Kelly Maxwell's mojo helps Oklahoma State softball complete a Big 12 sweep in WCWS
Berry TramelOklahoman
Kelly Maxwell normally sits in the back of the dugout when her teammates are batting. Lots of softball pitchers are like that.
They meditate or relax, choosing to not clutter their minds with things out of their control. That’s Maxwell’s standard operating procedure. No cheering, no watching.
But this was different.
Maxwell’s Oklahoma State Cowgirls trailed Arizona by a run in the sixth inning of their Women’s College World Series opener Thursday night. OSU was down to its final six outs.
So when Miranda Elish drew a full-count walk, then Sydney Pennington lined a single into right field, and an error put both runners in scoring position, Maxwell allowed herself to look.
She liked what she saw.
“We were down, so I was, like, ‘Oh, let's change up the mojo,’” Maxwell said. “I went and peeked my head through a little crack, and I got to see Karli's big hit, so it was awesome.
“It gave me the chills.”
Same for many of the partisan-orange crowd of 12,320, a WCWS Session 2 record.
What a night for OSU softball. What a day for Big 12 softball.
The NCAA softball committee afforded the 13-team Southeastern Conference 12 tournament berths, the nine-team Pac-12 seven berths, the 14-team Big Ten eight berths and the seven-team Big 12 three berths.
But all three of those Big 12 teams made the WCWS, all three won Thursday openers, and now the beleaguered conference is guaranteed three teams in the final six of softball’s national championship. The only non-Big 12 team in the winner’s bracket is Florida.
“What it does is validates the fact that this conference is really good,” OSU coach Kenny Gajewski said of the Big 12 sweep. “It's been really good, and it's good to have three of us here and three of us getting the winner's side. That's what it's all about. Very happy for all of us.”
But while Texas routed UCLA 7-2 and OU thrashed Northwestern 13-2, OSU had no such float trip. Arizona pitcher Hanah Bowen had the Cowgirls off balance throughout the game, and though Maxwell was mostly dominating the Wildcats (she finished with 14 strikeouts), UofA’s Sharlize Palacios drilled a two-run homer in the fifth inning to put ‘Zona up 2-1.
In the bottom of the sixth, though, during a timeout as Petty awaited her at-bat, Elish looked at the junior from Southmoore.
“I told her that she was made for this, and I had a little pick on the pitcher, and I just told her what I was seeing just to give her any edge,” Elish said. “She absolutely crushed that ball, and it was awesome.”
Awesome and chills. That’s what the WCWS is supposed to be. Routs of 7-2 and 13-2 are nice for the winners, but the appeal of this tournament was built on games like OSU-Arizona.
A big hit here. An error there.
‘Zona coach Caitlin Lowe called it a game of inches. Bowen walked four, but a couple of ball fours were right on the cusp of the corner, including Elish’s sixth-inning walk. And Pennington’s sixth-inning hit barely eluded the glove of Guilia Koutsoyanopu at first base. Snare that liner and it’s a double play, and Maxwell stays seated in the dugout, without sneaking a peek at the diamond.
But that’s what the Women’s College World Series is supposed to be. Chills and thrills and changing the mojo.
