Texas Walks Off Oklahoma State 1-0 in Series Opener
Mac Morgan out-dueled Lexi Kilfoyl, and the Texas Longhorns walked off the Oklahoma State Cowgirls 1-0 Friday evening in the series opener at Red and Charline McCombs Field. Morgan never blinked, and Kilfoyl eventually did, surrendering a bases-loaded, RBI single to catcher Reese Atwood in the bottom of the eighth.
Before that, neither team would relent in this one. And by relent, that means give up anything in the ‘R’ department on the scoreboard.
Kilfoyl carried a perfect game until one out in the fifth. That’s when she walked Longhorns designated player Courtney Day. But following an error, Kilfoyl induced a groundout to second and struck out her fifth Texas hitter to get out of the inning unscathed and keep her no-hitter intact.
All the while, Morgan worked on a shutout of her own that she’d eventually finish, scattering five hits and a walk over the first six innings.
Meanwhile, along with the drama on the scoreboard, there was some other drama as well. Into the seventh, Oklahoma State second baseman Rachel Becker hadn’t reached, putting her 44-game on-base streak in jeopardy. But she worked a long count and eventually singled to left, extending that to 45 games, just three shy of the school record, plus pushing her hitting streak to 21 games in a row.
Kilfoyl’s no-no came to an end in the bottom of the seventh when Atwood singled to left. However, she battled back to record three straight outs and send the contest to extra innings.
But the story was just the same as it’s been in recent days. The Cowgirls were unable to get the offense going, and they came up short in extras for the third game in a row.
Kilfoyl suffered the loss, despite allowing only the one earned run on four hits and a walk. She struck out seven.
Morgan permitted six hits and a walk in the shutout. She struck out two.
The teams will reconvene for game two at 12 p.m. CT Saturday.
