Oklahoma State took control of the NCAA Stillwater Regional on Saturday with a 7-2 win over Stanford, then returned to Cowgirl Stadium on Sunday at 3 p.m. needing one more victory to move on. The No. 13-seed Cowgirls can clinch the super-regional round with a win, while No. 20 Stanford must beat them twice to stay alive.
The burst came in the top of the fifth, when Oklahoma State scored six runs on two home runs and turned a tight game into a comfortable lead. Amanda Hasler drove a two-run shot to give the Cowgirls momentum after pinch-runner Libby Jaques entered for Lexi McDonald, and Claire Timm followed with a grand slam over the right-field wall. Timm’s homer was her ninth of the season and her first since April 29. Hasler’s blast was her second of the regional and her 30th career home run at Oklahoma State, making her the seventh player in program history to reach that mark in a Cowgirl jersey.
Oklahoma State got help before the big inning, too. Kyra Chan reached third base after a right-field misplay on her leadoff single, and Jade Berry later added a sacrifice fly to center field that scored Chan. Karli Godwin also drove in a run on a sacrifice fly. Stanford center fielder Emily Jones made a catch at the wall on a Rosie Davis line drive to deep center field, one of the few defensive plays that briefly slowed Oklahoma State’s momentum.
The game fit the pressure of the regional round, where one result can send a team forward and one loss can force a second chance. Stanford had already pushed itself into the final by staying alive, which made the rematch possible under the bracket format. Oklahoma State, though, carried the cleaner path after winning the regional winner’s bracket final 7-2 on Saturday and entered Sunday with the edge that comes from forcing the other side to be perfect twice.
Ruby Meylan helped keep that edge in place. The Oklahoma State pitcher retired the side in order and battled back from a 3-0 count against Stanford’s best hitter, Taryn Kern, a sequence that mattered because it kept the pressure from flipping back to the Cardinal. Stanford returned Zoe Prystajko to the circle for the fourth and fifth innings, but Oklahoma State had already seized the game by then. The only thing left now is whether the Cowgirls finish the job and extend their run into the super-regional round.
