Oklahoma State University Athletics
Resilience and Determination: Ivy Rosenberry Finds Her Home in Oklahoma State
November 14, 2023 | Cowgirl Softball
STILLWATER — After transferring away from the place she called home all her life, Ivy Rosenberry joined the Cowgirl Softball family her junior year to begin a new chapter of her life in the place she now calls home.
"I lived in Virginia my entire life growing up, but my mom's originally from Ardmore, Oklahoma," Rosenberry said. "So, my family is in Ardmore, which is about only two hours south of here. So, Oklahoma's always felt like home."
Resilience is something Rosenberry has faced since starting her collegiate softball career at Virginia Tech. After two years with the Hokies, she entered her name into the transfer portal.
Knowing that all she wanted to do was come home, Roseberry looked for a team where she could live out her postseason dreams. Naturally, Oklahoma State fit the bill.
"I just knew that I wanted to find a program that could take me and have the best chance to go into the World Series," Rosenberry said. "The atmosphere we have every day is that everyone wants the same goal, we all want to win a World Series. That's it, that's the end-all, be-all goal. But everyone is so willing to give up whatever it takes to get there, and that means a lot to me."
Since joining the Cowgirls, Rosenberry has formed a special relationship with coach Kenny Gajewski.
He makes it a priority to invest time into each player and have a personal relationship with everyone, which is something that's important to Rosenberry and is part of what makes him so special.
"He cares about me just as much off the field as he does on the field, which is probably the coolest thing," Rosenberry said. Even though he does give you a hard time sometimes, he also gives you the serious, hard truth, which is really the only way to grow."
This season, she's enjoyed working with first-year pitching coach and former OSU All-American, Carrie Eberle.
"Carrie's the most invested in me personally because she cares so much. She wants me to succeed because she knows my goals, she knows what I want," Rosenberry said. "She wants me to succeed so badly, and that's what drives me even more."
With the encouragement of uplifting coaches and teammates, Rosenberry found the family she had been searching for all along.
"My teammates make everything special," Rosenberry said. "I'm home. I think family is such a big deal to me, and having my family here is so important. My friends make everything 10 times better."
Having a family filled with OSU alumni, it was destiny for Rosenberry to join the Cowgirls.
"I would say my family obviously wanted me to be a Poke forever," Rosenberry said. "I think they just wanted me to be happy because where I came from, I just was so miserable. Whenever I came here, I think they really saw how much better of a person I became by coming here."
OSU has made four consecutive appearances at the Women's College World Series and won the Big 12 Championship in 2022. Not only is the end goal a Big 12 Championship and a Women's College World Series Championship, Rosenberry hopes to lead the team in a larger role this season.
"I'm hoping to play a bigger role," Rosenberry said. "I just want to be able to relieve innings in important situations or have the coaches have enough trust in me, like 'okay, we're in this situation, but we trust her enough that she can get the job done.' That's my goal for myself."
After the Cowgirls WCWS run ended in 2023, Rosenberry left Oklahoma to head to Clarksville, Tenn., for summer softball league. It's here where she found a new mentality she will carry into the upcoming season.
"Getting the experience of 'I'm better than you,' finding that while I was playing summer ball was really cool," Rosenberry said. "Even this fall, it was a different aspect, and I would never have had that mentality before. Taking in the mentality of I'm better, I'm going to get the job done pitch by pitch."
Rosenberry heads into the regular season after having the best season of her career last year. She was 5-2 with a 2.65 ERA and struck out 20 batters in 37.0 innings of work. She also held opponents to a .263 batting average.
The right-hander had a productive fall campaign, giving up only nine hits across 21.0 innings with 24 strikeouts.
"It felt good because I felt like I could prove to the coaches yes, I am good enough, my stuff is good enough," Rosenberry said. "I can move the ball; I can take care of this."
With her improved mentality and increasing confidence, Rosenberry is slated to have a breakout senior season.
