For the second time this season, Wichita State’s softball team pushed No. 6 ranked Oklahoma State University to the brink of an upset, and for the second time this season, the Shockers came up short on Wednesday night, losing to the Cowgirls in Wilkins Stadium, 6-5.
Wichita State dropped its overall record to 19-18, while Oklahoma State improved to 36-8.
Oklahoma State pushed a run across in the top of the first, putting two runners on base through bunts. Sophomore second baseman Sami Hood saved the Shockers from allowing more damage, making a diving grab on a ground ball that led to a double play for the first two outs of the inning.
Wichita State responded in the bottom of the second when a two-out ground ball from senior Jessica Garcia went through the legs of Cowgirls sophomore Tallen Edwards at third base and allowed Hood to tie the game.
In the third inning, the Shockers took the lead on a two-run bomb from sophomore Taylor Sedlacek into left field. The team’s momentum carried into the fourth when Wichita State managed two more runs to take a 5-1 lead.
Oklahoma State flipped the game in the fifth. Three hits and a wild pitch scored a run and knocked senior starting pitcher Lauren Howell out of the game, but the Cowgirls weren’t done scoring when junior Alison Cooper stepped into the pitching circle.
Oklahoma State scored four more runs in the inning to retake the lead, 6-5. Wichita State had a golden opportunity to respond in the sixth with two runners on base and the top of the order at the plate. Graduate student CC Wong grounded out, and senior Addison Barnard foul tipped into the catcher’s mitt to end the threat as groans could be heard from the crowd.
Cooper held the Cowgirls scoreless in the seventh, preserving the one-run deficit into the final inning. Wichita State couldn’t capitalize, going hitless in the seventh to end the game.
Of the six runs scored by Oklahoma State, only three were earned. Cooper picked up the loss to drop her record to 5-6 on the season.
The Shockers left six runners on base compared to Oklahoma State’s one. Wichita State head coach Kristi Bredbenner said she thought the team was swinging for the fences instead of looking to put the ball in play.
“If the defense has to work, you have a chance of them making an error or the ball getting through,” Bredbenner said. “If you’re striking out trying to hit a home run, nobody’s going to touch it. So those are moments that we have got to learn from and continue to keep growing.”
Junior Krystin Nelson was the only Shocker to pick up multiple hits, going two-for-three. Wichita State’s only extra-base hit was Sedlacek’s third-inning homer.
Sedlacek said that even though the team couldn’t come through with a win against Oklahoma State, she thought they built momentum.
“Every time we play OSU, we know it’s going to be kind of a close battle,” Sedlacek said. “And this year, we just couldn’t come out on top, but I felt like we played really well.”
Wichita State will attempt to avoid a fourth consecutive conference series loss over the weekend when it takes on the University of Alabama at Birmingham at home. The first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday.
