Bayless Embracing Her Second Senior Season

STILLWATER - Oklahoma State softball standout Rylee Bayless is not taking this week's home opener for granted.

It's the last one she'll ever have in her collegiate softball career, but it's also one she's not quite sure she'd get to see.

Bayless, a redshirt senior, tore her anterior cruciate ligament just five games into the 2018 season, the year that was supposed to be her last in the orange and black.

The injury came during practice, as she charged a ball in left field and collided with a teammate. Bayless felt a pop and knew right away that the prognosis was not going to be positive.

"I thought while I was laying in the outfield that that was it," Bayless recalled. "You never know when the last day is that you're going to suit up and play. I wasn't sure about the redshirt rule, so I was devastated."

The smell of the fresh cut outfield grass, the thud of a softball entrapped by her leather glove and the clouds of dirt cast into the air after she slid into a base - all of these are things Bayless thought she'd never experience as a player again.

But now, thanks to an available redshirt and a long recovery process, Bayless is back at the top of the Cowgirl lineup and embracing a second chance to live out her senior season.

"Now, I feel myself put my batting gloves on. I take my time tying my shoes because I really want to enjoy every moment and enjoy everything," Bayless said."

The struggles of recovering from a torn ACL have been well documented by far too many athletes.

For Bayless, it was her first major injury that required surgery and an extensive recovery period. The worst she'd had before? A fractured wrist in middle school.

"The first two weeks (of recovery) were probably the hardest weeks because it's such a routine to move your leg, and then all of sudden you can hardly bend it or straighten it," Bayless said. "But other than that everything went really smoothly. Things just seemed to go in the right direction. We celebrated the little things and it ended up being one big celebration when it was all done."

The celebration extends beyond Bayless and her joy of being back on the dirt, as OSU head coach Kenny Gajewski knew that he was getting back a huge piece of the Cowgirls' puzzle for success this season.

"I think we all underestimated her worth last year. That sounds bad because we all know how good of a player she is, but I don't think any of us, last year when she went down, recovered from the emotional lift she provides," Gajewski said. "People ask me a lot about how we can replace (Vanessa) Shippy. You don't. We can replace someone's numbers, but we can't replace the person. The numbers are just numbers, but it's her energy, her experience and so having Rylee back - we couldn't replace her emotional energy that she brings to this team and the edge that she has.

"Having her back - setting the tone from the first pitch - is what we really missed and what we've got to have."

So far, Bayless has been the exact same player she was before, if not better because of her injury.

She currently is batting .298 with 14 hits and 13 walks through the season's first three weeks. Her four stolen bases are tops among her teammates, and her nine runs batted in trail only Madi Sue Montgomery and Samantha Show for the Cowgirl lead.

Bayless has been a leader statistically, and has brought back that fiery passion the Cowgirls so desperately have been calling out for at the top of the lineup card. Her infectious energy has the nation's No. 20 team ready to take on anyone, anywhere at any time.

That anyone-anywhere-anytime mentality will continue for the Pokes this weekend, as they face Seattle, Syracuse, McNeese State and Northern Iowa in a five-game weekend at Cowgirl Stadium, beginning Friday at 2:30 p.m. CT.

Oklahoma State University Athletics

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