Not even a game that ended about 18 hours after it started could get the Cowgirls out of this rut.
Oklahoma State fell to Kansas 8-7 on Friday morning in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament. The game started Thursday night before severe weather swept through Oklahoma City and postponed the game in the fourth inning. OSU has now lost 11 of their past 13 games after being 39-3 and the No. 2 team in the country.
The Cowgirls trailed 3-1 when the game resumed Friday, but it looked as if they found some momentum in the break.
OSU scored four runs in the fourth inning, three of which came off a Katelynn Carwile three-run home run. So, the Cowgirls had a 5-3 lead that carried into the sixth inning where Squinky made its presence known.
OSU had three errors in the final two innings, which led to five Kansas runs in total, two of which were unearned. Those two unearned runs were the difference in victory and defeat for OSU.
It started in the sixth when Kiley Naomi had a fielding and a throwing error on one play. She mishandled a hard-hit groundball but was able to track it down before an errant throw to third flew past Megan Bloodworth, allowing Shayna Espy to score from second to make the score 5-4, OSU.
The Cowgirls answered with a run in the sixth, taking a 6-4 lead into the final inning before the rest of the collapse took place.
With KU runners on first and second with one out, Sara Roszak singled up the middle to make it 6-5. Running to her left, Naomi almost made a difficult play on the ball, getting her glove to it before it skipped past her. It was ruled a hit.
With runners on second and third after a wild pitch, Savanna DesRochers chopped a ball to Naomi, who threw home to try to defend the lead. The play at the plate was initially ruled an out before review said the runner was safe. Tie game.
Still with only one out, Espy looped a ball into shallow left field to score a runner from third to give KU the lead back before Haleigh Harper hit ball to Bloodworth at third that skipped off her glove, allowing another run to score to make it 8-6, Kansas.
Even with that calamity of errors, the Cowgirls still had a shot to right the ship. With two outs in the bottom of the inning, freshman Tallen Edwards singled and scored off a Taylor Tuck triple. Kenny Gajewski pinch hit freshman Claire Timm with the game on the line, but she flew out to left field, putting an end to OSU’s Big 12 Tournament.
It seems as if something supernatural is messing with OSU softball right now, made more evident by the fact that this was Kansas’ first win in Big 12 Tournament since 2007. Even after some errors in the OU series last weekend, OSU still came into this weekend in the Top 10 in fielding percentage as a team, too.
This loss could be enough to bump the Cowgirls out of the top eight seeds in the NCAA Tournament, which means OSU wouldn’t host a Super Regional if the Cowgirls get that far. At 41-14, the Cowgirls have likely still done enough to host an NCAA Regional. That will all be decided Sunday, with the Selection Show is scheduled for 6 p.m.