AMES — After a 48-hour layoff, the No. 19 Oklahoma State Cowgirls showed no rust in their opener against Iowa State. Their Wednesday game against Wichita State had been postponed following a team bus accident.
Iowa State dropped the series-opening game 8-3 to the Cowgirls, falling to 23-16 and 4-9 in Big 12 play.
After getting the first two outs, a two-strike hit-by-pitch led to a 25-minute, four-run nightmare for the Cyclones.
Freshman right-handed pitcher Olivia Palumbo got the start in the circle, getting the first two outs easily after a groundout to third and a flyout to right field.
Palumbo then fell behind 2-0 to Oklahoma State hitter Karli Godwin, after battling back to a 2-2 count, Palumbo tested Godwin with a fastball inside that clipped her, allowing the Cowgirls to get their first runner on.
After another 2-2 count for Palumbo, Cowgirl Claire Timm spoiled the at-bat singling to center field, setting up runners on first and third, bringing up power-hitting and RBI leader Amanda Hasler.
After fouling off the first pitch of the at-bat, she didn’t miss the next pitch. She crushed a ball over left fielder Jessie Clemons, scoring both runners, bringing the score to 2-0 Cowgirls.
“I just think we ran into an ace,” head coach Jamie Pinkerton said. “That’s one of the best in the country… we knew it was going to be tight.”
The Cowgirls wouldn’t stop there, on yet another two-strike count, a line drive off Palumbo’s non-throwing arm, put runners on first and third.
After a brief check on Palumbo’s health, Pinkerton took out Palumbo and brought in senior right-handed Jaiden Ralston.
After just throwing three warm-up pitches after the injury, Ralston would begin her day with eight straight balls, bringing in the third run of the inning.
“With the first inning, we just didn’t help ourselves,” Pinkerton said. “They took advantage of some things that happened.”
With bases loaded yet again, Ralston threw a wild pitch, which brought in the Cowgirls’ fourth run of the inning. That ended Ralston’s day after facing just two batters and throwing nine straight balls.
Pinkerton would then bring in sophomore Ava Mullen as the third right-handed pitcher of the inning. After walking her first batter, she would then get out of the bases-loaded jam after a groundout to second baseman Kadence Shepherd.
“We just have to attack the strike zone and clean things up,” Shepherd said.
Once again, continuing a recent trend, the Iowa State pitchers had five straight two-strike counts to start the inning, leading to three hits, followed by three walks for a four-run Cowgirls’ first inning.
“I think when we don’t get ahead early, it makes things a lot tougher on us,” junior right-handed pitcher Lauren Schurman said.
