Evans, Petty filling key roles in Cowboys’ lineup
STILLWATER — The Oklahoma State softball team keeps rolling along, stretching its winning streak to 10 games with a sweep of Baylor over the weekend.
The Cowgirls are getting it done with pitching and hitting, having outscored opponents 92-10 during the streak. OSU has given up two or fewer runs in each of the 10 games and scored at least six runs nine times.
Here’s a look at what we learned about the Cowgirls last week:
Power in the circle
Oklahoma State’s pitching continues to dominate this season.
Kelly Maxwell has been rock-solid all year and threw nine shutout innings for the week, dropping her earned-run average to 1.03. Her record moved to 12-0 with her three-hit shutout of Baylor on Saturday.
And with Miranda Elish’s re-emergence as a star-quality pitcher, the Cowgirls have had as good a 1-2 punch as anyone around over the last month. Elish allowed three runs over 14 innings pitched last week, picking up two wins to improve to 9-4.
Behind those two, Morgan Day is fighting for work. She threw three shutout innings against Tulsa. Day has a 6-2 record with a 2.91 ERA.
Evans anchoring leadoff spot
As a true freshman, second baseman Brianna Evans has solidified her spot in the lineup with solid play with the glove and the bat.
Defensively, she has made just two errors in 60 chances. At the plate, she was able to lock down her spot atop the order early in the season with some prototypical leadoff-hitter skills. She has a .456 on-base percentage and is 11-for-11 in stolen base attempts.
After going 5-for-15 last week, she has now hit safely in six straight games, which follows an 11-game hitting streak earlier this season. The rookie from Red Oak, Texas, is now batting .385.
Karli Petty earning at-bats
The season began with a big change for Karli Petty, who had been the regular second baseman the last two seasons. But with Evans taking over at second, Petty initially shifted to left field.
But with more veteran players like Morgyn Wynne and Hayley Busby struggling offensively to begin the year, OSU coach Kenny Gajewski began to shuffle the lineup. As a result, Petty started seeing time at first base.
Because of her reliability defensively and offensively, Petty has maintained a regular spot in the lineup, despite filling a variety of roles in the field.
But Petty has started five straight games at first base, responding with five hits in 15 at-bats, including two home runs, five RBIs and five runs scored.