‘She’s in a Great Spot’: Gajewski Praises Timm’s Resurgence as Cowgirls Enter Home Opener

STILLWATER — In the midst of answering a question about Claire Timm, Kenny Gajewksi turned to his sports information director and asked if Timm was set to speak with reporters.

“Is she coming here today?” Gajewski asked. “Yeah, that’s gonna make her skin crawl, just so you know. Her skin is crawling now waiting to come in here.”

As he walked out of the room and Timm walked in for her portion of the interview, Gajewksi jokingly gave her a big introduction to which Timm, with her face growing red, jeered at him while essentially pushing him out of the room.

Once the up-and-coming freshman contributing to the Cowgirls’ 2023 Women’s College World Series Run, Timm is now in her senior year, having spent all of her college days in Stillwater.

As a sophomore in 2024, Timm played in all 61 of the Cowgirls’ games and started 57 of those contests. She finished the year with a .324 batting average with 40 runs scored, 30 RBIs and 10 home runs. But Timm took a step back last season, appearing in 39 of OSU’s 55 games, making 24 starts. She had a career-low .250 average.

That 2024 version of Timm has been who the Cowgirls have had to start this season. She’s hitting a team-best .485 through OSU’s opening two weekends. She’s leading the Cowgirls in hits (16) while ranking sixth in at-bats (33).

Without getting too specific, Gajewski and Timm both alluded to some of the struggles Timm faced as a junior.

“I’m a huge fan — always have been,” Gajewski said. “Last year I kept her home on a trip. Just she wasn’t in a very good spot, but I care about her more than I care about her softball, obviously. So, I just said, ‘Let’s just stay home. Let’s just kinda get a break. Let’s just clear your mind.’ And it was good for her. It’s the things that I want to be for her. I’m encouraging to her. She comes out of one of the toughest travel ball programs in the country — the Corona Angels. If you can play for Marty Tyson, you can play for anyone.

“She’s just somebody that I just try to stay steady with — not get too excited when she does well and not get too upset when she doesn’t. She’s very aware of what’s going on and how to handle things.”

Timm used fewer words.

“Yeah, it sucked,” she said. “I mean, wasn’t fun, but I’m here and just excited to play softball with my teammates.”

Down in San Marcos this past weekend for the River State Classic, Timm went 8-for-11 at the dish across five games with nine RBIs and six runs scored.

In a game against Kansas City, she went 3-for-3 with two triples. She became the first player in program history to record multiple triples in multiple games after achieving the feat against Penn State last season.

At the Clearwater Invitational the week before, Timm went 4-for-13 (.308) at the plate against some of the best competition in the country.

“She had a good weekend at Clearwater,” Gajewski said. “I was curious to see how that would translate into this weekend (in San Marcos), and it was the same. It was good, so she’s in a great spot. Very, very, very proud of her. She’s an amazing kid that you don’t know about because she’s so quiet.”

Timm and the Cowgirls open their home schedule Thursday with a game against Nebraska at 6 p.m. It starts a weekend that will see the Cowgirls play six games on their homefield — three against Nebraska, two against Southeast Missouri State and one against South Dakota State.

After a year away from the WCWS, Timm and the Cowgirls are on their journey to get back to Oklahoma City.

“This is Claire,” Gajewski said. “So, she’s her own worst enemy and her own best friend, you know what I mean? She is so talented and so good and so even-keel. I’ve never seen her get excited about anything, but I know it burns in her gut. But she’s just good. When she believes it, she’s really good. Right now I think she’s feeling like, look I just need to let all this stuff go. Like, this is my last year, let’s just do this thing.”