February 4, 2025
For the right player, in the right situation, Stillwater, OK., is an oasis of opportunity.
That’s what Kenny Gajewski feels in his bones, and he’s got plenty of proof thanks to his resume as head coach of the OSU softball team. The Cowgirls have reached the Women’s College World Series in five straight (non-COVID) seasons and displayed a persistent ability to hang tough through the relentless demands of playing in the Big 12 Conference.
In fact, Oklahoma State is a fixture in the top five of every important D-I preseason poll for 2025, with the season taking flight Thursday in Session I of the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge, powered by Triple Crown Sports.
But even if the facts show Stillwater has its charms for softball players, it’s never been effortless to attract recruits to this otherwise low-profile destination. Gajewski didn’t spend a lot of time sulking about the sizzle that many other programs enjoyed and realized that transfer student-athletes might provide a talent boost.
“From around 2018 and looking back before Samantha Show (a high-profile transfer from Texas A&M) came here, we were having major problems in attracting young elite kids to Stillwater,” said Gajewski, who is 365-149 (.710) in his nine seasons at OSU. “So we thought maybe (transfers) were a place to look, and we can find a kid who was a little older, not wooed by the city lights and big promises that come from what are perceived as bigger brands. We needed to figure out what works for us here, and Sam Show changed that trajectory for us.
“We’ve been able to parlay that … it’s become a little easier to attract young talent here but it’s still hard. The portal is an opportunity that everyone has, and if that’s who we have to be to be great, I’m good with it and don’t apologize. We’ve had good luck in the portal, and with the younger players who’ve come here.”
Grad transfer Rachael Hathoot is one of the recent additions to the roster, having hit .386 for New Mexico last season. The pitching staff has been boosted by the arrival of Ruby Meylan (Washington), a junior who had a 2.55 ERA last year and struck out 139 batters in 123.2 innings, along with classmate RyLee Crandall (Baylor) and her line from a year ago of a 3.20 ERA and 112 whiffs in 155.1 innings.
The Cowgirls have certainly grown their game organically with original recruits who have raked in the accolades. Sophomores Karli Godwin (.340, 13 doubles, 15 home runs, 51 RBI) and Rosie Davis (.333, .420 OBP) started every game they played and should hold up well as core pieces, along with juniors Claire Timm (.324, 40 runs, 10 home runs), Lexi McDonald (.349 in 83 at-bats) and Tallen Edwards (.299, 41 runs).
“The biggest surprises were probably Timm and McDonald,” Gajewski said. “It’s not really surprised; they outdid the expectations, and the way they handled success, failure, worked through adversity. We loved Claire Timm and what she could become, and she’s reset her own bar.”
With more than a modest amount of skill found up and down the lineup, Gajewski realizes a big task is keeping everyone calm and confident despite the shadow of heavy expectations. One of his approaches is to make everyday life and practice as much of a test as possible, which makes high-stakes game action a lot easier to process.
“We do what we do, how we’ve created this roster, and there’s a lot of competition. It’s what we’ve been trying for every day, where you see the competition level and go, ‘Whoa.’ It’ll be hard to write a lineup,” he said. “And here in Year 10 for us, for the first time, we are at that point of, there are going to be some disappointed people and they deserve to feel that way. I understand it. So we’ll have to be good, making sure people are getting at-bats, opportunities, so we don’t lose kids.
“But the competition each day is great, and when we intersquad, those are battles and good games. There are no days off. Our staff doesn’t look around and worry about motivating people. In years past, we haven’t always had that.”
Thanks to a typically arduous schedule for 2025, Gajewski can be assured of a steady diet of competition in and out of his own facility. Before Big 12 play begins, there are heavy-duty matchups with top-ranked Texas, No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 6 UCLA, No. 7 Texas A&M and four other top-20 teams as ranked in the preseason by ESPN.
“That’s how we built it and have always tried to play the best schedule. If anybody says anything about us, I hope they say OSU will go play anybody, anytime, anywhere,” Gajewski added. “That’s how we prepare our team. We’ve never won 50 games here, and if you look at our schedule, that’s tells the story why. We’re not chasing wins, and we’ll stay on that path.”
ON THE PUERTO VALLARTA COLLEGE CHALLENGE – “It's an awesome event, for the team and fans, parents. The weather is usually really, really good, just like the teams. I’m a big fan of Dave King and Triple Crown and what they do, pushing the game to be better. That takes courage, money, guts … the staff and family are doing that. Those are the people I want to be around, willing to listen and change, put resources where their mouth is.”