STILLWATER — After Oregon’s Alyssa Daniell threw a scoring single to the right side of the infield, Oklahoma State pitcher Lexi Kilfoyl decided there would be no more.
Literally. No runs, no hits, no baserunners of any kind.
The senior right-hander struck out the last 17 and the sixth-seeded Cowgirls offense lit up en route to an 8-1 victory over unranked Oregon in the opener of the Stillwater Super Regional Thursday night at Cowgirl Stadium.
Oregon had three first hits, but with spectacular defense behind the mighty Kilfoyl, the Ducks failed to reach base in the final five innings.
“I didn’t know until someone said something,” Kilfoyl said of his perfect 5⅔ finals. “I felt good from the start. I was sweating a lot in that paddock, but being a girl from Florida, I’m used to it.
“I trusted my stray ball and they were putting it into play directly to our players. They’re covering every square inch of this ground, and they’ve done it tonight.
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Kilfoyl hit only three batters, but forced 13 outs. Oregon only sent the ball to the outfield a few times, including a few fly balls on the cautionary trail, but both were squashed by Cowgirl outfielders.
Freshman Tallen Edwards made a running catch, jumping just before hitting the wall to grab a fly ball in the first end, and she came charging in to make another catch in the fifth. Chyenne Factor spotted a long flyout in round six. Infielders Kiley Naomi at shortstop and Rachel Becker at second base each made tough plays, including a diving save and a quick throw from Becker on a seventh-inning out.
“She was seeing the ball low,” Oregon second baseman Allee Bunker said. “She throws the ball hard and low. We were trying to get our land.
The Cowgirls (45-14) trailed 1-0 until exploding for three runs late in the fourth and four more in the fifth, scored by homers from Naomi and Morgyn Wynne. It was a lot of offense to hand Oregon (38-16) its most lopsided loss of the season.
Game 2 of the best-of-three series is scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday, with Game 3, if necessary, Saturday at a time to be determined.
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OSU is one win away from its fourth straight Women’s College World Series appearance, and Gajewski almost assuredly sends left-handed ace Kelly Maxwell to the pitching circle on Friday.
The decision to go with Kilfoyl was made earlier in the week when pitching coach John Bargfeldt approached Gajewski with his thoughts.
“On Monday, we were the only two in the office, and I knew he was going to want to talk,” Gajewski said of his conversation with Bargfeldt. “He’s a planner. I’m not. I can do just about anything. He said, ‘Hey, I think I want to go this way,’ and I said, ‘We don’t have to make a decision here.’ And we never talked about it again.
“I think we feel like that because of the way she’s pitched here all year. She has been as dominant as anyone we have this year. We just didn’t play well behind her on several occasions. I came to the ballpark here today and felt like we had a No. 1 going on, and I’ll feel like that tomorrow too.
Offensively, the Cowgirls got the biggest boost on home runs, but also took advantage of Oregon’s mistakes. In the fourth inning, an OSU run came on a pitch error and another scored when shortstop Paige Sinicki didn’t quite grab a high line from Edwards.
The Cowgirls were hitless in the fifth inning until the Wynne homer, after reaching base with two walks and an error on a sacrificial bunt, and scoring a run on a pitch before Wynne lined up his three-point home run to left field.
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The home run – Wynne’s 10th of the year – was a laser without great height. But the super-senior designated player never doubted he was gone.
“No, I knew it was over,” Wynne said with a laugh. “I swung and thought, oh, that was awesome.”
The Cowgirls, of course, can’t relax with Oregon focused on maintaining its season on Friday.
“It’s the best two out of three,” Oregon coach Melyssa Lombardi said. “We wanted to get the first game. We didn’t, but we still have two games to play. What I love about this team is that every time something didn’t work out for us, we learned from it, grew and it made us better.
“I know some things happened to us this game, we will take it into account in our next game. I love this team. I love their fight. I think they will do a very good job of being able to let go and be ready for tomorrow.
More:How did longtime former OU aide Melyssa Lombardi resurrect Oregon? ‘Keep pushing’
Stillwater Super Regional
Best-of-three series at Cowgirl Stadium in Stillwater:
Game 1: Oklahoma State 8, Oregon 1
Game 2: 5 p.m. Friday, ESPN2
Game 3: TBD Saturday (if needed)