Cowgirls Top No. 6 Texas Again

A two-run home run by junior Tarah Ettinger and fine pitching by the pitching duo of Simone Freeman and Kat Espinosa led the Cowgirls to their second-consecutive victory over sixth-ranked Texas here Saturday afternoon at Cowgirl Stadium. The 2-1 win gave OSU the series victory, its first since 2001.

The Cowgirls struck first in the bottom of the first inning. With junior Ari Morrison on first base, Ettinger crushed a 3-2 pitch over the leftfield wall into 15 mile-per-hour winds to give OSU a 2-0 lead.

Texas cut the lead in half in the top of the second when Mandy Ogle led the inning off with a base hit and, after a sacrifice bunt moved her to second, she scored on a base hit by Erin Shireman to make the score 2-1.

After that, the OSU pitching took control. Freeman started the game and went 2-2/3 innings, allowing one run on three hits while striking out two. Espinosa (18-15) came on in relief in the third inning and threw 4-1/3 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits while striking out seven. She picked up her second win of the weekend and has thrown 13-1/3 scoreless frames against the Longhorns.

Offensively, the Cowgirls had four hits. Along with Ettinger's home run, senior Samantha Chrisman, freshman Tiffany Mikkelson and sophomore Shelby Davis all had base hits.

The Cowgirls (30-22, 6-8 Big 12) return to the diamond Sunday at noon to wrap up the three-game series against the Longhorns (42-8, 12-4). First pitch is slated for 12:05 p.m.