What Really Matters: Ruby Meylan Refocuses Ahead of Showdown with Nebraska, Jordy Bahl

STILLWATER — On Sunday night, Gallagher-Iba Arena was packed to the brim with 12,629 fans cheering on the Cowboy wrestling program.

Almost every softball player showed up to take in what appears to be the third-most attended dual this season, except for ace pitcher Ruby Meylan.

“She’s as committed as any player we’ve ever had here,” Oklahoma State coach Kenny Gajewski said. The way she didn’t go to wrestling this weekend because she missed out on sleep that night before we got in at 2:30, and I think she’s the only one who didn’t go, because she’s like, I’m gonna get to bed at six. I missed out on four hours of sleep. That’s a commitment.”

Meylan said she aims to get at least 8 hours and 50 minutes of sleep per night. If she’s at home, the self-proclaimed “grandma” on the team goes to bed at 8 p.m.

“I mean, just everything I do has a purpose,” Meylan said. “And I try to do things that separate me from other top pitchers in the country. And so I think just like obviously, I love hanging out with my teammates, but Sunday was a day that I needed to rest and cook good meals and fuel my body right.

“And so I think just making sacrifices throughout my career has kind of tend to set me apart from other people, just the way I take care of myself and the way I go about my business. So it doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have had success if I went to wrestling, but just I know what works for me, and I stick to it.”

This is a big week for Meylan and the Cowgirls, who play their first game at home on Thursday at 6 p.m. against No. 4 Nebraska (11-4). Oklahoma State plays at least one game every day, Thursday-Sunday, as the team kicks off the first home weekend of the season with the Cornhuskers, Southeast Missouri State and South Dakota State.

Gajewski had nothing but complimentary things to say about Nebraska, which he voted as a top-five team, and pitcher Jordy Frahm, although she’s better known by her former last name, Bahl.

“Last year, we got lucky and (former Cowgirl Megan) Bloodworth hit a bomb to beat her,” Gajewski said of last season’s 1-0 victory. “Ruby was awesome. She (Frahm) was awesome. It was an amazing game. I’m sure she remembers that very well. She’s competitive. Ruby’s a Nebraska kid too. So she’s got a little extra that she likes, and she’s got a lot of friends over there as well. And so it ought to be a fun time.”

When asked about her Nebraska counterpart, Meylan, an Omaha native, described it as just another game.

The two do have some history. Meylan has won two of three meetings at the collegiate level. They also faced off several times during high school and won a travel ball national championship together.

Oklahoma State’s ace quickly walked back her comments a little bit when asked if she had connections with any other players at Nebraska.

“I have to be careful,” Meylan said. “There’s kind of a lot of emotion. Because I have played with and against a lot of those people, and you always want to play better against the people you know. And like I said to you, just like, reminding myself it’s just another game, and that’s that was my mindset going into last year’s like, it’s a nameless, faceless opponent.”

Meylan enters the weekend fresh off the first no-hitter of her career, thrown in a five-inning run-rule win over Colorado State on Friday.

“Something we’ve been talking about for a long time, and to finally do it and get that first one out of the way felt super good,” she said.

It’s been something of an uneven start for Meylan, who has already given up half the earned runs she allowed all of last season.

“Execution is not quite as good,” Gajewski said. “Her stuff is better than it’s ever been, as far as stuff goes. But stuff is only stuff unless it’s thrown to the right spots in the right times. Then it becomes like wipeout. I’ve watched her wipe out elite teams this year, and in the same game get tore up. So it’s just about her focus and her will to just shove the ball where she wants to shove it. … She pitched extremely well this weekend. I don’t care who we’re playing. It’s for me, it’s the execution. It’s the swings and misses that I saw that are in there, as long as she just keeps focused on executing the next pitch, and when she does that, it’s lights out.”

When asked how she felt about her start to the season, Meylan didn’t mention the no-hitter. She said she put a lot of pressure on “things that don’t really matter,” like getting drafted and finishing her career as an All-American.

“I think obviously there’s been some ups and downs, lots of super highs and lots of super lows,” Meylan said. “But I think I’m tested, and now I know what it feels like to do both, and I feel really good, like, obviously I didn’t start super strong, but I can see myself improving and feel myself getting more comfortable. … What matters is this team and this program and everyone in this building, and I think I lost sight a little bit of the important things, and now I’m focused and ready to go.”