Oklahoma State Drops Two In The Preview

After topping Iowa in extras on Friday, the Oklahoma State Cowgirls were swept Saturday, falling 7-4 to LSU in the early game and falling 5-3 to the Iowa Hawkeyes in the second game.

Oklahoma State was put in a big hole early in the game, with starter Morgan Hawkins (1-2) struggling in the second. She went three-up-three-down in the first, but opened the second by hitting a batter, giving up a double and walking a third to load the bases with no outs on the board. Kailey McCasland followed with a two-run double to put Oklahoma State down 2-0.

Hawkins walked the next batter, and was pulled in favor of Kat Espinosa, who promptly retired the next two batters. However, Ashley Applegate knocked a single to center field, putting the Tigers ahead 4-0.

Espinosa struggled as well, giving up walks on four of the first five batters of the third inning to score yet another run for LSU and keeping the bases loaded. Two batters later, Rikki Alcatraz scored on an error from short stop, putting LSU up 6-1.

In the second game, it was Oklahoma State who took a commanding lead early, but the Cowgirls were unable to hold onto the lead.

After two walks and a single to open the inning, Shelby Davis scored from third on a fielder's choice by Tarah Ettinger, followed by a RBI single to center field from Ari Morrison to bring Hannah Bowen in from third. In the next at-bat, Kelsey Anchors sent a sacrifice fly to center field to bring Gessenia DeLaCruz home from third to take a 3-0 lead.

In the bottom of the third with two outs on the board, the Hawkeyes knocked in back-to-back doubles to bring Katie Keim in to score their first run of the game. Brianna Luna followed with a home run to left field to tie the game 3-3.

That tie would hold until the bottom of the sixth and Iowa would play small ball to break the tie. Liz Walkins drew a leadoff walk, and the Hawkeyes put Nikki Gentile in to pinch run, who stole second in the next at-bat. Brandi Wall doubled to left field in the next at-bat to score Gentile and secure the win for Iowa.

The Oklahoma State Cowgirls will try to avoid losing three consecutive games, closing The Preview at 12 p.m. against LSU.