I’ll admit the headline and the intro below it may be misleading.
Jordy Frahm and Ruby Meylan did not start the game; that would have been Alexis Jensen and Rylee Crandall. However, when both entered the game in the 5th inning for Jensen and Crandall, business was about to pick up as WWE announcer and Oklahoma native good ol’ Jim Ross was fond of saying.
Jensen pitched well as she battled a home plate ump who repeatedly chose to shrink the strike zone to mailbox opening when Cowgirl batters got their
second strike – and taking so many pitches against a hurler who had only walked 4 batters in 20 games seemed an odd strategy by the oft-complaining Cowgirls coach. Jensen hung tough, though, and didn’t allow them to capitalize. She did allow 3 runs in 4 innings, but only one was earned due to the 3 errors committed by the Husker defense.
She allowed only 3 hits (and a FIFTH WALK, what the hell?) while striking out 7 before it was Jordy’s turn. In the 6th inning, after Hannah Coor singled and Bella Bacon reached on a Rosie Davis throwing error, Frahm ripped an 0-1 pitch off Meylan into right field scoring both and giving the Huskers a 4-3 lead they wouldn’t surrender.
And that was because of Frahm. The Cowgirls were looking to tie it up in the bottom half of the frame, but Frahm retired them in order striking out the last two.
It was deja vu all over again as Oklahoma State grabbed their bats in the 7th down a run. Husker fans held their breath while the grumpy retirees making up a majority (unofficial count) loudly implored their team to do it once more.
Frahm answered with two long-count strikeouts, her 4th and 5th of a 3-inning performance in which she allowed only a hit and a walk. Leadoff hitter Jayelle Austin who had been piling up strikeouts in this game and the previous matchup laced a sharp single to left this time and the Cowgirls had the potential winning run coming to the plate.
Of course, it had to be Friday’s night’s hero, Rosie Davis, who blasted the 11th inning walk-off bomb to center field on Thursday night.
The count ran full and everyone held their breath. Jordy grooved it and Rosie swung hard.
Alas, it wasn’t meant to be as Davis popped it sky high about seven feet from where she stood. As the Cowgirl crowd screeched shrilly and helplessly, Jesse Farrell sidled under it – and one could only hope she told Davis as the ball fell, “Uh oh, Rexie, doesn’t this one’s got the distance.”
(Major League fans know.)
One of the Okie State grouches was already in recovery mode, as he took a few moments then announced, “Well, at least we got that Ayatollah.”
He thought it over for a bit then added, “Wait did we do anything today? Did we git him? I hadn’t heard.” While he was all over the map on confirmation, he was clearly putting the loss behind him with a rubber match ahead and plenty of other things to bitch about on a Saturday night.
Ruby Meylan might have some coping of her own to get through, but given her competitive spirit, it’s doubtful she’s done anything but quickly move on as Meylan vs. Frahm could be a solid bet for Sunday’s starters. It will be matchup #5 in the Frahm-Meylan series and odds point toward exciting after the first four have gone torn ACL, 1-0, 2-1 (11 inns.) and now 4-3 even if it was a relief battle.
Malia Thoms, getting a rare start at DP, smashed her second homer of the season to tie the game in the 4th and may have nudged her way into more playing time. She and Frahm each knocked in 2 of the Huskers 4 runs. Hannah Coor and a heating-up Kacing Hoffman each had a pair of hits as well.
The Huskers and Cowgirls are scheduled to settle who won the weekend at 2:30 CST tomorrow afternoon. The game will be streamed once again on ESPN + and broadcast on the Huskers Radio Network with Nate Rohr on the call.
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