OSU Softball: Kenny Gajewski Gives Updates on Tia Warsop, Pitching Rotation Entering Stillwater Regional

STILLWATER — Tis the night before the Cowgirls host an NCAA Regional, and Kenny Gajewski has some tough calls to make over the next few days.

Oklahoma State opens its regional with a game against Eastern Illinois at 3:30 p.m. Sunday at Cowgirl Stadium.

One of the decisions Gajewski will have to make is when/how much to use All-American ace Ruby Meylan.

Meylan has thrown 222 innings this season entering the regional, which ranks third nationally. It’s the most of any Power Conference pitcher with next in line being UCLA’s Taylor Tinsley, who has thrown 182 innings this year. Quick math: that’s 40 fewer innings than Meylan or coming up on six whole games.

Even with all those innings pitched, Meylan has a 2.11 ERA. She’s 27-7 this season with 205 strikeouts to just 52 walks. OSU has won 16 of the past 17 games Meylan has pitched in — a stretch that includes wins against Oklahoma, Texas and Arizona.

By the sounds of it, when the Cowgirls open their regional against Eastern Illinois, Meylan will be in the circle again.

“We’ll do everything we can to win the first game — and then I’ll talk to you about it after that first game because I don’t know,” said Gajewski on the pitching plan for the weekend. “That’s how I feel. I know I tell you guys that, and there’s a good chance it’ll be Ruby in the next game. But I’ll just see how the first game goes, and then we’ll talk about it as a staff and make that decision then.

“But I think we all know who our ace is, and I want to save every bullet that I can out of her. So, I’m not planning on being here just this week. I plan on being here next week and the week after, so this is how we’ve managed this this whole time. And it’s constant communication with Ruby and making sure she’s recovery and has the tools. She’s very mature with her work and her preparation and her dedication to this craft. It’s turned into a craft for her. She came in as a pitcher, and she’s starting to become like an artist at this.”

Another dilemma Gajewski will have on his hands is putting together a lineup — it’s a dilemma in a good way.

The Cowgirls were without Tia Warsop at the Big 12 Tournament as she recovered from an oblique tweak. It sounded like Warsop wanted to play in Oklahoma City, but after Gajewski met with the team trainer and strength coach, they didn’t think it was worth the risk of potentially missing her for the Cowgirls’ NCAA run should the tweak turn into a tear.

“She’s practiced this whole week,” Gajewski said. “I know she was pretty pissed at me that I didn’t let her play over the weekend, but I didn’t think the Big 12 was that big of a deal for her to take a chance to lose her season. So, sometimes you have to make adult decisions, and I know that’s hard on people and their egos and things like that, especially people around your circle. But I plan on being the coach here for a long time, and I want to do things that represent the fact that we care about these kids, right.”

Warsop’s .349 batting average leads OSU among hitters with at least 35 at-bats this season.

So, you’d obviously like to get her back on the field, but then there’s Madison Hoffman — a redshirt freshman who is white hot at the plate. Through 26 at-bats this season, Hoffman is hitting .462 with a dozen RBIs and four homers. She played in rightfield at the Big 12 Tournament in Warsop’s place.

The Cowgirls’ DP spot is already filled with their depth at catcher. Audrey Schneidmiller earned a Big 12 All-Defensive Team honor and is hitting .320 with four home runs and 25 RBIs. Meanwhile fellow catcher Amanda Hasler has been OSU’s designated player. She’s hitting .290 with 12 home runs and a team-best 58 RBIs.

Gajewski also mentioned Jayden Jones and Montgomery Henderson as players he’d like to find a place in the lineup for. Jones played second base for the Cowgirls early in the year but has had just five at-bats since the start of April. Montgomery, a freshman, is hitting .391 through 23 at-bats this season.

So, the Cowgirls have some lineup flexibility, but that doesn’t make Gajewski’s job of telling some players they’ll have to hang out in the dugout any easier.

“It’s created some issues here, which are good issues,” Gajewski said. “You don’t sleep at night when you’re thinking about this kind of stuff, but it’s what you dream about as a coach is having depth. It’s taken us 11 years to have depth, like where we have real depth.”