Gabby Castillo gives OSU walk-off win against UCF — without taking a swing

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Gabby Castillo earned her first collegiate walk-off on Saturday. But she didn’t expect it to come in this fashion.

Castillo, a freshman catcher for Oklahoma State, was sent up to the plate in a two-out, bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the seventh inning. With the game tied 1-1, Castillo watched the first pitch miss the strike zone.

On the next pitch, she watched another one miss the zone.

And then another.

And then another.

The four-pitch set didn’t come close to making Castillo swing, and it sent Kaya Booker home from third base as the winning run, giving the Cowgirls a 2-1 victory against UCF.

It was another quiet day at the plate, but behind pitching and patience, OSU found ways to put the right amount of pressure on the knights — up until the last at-bat.

The win puts the Cowgirls at 17-6 and evens up the series at 1-1. The Game 3 rubber-match is set for 11 a.m. on Sunday at Cowgirl Stadium.

“I mean, it is what it is,” Castillo said, laughing. “... I was like, ‘OK. I’m gonna wait until I get my pitch.’ (But she) never gave me my pitch. It was a good walk-off, even if it was just a walk.”

UCF managed four hits through the first four innings, while OSU put up only one in that stretch. Neither team had anything to show for until the fifth inning, though, when the Cowgirls grinded their way to a run.

After Aubrey Jones singled up the middle, she stole second base, giving Jayelle Austin a chance to drive one in. Austin then fought her way to a full count and drew a walk after a long at-bat, allowing Claire Timm to load the bases with a single to right field.

On the next at-bat, Rosie Davis hit a groundball to UCF pitcher Ava Stuewe. Stuewe fielded it and quickly threw home, but a fielding error from Knights catcher Beth Damon allowed Jones to safely score from third. That put the Cowgirls up 1-0.

“I thought we were way better at something that we didn’t do (in the loss on Friday),” OSU coach Kenny Gajewski said. “We swung at strikes today. And then we walked eight times, and obviously that’s what ended the game.”

Damon had a quick response, though, hitting a solo home run to left field in the top of the sixth to tie it at 1-1 and set up a late nailbiter.

Cowgirls starting pitcher Ruby Meylan gave up one hit in the top of the seventh, but quickly followed it with a fly-out and strikeout. She let out a fiery yell after the final out, as OSU would get the last chance to win it.

Meylan also pitched a complete-game effort and finished with three strikeouts, while giving up only one earned run and six hits. She improved to 7-4 on the season with the win.

Then in that game-winning seventh inning, the Cowgirls’ first two batters were retired. But Davis kept them alive with a single, before Karli Godwin and Amanda Hasler drew back-to-back walks to load the bases.

Next came Castillo, who went up to the plate and didn’t bite on anything Knights pitcher Isabella Vega threw, drawing one of OSU’s eight walks in the win.

Although it wasn’t pretty, the Cowgirls bounced back from the Game 1 loss by fighting their way to a win. They didn’t have several chances, but capitalized on their best one late.

“I’ve told our team, ‘The softball gods don’t owe you (anything),’” Gajewski said. “You have to go out and take it. So, hopefully we can build off this (win).”