The Cowgirls had no earned runs on the night, but ended up with five total.
In the first of three meetings, OSU fell to Florida State 7-5. The loss puts an end to its 16-game winning streak and marks its second defeat of the season.
Star pitcher Kelly Maxwell started in the circle for the Cowgirls. She recorded six strikeouts and gave up three hits, seven walks and five runs on 114 total pitches. Considering just how productive Maxwell typically is, her performance tonight was a bit out of the ordinary.
“I think it was a tough zone to be honest,” OSU coach Kenny Gajewski said. “The walks probably just did her in. But you know, it's part of this. When you’re playing good teams you can’t miss over the middle.”
After surrendering one run in the second inning, Maxwell allowed three more. Seminoles’ catcher Michaela Edenfield connected and crushed one, delivering a three-run homer over the center field wall.
Florida State held a 4-0 lead, but OSU finally found something.
In the bottom of the fourth inning with the bases loaded, center fielder Chyenne Factor singled down the right side. It was the Cowgirls’ first hit of the night and scored their first run of the contest. Morgyn Wynne then stepped up to the plate, and singled, scoring an additional run for OSU. And Finally, the Cowgirls collected two more runs to knot it up at four. One of those came from Factor scoring on a Florida State error, and the other was earned when Rachel Becker drew a walk with the bases loaded.
“Better at bats (in the fourth), staying focused, staying with our plan instead of getting too big. Going up there focusing on what we’ve been told and then just taking every other at bat and learning from that,” OSU shortstop Kiley Naomi said.
Maxwell’s day came to an end in the sixth inning as the Cowgirls elected to put Lexy Kilfoyl in the circle to close out the evening.
Shortly after, the Seminoles put together another three run scoring inning. It was sparked by left fielder Kaley Mudge, who reached on a fielder’s choice and brought in a run. And to top it off, right fielder Kalei Harding brought in two more runs with an RBI double.
With one more chance at the plate, OSU just couldn’t convert. Factor hit into a double play followed by a Wynne strikeout that ended the contest.
“Good softball game, I mean it wasn’t clean but two good teams are out there fighting,” Gajewski said. “The difference in this game was the nine walks, and we gave up just too many and it's more than what we’re used to.”