OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma — Karli Petty hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning and seventh-seeded Oklahoma State beat Arizona 4-2 on Thursday night in the Women’s College World Series opener for both teams.
Petty’s fifth homer of the season helped the Cowgirls (47-12) advance to play Florida on Saturday. Kelly Maxwell (20-4), a NFCA first-team All-American, threw a complete game for the Cowgirls and struck out 14.
Oklahoma State closed out a perfect opening day for Big 12 teams after Oklahoma and Texas won earlier.
Hanah Bowen (13-11) got the loss for Arizona. The Wildcats (38-21) will play fellow Pac-12 member Oregon State in an elimination game Friday.
Oklahoma State opened the scoring in the bottom of the fourth when Sydney Pennington singled to score Brianna Evans. Pennington was thrown out at second, and that helped Arizona limit the damage to one run.
Arizona’s Sharlize Palacios hit a two-run homer in the fifth to give the Wildcats the lead. It was her 20th of the season.
Oklahoma State loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth, but Katelynn Carwile, who entered the World Series with a team-best .353 batting average, flied out to left.
Oklahoma State’s Miranda Elish led off the sixth with a walk. Pennington followed with a single down the right field line, and she advanced on a fielding error to put runners at second and third with no outs. Petty took advantage with the homer to center that put the Cowgirls up 4-2.
