Oklahoma State University Athletics
Gajewski, Cowgirls Preview NCAA Stillwater Regional
May 14, 2019 | Cowgirl Softball
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State softball coach Kenny Gajewski and select players met with members of the media before practice Tuesday to discuss the Cowgirls' upcoming NCAA Regional in Stillwater this weekend.
The upcoming regional will mark the first time OSU has hosted an NCAA Regional in Stillwater since 1998, and it will be the fourth-straight year the Cowgirls have competed in the NCAA Tournament. A look at some of what the OSU softball figures had to say:
Head Coach Kenny Gajewski
On hosting a regional in Stillwater:
"It's something this team has worked extremely hard or and it's something that we've worked toward for a long time. This is what you coach for, what you play for. You want to put yourself in these types of opportunities. For me, it's realized when you're getting texts and calls from Team 1 – that team from our first year, and those kid – and how excited they are for us and our current team. I just keep reminding them that they're the ones who got this thing going. They should be enjoying this, and they should be here feeling the excitement because they started this. That's what it's all about. This isn't where we want to be, but you have to do this to get to where you want to go. It's really hard to advance out of these things when you don't host. We're just continuing to take the right steps. The standards keep getting higher and higher, and it's fun to watch. It's fun to be a part of. I'm lucky in the fact that I've been able to be a part of this. Not as a head coach, but as an assistant coach and as a player. It's probably helping me with my nerves and my gut, because it's exciting and there's a lot of people counting on you and you want to perform well. I just reminded our kids to try and stay normal as they're going through all of their fun."
On the level of softball in the state of Oklahoma:
"It's very easy here – if you think you're going too good, you just have to look down the road. We are enjoying being the chaser, not the chasee, and I think that's some of the most fun that we could have. It's very easy for us to stay focused and to understand what we've got to do. I want our team to enjoy every moment of this, but I also want them to remember that you're only as good as your last game and what you're going to do next. There's a level of gratification, but there's also a level of – if you're competitive at all – where you know that we're nowhere close to where we want to be yet. I think our kids are in a good spot. They understand the focus and the task at hand. We know who is coming here. We know that we've struggled against Tulsa a bunch, like a lot of teams have. We know what Arkansas is all about and respect them. BYU, all they do is win their conference. This is what it's all about."
On the biggest advantage of hosting:
"The advantage is playing at home and sleeping in your own bed. You're used to the weather, or whatever it is. You're used to your own fans. It's nice to hear the familiar PA announcer calling your name. There's a comfort. All that stuff just plays in. It's normal. Anytime you can continue the normalcy of your day-to-day life, it's a help. We've played very well at home. We're under control here, and I think that's the biggest benefit to that."
On the Cowgirls' success in clutch moments this year:
"I think when we beat Kentucky in the first tournament of the year on a walk-off home run, I think that was the last building moment for us. That was one of the things we hadn't done here yet, was have a big-time walk-off home run like that. We've had some moments where we'd come back and won, but that was a big moment for us to come back and beat a top-15 team at the time. That gave me some good feelings that we had finally taken that step. Top-15 team, you're down late and beat them. Now, we have to figure out how to maintain that. I'm very proud of the way our maturity has come along and how we've been able to handle things and play well. We've won games even when we didn't play well. That's what we didn't do my first years. When we didn't play well, we didn't win. Now we're able to play average at times and still win. We can't do that this weekend."
On his message to the team this week:
"My message to the team has been to play your best. Just execute and take care of what you do. Don't worry about anybody else. Some of them are going to struggle this weekend, and some will go crazy. We have to ride the waves, and not get too up, or too down. We're going to have some adversity that will hit us at some point, and how we handle that is how we'll play."
On what makes the 2019 team special:
"I think I would say genuine love for each other. It's real. It's not lip service. When they tell you they care about each other, they care. I think, as a coaching staff, we're able to kind of sit back here and watch it, see it. I think that's what this team has. We're talented, but we genuinely are all pushing for whoever is up (to bat), whoever is pitching and whoever is fielding. We're cheering for that person at that time to do their job."
Junior Sydney Springfield
On hosting a regional in Stillwater:
"I think we're all super excited. I think the whole environment in this facility, and around the town of Stillwater, is super pumped. I was in my car today and it was on the radio and I realized that this town is excited. They're excited for us to host, especially since we haven't hosted in a really long time."
On what the atmosphere will be like:
"Crazy. I know that the whole outfield has already been taken and everybody is going to show up, so I'm just expecting it to be nuts."
On the advantage of playing at home:
"I think whenever we play at home, and we can just have fun and relax, we play awesome. We just love our fans and that they can cheer for us, as well as how crazy and exciting they can be. That pumps us up, too."
On what it means to be a national seed at OSU:
"Since the first day that I showed up here, this was one of our missions. This is one of the steps to get to the World Series, and it's awesome to see how our hard work has paid off. It's not over. We still have a lot of ways to go to accomplish the actual goal, but it's an awesome feeling that we get to be at home, be with our fans and in our facility with everyone supporting us."
Freshman Kiley Naomi
On hosting at regional in Stillwater:
"It's really exciting. We practice hard every day. Since the beginning of the season, we've worked hard to get to this moment."
On the advantage of hosting:
"It's going to be really good and our fans are going to be great. They'll be here, making some noise, and making it hard for the other team to make plays. They'll be there for us to help cheer us on."
On being a national seed:
"This is really good. Especially for me as a freshman, it's really exciting, and for Coach Kenny (Gajewski), it's really exciting for him. He's been working really hard to help get all of us better."
The upcoming regional will mark the first time OSU has hosted an NCAA Regional in Stillwater since 1998, and it will be the fourth-straight year the Cowgirls have competed in the NCAA Tournament. A look at some of what the OSU softball figures had to say:
Head Coach Kenny Gajewski
On hosting a regional in Stillwater:
"It's something this team has worked extremely hard or and it's something that we've worked toward for a long time. This is what you coach for, what you play for. You want to put yourself in these types of opportunities. For me, it's realized when you're getting texts and calls from Team 1 – that team from our first year, and those kid – and how excited they are for us and our current team. I just keep reminding them that they're the ones who got this thing going. They should be enjoying this, and they should be here feeling the excitement because they started this. That's what it's all about. This isn't where we want to be, but you have to do this to get to where you want to go. It's really hard to advance out of these things when you don't host. We're just continuing to take the right steps. The standards keep getting higher and higher, and it's fun to watch. It's fun to be a part of. I'm lucky in the fact that I've been able to be a part of this. Not as a head coach, but as an assistant coach and as a player. It's probably helping me with my nerves and my gut, because it's exciting and there's a lot of people counting on you and you want to perform well. I just reminded our kids to try and stay normal as they're going through all of their fun."
On the level of softball in the state of Oklahoma:
"It's very easy here – if you think you're going too good, you just have to look down the road. We are enjoying being the chaser, not the chasee, and I think that's some of the most fun that we could have. It's very easy for us to stay focused and to understand what we've got to do. I want our team to enjoy every moment of this, but I also want them to remember that you're only as good as your last game and what you're going to do next. There's a level of gratification, but there's also a level of – if you're competitive at all – where you know that we're nowhere close to where we want to be yet. I think our kids are in a good spot. They understand the focus and the task at hand. We know who is coming here. We know that we've struggled against Tulsa a bunch, like a lot of teams have. We know what Arkansas is all about and respect them. BYU, all they do is win their conference. This is what it's all about."
On the biggest advantage of hosting:
"The advantage is playing at home and sleeping in your own bed. You're used to the weather, or whatever it is. You're used to your own fans. It's nice to hear the familiar PA announcer calling your name. There's a comfort. All that stuff just plays in. It's normal. Anytime you can continue the normalcy of your day-to-day life, it's a help. We've played very well at home. We're under control here, and I think that's the biggest benefit to that."
On the Cowgirls' success in clutch moments this year:
"I think when we beat Kentucky in the first tournament of the year on a walk-off home run, I think that was the last building moment for us. That was one of the things we hadn't done here yet, was have a big-time walk-off home run like that. We've had some moments where we'd come back and won, but that was a big moment for us to come back and beat a top-15 team at the time. That gave me some good feelings that we had finally taken that step. Top-15 team, you're down late and beat them. Now, we have to figure out how to maintain that. I'm very proud of the way our maturity has come along and how we've been able to handle things and play well. We've won games even when we didn't play well. That's what we didn't do my first years. When we didn't play well, we didn't win. Now we're able to play average at times and still win. We can't do that this weekend."
On his message to the team this week:
"My message to the team has been to play your best. Just execute and take care of what you do. Don't worry about anybody else. Some of them are going to struggle this weekend, and some will go crazy. We have to ride the waves, and not get too up, or too down. We're going to have some adversity that will hit us at some point, and how we handle that is how we'll play."
On what makes the 2019 team special:
"I think I would say genuine love for each other. It's real. It's not lip service. When they tell you they care about each other, they care. I think, as a coaching staff, we're able to kind of sit back here and watch it, see it. I think that's what this team has. We're talented, but we genuinely are all pushing for whoever is up (to bat), whoever is pitching and whoever is fielding. We're cheering for that person at that time to do their job."
Junior Sydney Springfield
On hosting a regional in Stillwater:
"I think we're all super excited. I think the whole environment in this facility, and around the town of Stillwater, is super pumped. I was in my car today and it was on the radio and I realized that this town is excited. They're excited for us to host, especially since we haven't hosted in a really long time."
On what the atmosphere will be like:
"Crazy. I know that the whole outfield has already been taken and everybody is going to show up, so I'm just expecting it to be nuts."
On the advantage of playing at home:
"I think whenever we play at home, and we can just have fun and relax, we play awesome. We just love our fans and that they can cheer for us, as well as how crazy and exciting they can be. That pumps us up, too."
On what it means to be a national seed at OSU:
"Since the first day that I showed up here, this was one of our missions. This is one of the steps to get to the World Series, and it's awesome to see how our hard work has paid off. It's not over. We still have a lot of ways to go to accomplish the actual goal, but it's an awesome feeling that we get to be at home, be with our fans and in our facility with everyone supporting us."
Freshman Kiley Naomi
On hosting at regional in Stillwater:
"It's really exciting. We practice hard every day. Since the beginning of the season, we've worked hard to get to this moment."
On the advantage of hosting:
"It's going to be really good and our fans are going to be great. They'll be here, making some noise, and making it hard for the other team to make plays. They'll be there for us to help cheer us on."
On being a national seed:
"This is really good. Especially for me as a freshman, it's really exciting, and for Coach Kenny (Gajewski), it's really exciting for him. He's been working really hard to help get all of us better."
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