Softball Notebook: Three Takeaways from Kenny Gajewski’s Wednesday News Conference

STILLWATER — The Cowgirls have a busy few days on the horizon.

Oklahoma State is headed up to Wichita for the Shocker Invitational, where the Cowgirls will play South Dakota State and Wichita State on Thursday and Nebraska and Missouri on Friday. They’ll then return to Stillwater for a doubleheader against Drake and Tulsa on Sunday. So, it’ll be six games in four days.

OSU coach Kenny Gajewski met with reporters Wednesday to give updates on his team’s 8-4 start and to preview the upcoming schedule. Here are a few things that stood out.

Cowgirls ‘Pressing’ Too Much

From a wins and losses standpoint, the start of OSU’s 2025 season hasn’t gone totally to plan.

The Cowgirls went 5-4 through a pair of tough events in Mexico and Florida before sweeping their competition in Arkansas. Gajewski said the Cowgirls are nowhere close to being as good as they are going to be, but that it’s coming.

“We’ve got kids that, I feel like, are pressing some,” Gajewski said. “There’s no need to press. The calluses are normal. They’re good. They’re healthy. It’s what good teams have to go through. We’re in that process, and our work has been great. Our attention to detail has been great. We just gotta go out and take this thing. We gotta get off the emergency brake, too. I think we’re playing a little with the brake on, trying not to lose, trying not to have bad at-bats, trying to get hits instead of just being relentless the Cowgirl way. Something I’m gonna talk to them about here today.”

On Bloodworth’s Hot Start

Megan Bloodworth has been a rock at shortstop for the Cowgirls since transferring from Alabama ahead of the 2023 season, and her start to 2025 is the best she’s looked at the plate.

She’s hitting .318 through 12 games this season after two seasons below .200. In Arkansas this past weekend, Bloodworth went 4-for-5 at the plate with five RBIs and five runs scored. She hit two home runs after hitting four all of last season.

“It’s all up here (in her head),” Gajewski said. “She’s good. There’s a reason we keep running her out there. She’s really good. She’s a great defender. She’s showed that. If she can keep the boogeyman out of her head when she’s batting, she’s legit — like, she can go. She had a great fall, and she’s showing signs of being able to keep that guy out of there (her head). That’s a very normal thought process. When you have a couple years when your batting average isn’t great, you can still produce. She’s done that, but I think she’s capable of producing with a better average, too. And she’s doing very good at that, so I’m very proud of her and very proud of the way she’s going about that.”

Gajewski referred to Bloodworth as “underrated” on Tuesday, saying she’s a gold glove-level shortstop. In her three seasons in Stillwater, Bloodworth has a .948 fielding percentage with 104 putouts and 276 assists.

“I see a lot of stuff, people send me stuff how people are kind of tough on her on social media and stuff and they think we can do better, and there’s others out there,” Gajewski said. “She’s very underrated here. She plays catch. The most important thing for a shortstop to do is play catch. It’s like the quarterback in your infield. She does that well. Last year, everybody wants to talk about the fact she hit (.185), she drove in (25) runs and had 10 sacrifices and stole a couple bags and does things to get on base. Those things are important in the eight, nine. If you can get your eight, nine to drive in 25-35 runs, like, we’re doing something good. She’s doing exactly what we need.”

The Cowgirls Are Stealing Bags

Through a dozen games the Cowgirls have stolen 24 bases this season. In 61 games last season, OSU had 45 steals. If the Cowgirls keep up their two stolen bases a game, they’d have 122 in 61 games.

They’re coming from a variety of places, too. Megan “Cheese” Delgadillo leads the way with eight steals on eight attempts. That makes a ton of sense, as Delgadillo led the nation in steals last season with 44 (just one shy of what OSU had as a team). Speedsters Tia Warsop and Megan Bloodworth have five steals apiece. But even outside of the likely suspects, Rosie Davis has two steals; Karli Godwin has a steal; Rachael Hathoot has two; Claire Timm has one.

When discussing his team’s aggressiveness on the base paths Wednesday, Gajewski started by saying “if we’d get on base more, we’d be doing more.” Gajewski said the Cowgirls are homing in on strike zones but that when they start getting on base, those numbers will only continue to grow.

“I love the way we’re running,” Gajewski said. “We’re taking extra bags. They don’t always go down as stolen bags, but we’ve advanced on balls in the dirt numerous times, numerous times, and we’re doing it with like (Karli) Godwin and (Micaela) Wark has done it twice. Those are people that are getting themselves in a better spot, and it’s been an emphasis of ours for a couple years, but this team has like taken it over. So, I’m really happy with the way we’re doing that.”