Best for Last: Maddi Holcomb Enjoying Career Year During Senior Season

Kenny Gajewski wanted to change Maddi Holcomb’s mindset as she entered her senior year.

When Holcomb first came to OSU, she didn’t have much confidence in her ability to hit for extra bases. She posted solid numbers during her first few seasons, hitting greater than .300 in 2016 and 2017. She progressively earned more starts each year, starting 60 games in her junior season after earning just 26 as a freshman.

But Holcomb, who was primarily known as a speedster with a knack for making highlight plays in the outfield, was mainly used as a slap-hitter or a bunter throughout her career.

“It was fine for me, but we kinda just decided, ‘You’re a hitter,'” Holcomb said. “I’ve just gone for that.”

She’s on pace to break career-highs in almost every statistical category during her senior season. Holcomb is one of six Cowgirls to start in all 36 games and ranks second on the team with a .388 batting average.

She hit .307 during her junior season, but all 46 of her hits were singles. In fact, during her first three seasons as a Cowgirl, she amassed just three extra-base hits in 336 at-bats.

Holcomb has more than doubled that figure in far fewer opportunities this season, totaling seven extra-base hits (four doubles, three triples) in 95 at-bats in 2018.

In other words, during her freshman, sophomore and junior seasons, she earned an extra-base hit once every 112 at-bats. This season, she nabs an extra base about every 15 at-bats.

“Extra bases were never a thing for me, so I never really thought about that stuff,” Holcomb said.

Usually hitting at the bottom of the order, she doesn’t always have an opportunity to drive in runs, but she has shown an improved ability to get on base, as her on-base percentage ranks fourth-best among starters.

“She’s not slapping at all,” Gajewski said. “She’ll bunt some, but she’s got some power, she’s strong. I kinda wish we would have done that last year; I think that would have really helped her. I think you would have seen even a bigger year.

Holcomb said working with her coaches has helped her approach, and even when she’s struggling, they provide her with continued support and assurance: “Don’t worry. You’re a hitter still. You don’t need to slap.”

“She’s a kid that’s bought into the coaching, and has bought into the work, and has bought into coaching the younger kids,” Gajewski said. “(She) coaches our younger kids like crazy. When you do that, good things come. She’s just a kid that I’m very, very happy for the way she’s changed the way she can play.”