Pitching powers Cowgirls through Mizuno Classic
STILLWATER — Eventually, someone was going to score a run.
The Oklahoma State softball team tried to throw a weekend-long shutout in the Mizuno Classic at Cowgirl Stadium but didn’t quite make it. The Cowgirls still managed a 27-inning scoreless streak in the middle of a 5-0 week that included a quick Wednesday trip over to Conway, Arkansas.
Here’s a look at what we learned about OSU last week.
Aycock continues to dazzle
With Kelly Maxwell and Lexi Kilfoyl atop the pitching rotation as established veterans, it didn’t look like freshman Kyra Aycock would need to be a big contributor.
But the highly recruited product of Newnan, Georgia, didn’t come to Stillwater to hang out in the bullpen either.
Though she faced a couple of rough moments early, the 6-foot-1 right-hander has found her groove over the last several weeks.
She allowed one run on four hits over 12 innings last week, including a two-hit shutout against Central Florida on Friday.
She has allowed two runs on 17 hits over her last 29 innings, including three complete-game shutouts and a win over Florida State in which she allowed one run on two hits in five innings.
The recent run of success has seen her earned-run average drop to a team-best 1.63, and her average of walks and hits per innings pitched is also the best on the team at 0.88.
Kiley Naomi powers up
Last season, Kiley Naomi saw her power numbers take a dip, finishing the year with six home runs. This season, she has already surpassed that total.
Naomi hit two home runs over the weekend, including a three-run shot on Sunday, to give her seven for the season.
She’s nearing her totals for hits and runs from last year as well. In batting .224 last season, she had 37 hits and scored 33 runs over 59 games.
Through 27 games this season, she’s batting .405 with 30 hits and 33 runs scored. She passed her RBI total from last year (21) a couple weeks ago and is now at 30 for the season.
Over the weekend, Naomi had three multi-hit games, going 7 for 15 with five RBI and five runs scored.
A special home run
Oklahoma State coach Kenny Gajewski didn’t go into detail in a recent interview regarding the injuries junior Scotland David has faced in her career. But he stressed the level of difficulty she has faced to get healthy enough to play.
With that, you can imagine how excited her team was to see her hit her first career home run on Sunday.
David entered as a pinch-hitter with the Cowgirls leading Central Florida 7-4 in the bottom of the sixth and launched a two-run home run to right field.
Regularly used as a pinch-runner over her career, David appeared in 41 games the previous two seasons, scoring 12 runs.
But prior to the weekend, she had only made four career plate appearances, going 0 for 3 with a walk.
On Friday, she came through with a pinch-hit single, her first career hit, setting the stage for Sunday’s home run.