Cowgirls lead 37-29 at the half
By Ray Martin
rmartin@oklahoman.com
The OSU Cowgirls are one half away from sweeping Texas A&M and securing that important first round bye in the Big 12 Tournament.
They lead 37-29 in what sophomore Andrea Riley called “the biggest game of the year.”
Riley has 12 points, and Danielle Green has 14.
Big-time commitment
By Mike Baldwin
Oklahoma State received its first football commitment for its 2009 class on Monday when Tulsa Union running back Jeremy Smith made a verbal pledge to the Cowboys. Smith is ranked the No. 70 player in the country, regardless of position, by Rivals, and is regarded as one of the nation’s top 10 running backs.
It’s a big first commitment for the Cowboys, who will have junior college transfer Beau Johnson and sophomore Kendall Hunter as their top two running backs next season. By the time Smith arrives on campus in the summer of 2009, there will be good competition at running back with Keith Toston and Kye Staley. Smith, though, figures to be in the mix as a true freshman. He’s regarded as that big a talent.
Ranked the No. 2 player in the state of Oklahoma, Smith is a 4-star running back who can pound for yards up the middle with his 197-pound frame but also has breakaway speed. He rushed for 1,748 yards and 20 touchdowns last year at Union, which finished as the state runner-up in Class 6A behind Jenks.
After compiling what essentially has been three consecutive top 25 recruiting classes in 2006, 2007 and 2008 the Cowboys 2009 class is off to a nice start 11 months in advance.
Big-game buzz
by andrea cohen
More than any other game this season, there’s a big-game buzz in Gallagher-Iba Arena. Maybe it’s the CBS presence — for some reason their presence is a whole lot more complicated and obvious than, say, when ESPN is in town. Just more people, more of a production.
After a season of sub-par attendance, this game is sold out for the first time this season. And according to ticket office folks, they got about 100 phone calls yesterday that they had to turn away. So it seems like there shouldn’t be any empty seats today. We’ll see, I’ll let ya know.
Bixby’s Brown unlikely for Cowboys
By Ray Martin
rmartin@oklahoman.com
Bixby tight end Greg Brown hasn’t scratched OSU off of his Division I list, but the junior said schools like OSU hurt their chances after signing so many tight ends in 2008.
OSU signed four to accomodate its multiple tight end offense, which apparently didn’t settle well with Brown. Check out his comments in Sunday’s Oklahoman or on NewsOK.
OSU softball: OSU 10, Samford 5
FROM THE OSU ATHLETICS OFFICE
Cowgirls Hit Their Way Past Bulldogs
OSU softball wins first game of the day, 10-5 against Samford
LAS CRUCES, N.M. — Oklahoma State had 12 hits, including a home run and three doubles, to beat the Samford Bulldogs 10-5 in the first Cowgirl game of the Troy Cox Classic.
The Cowgirls (8-4) got an early lead in the first inning. The first three batters each reached on a hit and senior Kim Kaye hit the ball over the right field fence for a grand slam, her sixth home run of the season, to make the score 4-0.
The Bulldogs (4-7) tried to respond in the second with a solo home run by Emily Deaux. They scored again in the third when Metcalf hit a triple down the left field line and scored on a sacrifice bunt.
Oklahoma State’s bats came back alive in the fourth inning as they batted through the line up and scored five runs off five hits. The first eight of nine batters reached base, including a double by Katelyn Bright scoring two, a double by Heather Kim scoring two, and a double by Alysia Hamilton scoring one. Hamilton would single one more in during the sixth.
Samford scored another two runs in the sixth and one more in the seventh, but it wasn’t enough and the Cowgirls won 10-5.
Sophomore Anna Whiddon started in the circle for the Cowgirls and pitched three innings allowing two runs off four hits. Freshman Sarah Odom took over in the fourth inning, allowing four hits and two earned runs. She got the win and improves to 5-1 on the season.
Samford’s starting pitcher was Kayla Burris and she is now 2-2 on the season.
The Cowgirls will play their second game of the day at 4:30 p.m. MT against tournament host New Mexico State.
Oklahoma State 10, Samford 5
Samford 011 002 1 - 5 8 1
Oklahoma State 400 501 x - 10 12 1
Burris, Royall (3), Carter (3) and Deaux. Whiddon, Odom (4) and Wagner.
WP: Odom (5-1). LP: Burris (2-2).
2B: OSU-Bright, Kim, Hamilton; SAM-Jordan. 3B: SAM-Metcalf. HR: OSU-Kaye (6), Deaux.
Women’s basketball: OSU vs. OU
Cowgirls and Sooners
Oklahoma State’s women’s basketball team (21-4 overall, 9-3 Big 12) will travel to Norman, Okla., to take on Oklahoma (19-5, 9-3) in the second installment of the Bedlam Series on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Cowgirls are fresh off a 71-66 win over Texas on Wednesday, while the Sooners are coming off a 68-65 triumph at Kansas State during the midweek.
Game 411
OSU will be in search of its 10th league win, which would match its previous best in Big 12 play set during the 1997-98 season. Saturday’s game will feature the top two scoring offenses in the Big 12 as OSU ranks first (77.8 ppg) and OU checks in at No. 2 (74.8 ppg). The contest will also feature the league’s top two scorers in Andrea Riley (22.5 ppg) and Courtney Paris (18.0 ppg). (more…)
Van Zant in Indy for NFL Combine
Although he wasn’t invited to participate, former OSU cornerback Martel Van Zant is in Indianapolis at the NFL Combine.
He’s taken Allie Lee, his interpreter, with him.
Talking baseball
By John Helsley, Staff Writer
For the first time this year, the start of the college baseball season has been legislated to keep all teams on a uniform schedule. So the regular season begins Friday. That’s when the Cowboys open at home against Gonzaga in the first game of a four-game weekend series.
OSU, after its run to a Super Regional in 2007, is being seen as a fringe Top 25 club entering the season. An NCAA Tournament team, yet a team with something to prove, primarily on the mound.
(more…)
Women’s Bracketology: Destination OKC
A group of women’s basketball experts - former coaches, ESPN and NCAA officials and media members – recently gathered in Indianapolis to produce a mock bracket for the NCAA Tournament.
Of interest, the panel placed both Oklahoma and Oklahoma State on a path to the Ford Center for the Sweet 16.
Don’t be surprised if the tournament committee does everything it can to make this a possibility. They want tournament games to actually be played before living, breathing humans, something that hasn’t happened much in recent years with games played a neutral sites.
The All Sports Association folks are giddy about the possibility, which – if Bedlam hit the Ford Center – would make for a major event and further the city’s claim as a women’s sports hotbed.
Stay tuned.
OSU golfer on award watch list
From the OSU athletics office:
Rickie Fowler Named To Ben Hogan Award Watch List
Oklahoma State freshman Rickie Fowler was one of 24 players named to the watch list for the Ben Hogan Award it was announced today by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA).The Hogan is presented annually to the top men’s NCAA Division I, II or III, NAIA or junior college golfer taking into account all collegiate and amateur competitions during the last 12 months.A native of Murrieta, Calif., Fowler is currently the top-ranked player in the country according to the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index. The Cowboy freshman has competed in three events thus far, winning the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational and finishing fourth in each of his other two collegiate starts.
On the amateur level, Fowler competed as the youngest member of the U.S. Walker Cup squad, posting a 3-1 mark during the prestigious event. He also posted victories at two of amateur golf’s premier events this past summer, winning The Players Amateur and the Sunnehanna Amateur.
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