Junior Kati Phillips is batting .294 and scored a run in the Cowgirls’ series against Iowa State. OSU won Saturday’s game but lost Sunday.
It was a tale of two games for the softball team, losing 4-1 to Iowa State on Sunday after winning 9-1 on Saturday.
Sunday, the Cowgirls (21-19, 4-4) scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first when sophomore outfielder Katelyn Bright reached home after an error by the Cyclone’s shortstop Carie Monroe — OSU’s only run of the game.
The Cowgirls had multiple opportunities in the sixth and seventh innings to tie or take lead, but were unable to drive in any runs. The team was only able to get four hits off the Cyclone’s pitcher Rachel Zabriskie, who pitched a complete game.
The four-hit game came after beating Iowa State by run-rule in six innings the day before. Coach Rich Wieligman said he thought the lack of offensive production on Sunday was because of weak at-bats.
“We didn’t have very good at bats,” Wieligman said. “They took a lot of strikes and didn’t put the ball in play.”
Freshman second baseman Alysia Hamilton agreed with her coach on why the team had a poor offensive performance.
“We just didn’t have the intensity and aggressiveness we had [Saturday],” Hamilton said. “We weren’t up there swinging at the strikes, we were up there timid.”
Hamilton was one of the four Cowgirls who got a hit Sunday. She was also one of the offensive leaders on Saturday, hitting 3-4 and driving in three runs.
Freshman short stop Mariah Gearhart also performed well on offense, getting three hits, two RBIs, and scored two runs. Bright scored one run and drove in one run while junior center fielder Breana Casaus got two hits and scored two runs.
The team was able to get 15 hits on Saturday, which had Wieligman impressed with his team’s offensive play.
“Saturday, I was impressed with the way we swung the bats and stayed on them the whole game,” Wieligman said.
After performing on such a high level offensively on Saturday, Wieligman was disappointed when his team struggled on Saturday.
“That’s disappointing when we score that many runs in the game and then turn around the next day and really don’t get any runs and don’t get that many hits until the end of the game,” Wieligman said.
One bright spot from both games was the play of the defense. Although the Cowgirls gave up two runs in the top of the seventh inning Sunday, Wieligman was generally pleased with the defense.
“We played fine defensively,” Wieligman said. “I think we could’ve made some more plays to help us out, but overall I think we did well.”
Again, Hamilton agreed with the coach’s assessment of the team.
“I think the defense played good,” Hamilton said. “We can always improve, but we made the outs we needed to and that can let us keep building.”
Freshman Sarah Odom pitched all six innings on Saturday, giving up five hits and one run. Sophomore Anna Whiddon got the start Sunday and gave up four runs and seven hits in 6.1 innings of work. She also struck out four batters.
“Odom threw a great game Saturday,” Wieligman said. “Anna threw OK; I think she can throw better. She kept us in the game, but we just didn’t swing the bat.”
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