OKLAHOMA CITY – For the past several weeks the question was being whispered, what’s wrong with the Cowgirls softball team? It’s a legitimate question as the team that was once 37-3 and looking almost the equal to the 50-1, top-ranked rival in the softball machine Oklahoma team has now lost 11 of their past 15 games. Now, an early exit in the Big 12 Championship Tournament to Kansas 8-7 in the continuation of the first round game that was started on Thursday late afternoon and finished on Friday morning. Now, that question is being asked very much outloud and maybe with a sense of urgency as the NCAA Tournament is next.
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The past several weeks Gajewski has admitted he can’t tell why his team has slid in the win/loss column.
“It’s weird,” Gajewski said postgame to the media gathered at the postgame press conference. “I’ve never been through this, so I don’t have a lot of answers. I’m glad I don’t have the answers, because that means you’re going through it a lot.”
The slide by the Cowgirls is even further complicated by the fact that it hasn’t been one facet of the team’s play. It kind of started with a hitting slump especially in situations with runners in scoring position. The Cowgirls were still hitting, just not in the clutch to bring in runs.
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Maxwell has been the easiest part of this to figure.
It expanded to pitching and in particular with 2022 All-American and two-time first-team All-Big 12 pitcher Kelly Maxwell. Gajewski said Maxwell might be tiring as she never really took an extended break in the past year pitching for OSU and Team USA. It has looked that way. Maxwell only lasted 3.2 innings and allowed three runs on three hits and most concerning, she walked five Kansas hitters.
Then in the continuation of the game Oklahoma State added three errors to the one they had in the first part of the game on Thursday. Offense, pitching, and defense have all been part of the slide.
“I think it’ll be good for these guys to figure out what the next couple weeks will look like,” Gajewski said of keeping the team’s eyes looking forward. “I think we’re in this infancy of learning how to play where people give you their best every day. It’s a new thing. It’s been hard on us.”
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Cowgirls watching the NCAA tournament announcement last May on their retreat.
It is only going to get harder as in more difficult. Gajewski is going to stick with a recent tradition and take his team to Broken Bow to the lake for some relaxation and to watch the NCAA softball tournament seedings and bracket assignments on ESPN on Sunday. Now, the Cowgirls can leave earlier and maybe they need more time away.
This team is still 41-14 and they will still be a regional host. They have to be, but the hope of being a top eight national seed that would get them a host role for a super regional the second weekend is not just in doubt, it may be gone.
“You can’t change it. It’s out of our hands. And we didn’t make it hard on anyone,” the head caoch said. “I know we’re gonna be right there (close to being a top eight seed). Our body of work is still good. The only thing that’s gonna hurt us is our last 10 when it comes down to it.”
It may only be a few days, but Maxwell looks like she needs a break. After the head scratching performance and the doubts that are sure to have crept into their frame of mind the entire team can use some time off.
“I think you may see a little bit of a different look,” Gajewski said of his team. “Their mentality has been awesome. They’ve been working. We’ve been practicing hard. I think it’ll be good on these kids to just be normal for a couple days and then we’ll get regrouped and go.”
Magic wand, gris gris stick, lucky charm, four leaf clover, rabbit’s foot, I’m not sure anything will work other than a change of mind, a reset and will see if the Cowgirls’ retreat can make that happen.
