OSU Softball: First Inning Woes Doom Cowgirls

A rough first inning haunted the Oklahoma State softball team on Saturday, as the Cowgirls dropped a 5-2 decision against Texas Tech at Cowgirl Stadium in Stillwater, Okla.

OSU (19-25, 3-7) fell victim to a 4-0 deficit right off the bat, thanks to four first-inning runs from the Red Raiders (19-24, 3-7).

“Tech came out swinging, and the slow start really hurt us,” head coach Rich Wieligman said. “After the first inning, we played pretty well. We outscored them after the rain delay, but we've still got to work on not allowing those bad individual innings."

Despite coming out to a rocky start, OSU starter Brandi Needham recovered to keep the Cowgirls in the contest. After a 45-minute rain delay between the second and third frames, the tables turned, as Needham only allowed one earned run in her final four innings of work.

Oklahoma State's bats started slow, but finally broke through against Texas Tech pitcher Chandler Moore in fifth, as Randee O'Donnell led off the inning with her first-career triple. Two at-bats later, Shelby Davis lined a triple into the left-center gap, scoring O'Donnell and putting the Cowgirls in the scoring column.

After a fly out to left, Tiffany Mikkelson stepped to the plate and drove a two-out double to right-center, allowing Davis to come around and score as well. The extra-base hit helped the Cowgirls cut the deficit and 5-2, while pushing Mikkelson's season RBI count to 41.

With the offense starting to heat up, Peyton Walker came on in relief and kept the TTU bats at bay. In only her third appearance of the season, Walker tossed two hitless innings to keep the Cowgirls in the hunt.

With momentum in hand, the Cowgirls continued to battle in the sixth, as Michaela Patton drew a walk to lead off the inning. However, Moore shut down the final six OSU hitters over the last two frames, leaving the Cowgirls short in their hopes of a comeback.

Offensively, Oklahoma State was led by Mikkelson, Davis and O'Donnell, who each finished with two-base hits. Davis also added her 44th stolen base of the season, snapping a five-game skid in which she failed to swipe a bag.

The Cowgirls will look to even the series in tomorrow's contest, which is set to begin at 12 p.m. at Cowgirl Stadium.