Different year, same story for Oklahoma State softball at Women's College World Series
Nick SardisThe Oklahoman
A common theme has emerged in Oklahoma State softball’s five appearances since 2019 at the Women’s College World Series.
The Cowgirls have yet to advance to the championship, and it hasn’t necessarily been largely because of pitching.
Their fielding hasn’t been the biggest problem either.
More than anything, Oklahoma State’s offense has struggled.
Eighth-seeded Stanford eliminated the fifth-seeded Cowgirls with an 8-0 victory in six innings Friday night at Devon Park, and Oklahoma State’s offensive woes were front and center.
NiJaree Canady — Stanford’s (49-16) ace and the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year — shut down the Cowgirls (49-12), allowing just three hits while striking out seven.
It was a similar story for Oklahoma State on Thursday when it lost to fourth-seeded Florida 1-0 and Keagan Rothrock tossed a complete game for the Gators.
Over their two WCWS games, the Cowgirls had just five hits.
“I thought that Rothrock last night was really good,” Oklahoma State coach Kenny Gajewski said. “Deceptively good. Tonight, I thought we had a pretty good offensive performance. We didn't score any runs. We had three hits. The hardest balls we hit were caught. We hit multiple balls hard.
“Tallen Edwards has no hits, had three balls that were hit well. Jilyen (Poullard) had the last one that scorched. We had multiple opportunities. We just couldn't make little things happen.”
Oklahoma State has made a tremendous leap under Gajewski. Before he was hired following the 2015 season, the Cowgirls made just one WCWS appearance since 1998. And the season before he arrived, they went 21-31 overall and 3-13 in Big 12 play.
Oklahoma State has become one of the nation’s top programs since, but in the WCWS, the Cowgirls’ offense has consistently floundered.
Oklahoma State scored three runs in three games at the WCWS in 2019. The Cowgirls scored six in three matchups in 2021 before bringing home 11 in four games the following year. Last season, they scored 11 runs in three matchups, but eight of those runs were in one game.
During this five-season stretch, Oklahoma State is averaging just 1.9 runs per game at the WCWS.
But Gajewski has done things to try to reverse the Cowgirls’ offensive woes, most notably replacing hitting coach Whitney Cloer with Vanessa Shippy-Fletcher this past winter.
“I didn't have enough to help Vanessa,” Gajewski said. “I'll be very honest. This is why I made a change in December with our hitting spot. I felt like we needed to make a change. There's something that was just not quite there. It wasn't an easy move. We made that move.
“I have the right person in the spot. I just put her in a terrible place. I didn't give her any opportunity in the fall to install, instill, install the system, instill the toughness that it takes to win here. She has that. I just put her in a tough spot. That's what I told her tonight. I said, ‘Hey, I put you in a really bad spot, and you killed it. We just ran out of gas.’”
Gajewski has faith in Shippy-Fletcher and Oklahoma State softball in general heading into the offseason.
“We got a lot of young kids,” Gajewski said. “We have a nucleus of kids. We have a couple freshmen coming in. We're already busy in the portal to help us out. She'll get a full year now under her belt, half a year, a great season. We get to OKC, now she can build off this, go back to square one, she'll get us through this. That's why I brought her here.”
Oklahoma State’s season ended in disappointing fashion, but the Cowgirls had their moments this year.
Gajewski has built the program into a perennial contender, and the athletes love playing for him.
“The way that Coach G loves us, not only when we do well, not only when we're on the field, but he loves each and every one of us as people,” Poullard said. “I think that shows. That's the Cowgirl way. It's not just when someone is doing good that you're excited for them, that you're loving them. He loves us so much. That's something that I've always admired about him.”
