad start to the first inning was a foot away from disaster for Oklahoma State, but by the time the frame was finished, the Cowgirls had a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

Fifth-seeded OSU advanced to the finals of the Stillwater Regional with a 6-2 win over Kentucky on Saturday at Cowgirl Stadium.

The Pokes (46-10) are now a win away from advancing to super regionals for the fifth straight time.

OSU pitcher Lexi Kilfoyl went from being unable to record an out to retiring 19 straight hitters as if a switch simply flipped in the middle of the first inning.

“The balls were just not where she can pitch,” OSU coach Kenny Gajewski said, referencing Kilfoyl leaving some pitches in the middle of the plate early. “That’s a good team over there, with some good hitters. To strike out 12 and walk none in a regional game against an SEC opponent, I think it tells you she needed to get dialed in just a little bit more.”

But Saturday could’ve looked a lot different if the long fly ball off the bat of Kentucky’s Ally Hutchins in the first inning had been a foot higher.

Before Hutchins, Kentucky (31-23) had four batters reach base with a double, two singles and an error. One run had scored before Hutchins narrowly missed a grand slam. The ball hit a few inches from the top of the center field fence, and OSU’s Jilyen Poullard played it quickly to allow only one more run for a 2-0 Kentucky lead.

That was the wakeup call Kilfoyl needed. She struck out the next three hitters, starting a string of 19 straight batters retired until an infield single in the seventh inning.

Poullard ignited the Cowgirl offense with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first, and OSU added three more in the inning for a 4-2 lead, never trailing again.

Rosie Davis and Claire Timm had back-to-back doubles to provide another run in the third inning, and Poullard hit her second homer of the game in the sixth to finish the scoring.

OSU will need to win one game against Michigan in two chances in the regional final, set to begin at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Here are three takeaways from the victory:

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Lexi Kilfoyl dealing again

Roughly 17 hours after pitching five perfect innings in OSU’s 6-0 win over Northern Colorado on Friday night, Kilfoyl overcame the shaky start and ultimately looked more dominant than she did the night before.

Kilfoyl’s 12 strikeouts matched her most in two seasons at OSU, a day after she had just one strikeout despite her perfection against Northern Colorado.

“As a defense, it takes so much pressure off of you,” Poullard said of the strikeouts. “You’re not necessarily feeling like every single pitch, there’s a play to be made. Lexi just commands the ball so well.

“She has this energy and this aura about her that makes you, being behind her, feel like we got this, everything’s gonna be alright. She’s never flustered. She’s never caught off guard.”

A trend for these Cowgirls this season, they haven’t panicked when they’ve fallen behind in games, and that showed again Saturday.

“We had to weather the storm there in the first inning,” Gajewski said. “It’s what this team has done. Anytime we’ve been beat, anytime we lose a lead — we’re not behind a lot. We just haven’t been. When we get down, these guys don’t panic.

“I think that’s been the mark of this team.”

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Jilyen Poullard keeps power surge going

Poullard has nine hits in her last seven games. Seven of them — yes, seven — have been home runs.

She barely missed a two-homer game Friday, with the second one bouncing off the top of the fence. But on Saturday, she left no doubt.

Poullard homered to center field to lead off the bottom of the first, then she hit one to right in the sixth.

Though she homered in the two Bedlam games OSU won earlier this month, you could argue Saturday’s first home run was her most important during her recent hot streak.

Having just fallen behind 2-0 with a rough first inning, the quick homer gave the Cowgirls an immediate answer and quelled any early concerns.

“It was just great for us as a team,” said Timm, who finished 2 for 3 with a double and two RBIs. “Everything about Jil is so contagious. To have her set the table like that is great.”

Poullard has emerged as a key cog in the offensive machine since moving to the leadoff spot in mid-April. Her energy, her production and her home run celebrations have brought life to the Cowgirls.

“Kentucky came out guns blazing,” Poullard said. “Being able to start the game like that, being in that energizer role, I think that’s something the team needed, and I don’t know a better way to start it off for us.”

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Rosie Davis showing veteran acumen

The final run of the first inning was a stolen one thanks to a heads-up play by Davis, a true freshman.

She tagged up on third base and scored on a foul popup that was caught halfway down the third base line near the OSU dugout. With no one covering home plate, Davis sprinted in and scored without a throw.

Gajewski said he couldn’t take credit for a good coaching call on the play, nor would he reveal his helping hand from the dugout.

“I’m not gonna tell you who it was, but I’m gonna tell you there was somebody in my ear saying, ‘Nobody’s covering. Nobody’s covering,” he said. “It was Rosie hearing that, me relaying that, and then she takes off and goes.”

The Kentucky catcher ran into OSU’s Micaela Wark, who had been retired when the popup was caught, but there was no recourse for an interference call.

“There was nothing they could challenge there,” Gajewski said. “(Wark) was on a direct line back to the dugout.”

The play by Davis was yet another sign of her faster-than-expected development this season.

To reach base initially, she had an 11-pitch at-bat in which she fell behind 0-2 and fouled off five pitches before drawing a walk.

Through the first two NCAA Tournament games of her career, Davis is 4 for 5 with two doubles, two RBIs and three runs scored.

“Her at-bat was incredible,” Gajewski said. “That’s the type of stuff I’m most proud about with her and (freshman first baseman Karli Godwin). They’re the two youngest kids.

“That type of stuff, we see it out of them a lot and it’s been really cool.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State softball beats Kentucky to reach NCAA regional final