Oklahoma State softball rewind: Lexi Kilfoyl, Tallen Edwards have impactful Cowgirl debuts

STILLWATER — With a ton of new faces on his roster, Oklahoma State softball coach Kenny Gajewski dug deep into the bench during the third-ranked Cowgirls’ season-opening trip to Mexico last week, going 3-1 against stout competition in the Puerto Vallarta College Classic.

Fifteen different players made at least one plate appearance, with two others entering as pinch-runners, while five different pitchers threw at least two innings.

In all, that’s 21 players stepping onto the field, with Lexi Kilfoyl appearing as both a pitcher and hitter.

Despite dropping one game to Maryland in which Gajewski focused on getting work for the back end of his pitching rotation, it was a successful opening trip for OSU.

The Cowgirls won’t make it back to Stillwater this week, heading straight from Mexico to Florida for the Clearwater Invitational.

Here’s a look at what we learned about OSU through its first four games of the year.

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No. 3 Oklahoma State

Overall record: 3-1

Last week: 2-1 (Beat Oregon 3-0, beat North Carolina 3-2, lost to Maryland 11-6, beat Ole Miss 3-0)

This week: At Clearwater (Fla.) Invitational (vs. Texas A&M, 9 a.m. Thursday; vs. Nebraska, 3 p.m. Thursday; vs. Virginia Tech, 9 a.m. Friday; vs. Louisiana, 9:30 a.m. Saturday; vs. Michigan, 12:30 p.m. Saturday)

More:Get to know the 2023 Oklahoma State Cowgirls softball team and schedule

Tallen Edwards shines among newcomers

A trio of newcomers led the team in batting average over opening weekend, with Tallen Edwards, Rachel Becker and Micaela Wark combining for 13 hits in 30 at-bats.

Becker, a Purdue transfer, comes in with high expectations, having led the Big Ten in batting average at .429 last season. She batted .444 over the weekend and also drew six walks from the leadoff spot for an on-base percentage of .667.

Wark was a talented hitter in high school but missed her true freshman season at Kansas last year with an injury, so it’s harder to know what to expect from her.

Edwards, however, remains the most intriguing of the newcomers. The Southmoore product only turned 18 last November and reclassified to enroll at OSU a year early.

In her first college action, Edwards posted a .538 average, going 7 for 13 with a team-best five runs batted in.

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Dealing aces

It’s clear the Cowgirls have a strong 1-2 punch atop the pitching rotation with Kelly Maxwell and Lexi Kilfoyl.

Maxwell was an All-American last year and showed from the start that she’s already in strong form. In the first inning of the season, she needed just 10 pitches to strike out the side. She didn’t throw a ball, allowing only an 0-2 foul ball to the third hitter of the inning.

Maxwell went 2-0 over 13 shutout innings, allowing four hits and striking out 23.

Kilfoyl won her only start, allowing two hits over 6 ⅓ innings with 12 strikeouts to beat North Carolina, then she threw the final inning of Saturday’s win over Ole Miss, earning the save.

More:Why Kelly Maxwell wants to be a Cowgirl an extra year and why it's huge for OSU softball

Double-threat Lexi Kilfoyl

Over the last few years, the Cowgirls have had a couple of pitchers who could also be dangerous hitters, and that looks to be the case again this season.

Samantha Show held that role on the 2019 team, often playing first base and batting in the middle of the order on days when she wasn’t pitching. Last year, Miranda Elish would regularly serve as the designated player when she wasn’t in the circle, and late in the season, after a shoulder injury prevented her from pitching, she remained in the batting order.

Now, Kilfoyl is already showing her double-threat capability. She started one game at pitcher and two games as the designated player, batting in the cleanup spot.

And in the game she pitched, she hit her first home run as a Cowgirl, helping herself with a two-run shot in the first inning of a 3-2 victory over North Carolina. She added another RBI later to provide all the Cowgirl runs.

Kilfoyl batted .308 at Alabama last season, getting limited opportunities, though she will get far more chances to hit at OSU.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State softball: Lexi Kilfoyl, Tallen Edwards have big debuts