OKLAHOMA CITY – A 1-0 score would have sufficed, but how No. 2 seed Oklahoma State scored its insurance run in a 2-0 win over No. 7 seed Kansas (16-34) said as much about the Cowgirls as a program right now than the win itself in the 2022 Phillips 66 Big 12 Softball Championship.
 
In the fifth inning, with two runners on, Chyenne Factor broke a scoreless game with a sac fly to right field to easily score Kiley Naomi from third and give OSU a 1-0 lead. Chelsea Alexander advanced from second to third on the throw home. But as the Jayhawk defense let its guard down, Alexander bolted from third to score. She was credited with a steal of home and it gave OSU a 2-0 lead, erupting the OSU dugout and a sizable Cowgirl crowd at USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex.
 
“Really cool. She’s really grown here. That play is what we needed at that time. That pumped us up,” head coach Kenny Gajewski said while getting choked up. “She is exactly what our standard is. She lives it, she breathes it, she sleeps it. I mean, she loves it here, she loves OSU, she loves this program.”
 
Alexander was not prompted home by Gajewski, also the third-base coach, but said she saw pitcher Kasey Hamilton turn her back to the plate, then noticed catcher Shelby Gayre remove her mitt.
 
“(Gajewski) started to walk up to me, but I felt him kind of back off because he saw what I was doing, so I was like, thank you, give me some room,” a beaming Alexander said, interrupting her coach’s account of the play.
 
Redshirt junior Kelly Maxwell tossed her 16^th win of the year, throwing a complete-game four-hitter with nine strikeouts and no walks, as 79 of her 106 total pitches were strikes. The win for seventh-ranked OSU (39-12) snapped a five-game losing streak, as the Cowgirls were coming off a two-game road sweep at #4 Florida State, then a three-game sweep from Bedlam rival and #1 Oklahoma.
 
“It wasn’t a must-win game, I mean, we’re a postseason team. But for us to do the things we want to do we had to get back on the winning side,” Gajewski said.
 
OSU now plays Friday at 4:00 pm CT against the winner of third-seeded Texas and the No. 5 seed Texas Tech, who play the final contest of Thursday.
 

2022 Phillips 66 Big 12 Softball Championship
First Round - Thursday, May 12
12 p.m.	Game 1: No. 4 Iowa State 2, No. 5 Baylor 1 (8 inn.)	ESPNU	Box Score Recap
3 p.m.	Game 2: No. 2 Oklahoma State 2, No. 7 Kansas 0	Big 12 Now on ESPN+	Box Score
6 p.m.	Game 3: No. 3 Texas vs. No. 6 Texas Tech	Big 12 Now on ESPN+	Stats
Semifinals - Friday, May 13
1 p.m.	Game 4: No. 1 Oklahoma vs. No. 4 Iowa State	ESPNU
4 p.m.	Game 5: No. 2 Oklahoma State vs. Game 3 Winner	Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Championship - Saturday, May 14
2 p.m.	Game 6: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner	ESPN2

 
Game times and television networks are subject to change