Cowgirl Softball Opens Fall With Easy Win

Oklahoma State's softball team opened the 2012 fall season with a 9-0 victory against Rogers State on Tuesday.

All three Cowgirl pitchers got into the game and combined for the shutout performance.

The Cowgirls got a run on the board in the bottom of the third inning on back-to-back singles. Shelby Davis led off with a base hit down the leftfield line. With Ari Morrison up to bat, Davis stole second, and scored on a single up the middle by the Cowgirl second baseman.

OSU added a pair of runs in the fourth on two hits and a couple of errors by the Hillcats. Tarah Ettinger led off with a single to left. A grounder to the pitcher by Gessenia DeLaCruz should've been an easy double play, but Yolanda Rios' throw sailed into centerfield, and pinch runner Shannon Kaufman advanced to third. A fielder's choice by Davis scored Kaufman, and Morrison got her second RBI single of the night, scoring DeLaCruz.

Two more Rogers State miscues in the bottom of the fifth pushed another Cowgirl run across the plate. With one out, Stephanie Brewer reached on a fielding error by the Hillcat shortstop. After Ettinger flew out, DeLaCruz hit a high fly ball to centerfield. The ball bounced out of Candace Monigold's glove, allowing Brewer to score.

Oklahoma State added three more runs in the eighth inning. Kaufman was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame, and Tamara Brown followed with a triple off the right-centerfield wall. Freshman Tiffany Mikkelson followed with a high home run over the leftfield wall, making the score 7-0. A bases-loaded single and a fielder's choice added two more runs in the bottom of the ninth.

The Cowgirls will host Western Oklahoma State in a 10-inning game Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Cowgirl Softball Complex.