Fab four

OSU clinches fourth-consecutive WCWS berth behind Maxwell’s commanding performance round.

Ashton Slaughter Assistant Sports Editor

Kelly Maxwell was well aware of her potential perfect game heading into the bottom of the seventh on Friday night; everyone was.

After retiring the first 19 Oregon batters, Maxwell was two outs away from not only perfection but also the Stillwater Super Regional title and a fourth-consecutive Women’s College World Series appearance for OSU.

“We got one out, and I leaned over to Vanessa (Vanessa Shippy-Fletcher, volunteer assistant coach), and I said, ‘I think John’s (John Bargfeldt, Cowgirl pitching coach) crapping his pants right now,’” OSU coach Kenny Gajewski said.

Then, a double to left field crushed any hope of a Maxwell perfect game.

But that didn’t matter; that was never the goal. It was all about going to Oklahoma City, which OSU did, beating Oregon 9-0 and sweeping the Super Regional

The WCWS berth comes on the heels of a horrendous stretch, where the Cowgirls lost 11 out of their last 13 games before regionals. Since, the Cowgirls are 5-0 and have outscored their opponents 37-3.

Gajewski acknowledges the difference in his team’s play from two weeks ago to now is mind-boggling, but he never had a doubt. He knew what his team was capable of.

“It feels crazy, but I didn’t have a doubt,” Gajewski said. “I’ve never had doubt. Even during that streak, I never had doubt.”

As for Maxwell, she battled sickness all week. A sore throat was continuously bothering her leading up to Friday; she was even dry heaving multiple times throughout the game.

So, what gave the All-American pitcher confidence that she’d have an elite performance to punch the Cowgirls’ ticket to OKC?

A poor warm-up before the game.

“I didn’t have a great warm-up, actually, and typically when you don’t have a great warm-up, it kind of works out in the game, and I think that’s kind of what happened,” Maxwell said.

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