Cowgirls Fall in NCAA Tournament
Tucson, Ariz. — Oklahoma State defeated Cornell 7-0 but fell to Hofstra 5-2 here Saturday night in the loser’s bracket of the Tucson Regional. The Cowgirls finish the season with a 44-16 overall record. Hofstra advances to play Arizona in the regional finals, needing two wins over the Wildcats to advance to the Super Regional.
The Cowgirls won their first game of the afternoon 7-0 over the Cornell Big Red. Senior pitcher Anna Whiddon threw a complete-game shutout, scattering five hits while striking out seven and walking none. She improved to 22-9 on the season.
Oklahoma State scored five runs on five hits in the third, then added a couple of insurance runs in the fourth. Senior Sam Heinlein, an Edmond, Okla., native, went 2-for-3 with a run scored and three runs batted in. Moore, Okla., native Chelsea Garcia was also 2-for-3 with two s, while leadoff hitter Mariah Gearhart was 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Alysia Hamilton, a Moore, native as well, went 2-for-4.
However, the second game was a different story. Hofstra Pride freshman pitcher Olivia Galati held Oklahoma State to just two runs despite giving up eight hits. Hofstra trailed 2-1 in the middle of the fifth, but scored four runs in the bottom half of the frame and took a 5-2 lead which turned out to be the final score.
The Cowgirls scored one run in the third inning when Mariah Gearhart hit a double down the leftfield line just over the glove of third baseman Sara Michalowski. She then scored on a single by Katelyn Bright into centerfield. Gearhart scored again in the fifth on a base hit by Hamilton.
Back-to-back extra-base hits by Michele DePasquale and Michalowski scored all four runs in the fifth. DePasquale hit a hard grounder that took a bad hop just over the glove of Cowgirl shortstop Chelsea Garcia. The ball rolled all the way to the fence, scoring two. Michalowski followed with a home run, her eighth of the season, over the fence in left centerfield.
Freshman pitcher Kat Espinosa took the loss in the circle for and fell to 19-6 on the season.
Updated 05-24-2010
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