Softball Notebook: Kutz Responds to Tougher Coaching, Gajewski on Coaching First

STILLWATER — It’s only Feb. 18, and the Cowgirls have already played softball in Mexico and Florida.

Oklahoma State returns a little closer to home this weekend, as the Cowgirls are set to play in the Michelle Short & Adam Brown Tournament in Arkansas. OSU coach Kenny Gajewksi met with reporters via Zoom on Tuesday to discuss the early parts of the season. Here are three things that stood out.

Coaching Kutz Harder

Gajewski called Katie Kutz’s emergence in the early part of this season “a very pleasant surprise,” and it sounds like that surprise was spurred on by a recent conversation Kutz had with Gajewski and pitching coach Carrie Eberle.

Gajewski said shortly before the season started, he and Eberle pulled Kutz aside one day with the gist of the conversation being the two coaches telling the Kutz they wanted to coach her harder. Gajewski said he told Kutz that they didn’t want her to think they didn’t care about her, and that Kutz responded that she would love for them to coach her harder. It seems to have worked.

“From that day, Carrie was just a little harder on her, not letting misses and not letting her not make adjustments fly,” Gajewski said. “There’s more in that, but that’s the cliff notes part in that she went out and threw two days after that live, and I looked at her and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ I told her, I said, ‘Look, I don’t need you to be like Ruby (Meylan), but it would be awesome if every once in a while there was some emotion,’ and I said that’s probably not you. She goes, ‘No, it actually is who I want to be, but I just haven’t felt comfortable here yet.’ And boom. We’re starting to see foot stops and fist pumps and screaming, and I’m like, this is not who I thought we were gonna see.”

Foot stomps, fist pumps and screaming were all on display this past weekend in Clearwater. Kutz earned three victories in her four appearances in Florida, with those three wins all coming against ranked competition. It was a performance that earned her Big 12 Pitcher of the Week honors. She’s 4-1 this season with a team-best 1.84 ERA.

FIRE. US. UP.

Katie leaves a pair stranded to send us to the bottom of the sixth 🔥

📺 ESPN #GoPokes | @KutzKatie pic.twitter.com/jTIEZzGlew

— OSU Cowgirl Softball (@cowgirlsb) February 17, 2025

Gajewski on Coaching at First

Gajewksi said he’s been getting tweets and emails telling him he should be at third.

OSU’s head coach is, for the first time this season, acting as the Cowgirls’ first-base coach. He had been at third for the rest of his tenure but made the move after adding assistant coach Greg Bergeron this offseason. Gajewski said he doesn’t like being on the other side of the field, but he thinks it’s what’s best.

“I don’t like it, to be honest; I hate it, to be very honest,” Gajewski said. “I feel like I should have an arm that just hangs out and collects EVOShields as they come around. It’s just not as fun. I love being out there, so that part is awesome. These last couple of games, maybe three games, I really tried to start being a little more vocal like I think I am at third. I tried to start like walking down toward them a little bit more just to maybe hear my voice because I think that I do have a calming voice for the most part. So I wanted them just to make sure that they hear me and just try to get some eye contact. I feel like I got that some, which is good. It kind of gives me a feeling of being involved. But (Bergeron) has done a great job there, so I don’t have any issues with that part of  it. …

“Honest talk, I hate it, but do I think it’s the best thing? I do, so that’s what I’m going to do. I’m not gonna let my ego get in the way of what I think it’s best.”

‘I Think We’re Better Than That’

If the only softball you’ve ingested at this early point in the season is the Cowgirls’ 5-4 record, you might be a little worried.

That record, though, features six games against opponents currently in the USA Softball top 25 and other against a team that is receiving votes. The Cowgirls have played four games against teams currently in the top 10, and they’ve gone 2-2 in those games. All that is to say is that not all 5-4 records are created equally.

It’s also not the first time OSU has gotten out to this type a start. OSU started the 2022 season at 5-4 after a 1-3 start in Clearwater that saw the Cowgirls drop three straight games to LSU, South Florida and Washington. Those 2022 Cowgirls made it as far as a Gajewski-coach team has, being just a win away from playing the the WCWS championship series.

“Five and four against a really good schedule — I think we’re better than that, to be honest,”Gajewski said. “So I’m not gonna shy away, but it is where it’s at. All kinds of people have been sending me stuff about the slow starts that we’ve gotten off to in the past, so I don’t think it’s a real concern here, but I know that we definitely want to play better.”

Up Next

Weather permitting, the Cowgirls are scheduled to take part in the Michelle Short & Adam Brown Tournament this weekend in Conway, Arkansas. Here is the Cowgirls’ schedule for the event:

Noon Friday — SIUE
2:30 p.m. Friday — Central Arkansas
3 p.m. Saturday — SIUE
5:30 p.m. Saturday — South Dakota State
12:20 p.m. Sunday — Central Arkansas