OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – Kelly Maxwell threw a complete-game shutout to lead the seventh-national seeded Oklahoma State softball team to a 2-0 win over 14th-seeded Florida on Saturday night at Hall of Fame Stadium.
OSU improved to 48-12 on the season and advanced to the NCAA Women’s College World Series Semifinals on Monday night.
Maxwell (21-4) earned the win, striking out nine in her 20th complete game and her 12th shutout of the season. During the dominant performance, she became the third Cowgirl in program history to total 300 or more strikeouts in a single season as she joined Cowgirl Olympians Lauren Bay and Melanie Roche.
Maxwell allowed just five base runners through her seven innings of work on Saturday. After allowing a hit and a walk to start the game, Maxwell and the OSU defense retired the next 15 batters in a row until Florida later had a leadoff single in the sixth.
Offensively, the Cowgirls used small ball to plate the first run of the game in the third inning. After Julia Cottrill singled, Kiley Naomi bunted her into scoring position. Chelsea Alexander followed with a bunt single, beating the throw to first before Chyenne Factor also bunted – the third-straight batter to do so – to score Cottrill and give OSU a 1-0 lead.
Sydney Pennington walked to lead off the bottom half of the fourth while Karli Petty bunted and Hayley Busby grounded out to advance Pennington to third. Cottrill later doubled the lead in that frame with a single through the left side to give the Cowgirls the 2-0 advantage they wouldn’t surrender.
The Gators threatened again in the sixth inning, putting two runners on base with one out, but the OSU defense recorded the next two outs to head into the final frame.
Up next, the Cowgirls play the winner of the Arizona and Texas game on Monday at 6 p.m. CT on ABC for the chance to play in the NCAA WCWS Championship Series.
For season-long coverage of Oklahoma State Softball, visit okstate.com and follow @CowgirlSB on Twitter and @osusoftball on Instagram.
