Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowgirl Softball Staff Honored as NFCA Midwest Region Coaching Staff of the Year
June 10, 2024 | Cowgirl Softball
STILLWATER – The Oklahoma State softball coaching staff has been named the ATEC/NFCA Midwest Region Coaching Staff of the Year, it was announced today.
Head coach Kenny Gajewski and his first-year assistant coaches, hitting coach Vanessa Shippy-Fletcher and pitching coach Carrie Eberle, led the Cowgirls to a fifth-consecutive Women's College World Series berth, one of only two teams in the nation to reach the WCWS in each of the last five years.
This marks the third time Gajewski and a staff of his has received this award, previously receiving the honor in 2017 and 2019.
Gajewski and Co. led the Cowgirls to a 49-12 record on the year and a 21-6 record in Big 12 play, good for a third-place finish in the conference. OSU's 49 wins this season is the most in the Gajewski era and marks the third-most victories in a single season in program history.
The staff also lead the team to a 5-0 record in the NCAA Regional and Super Regional rounds, improving OSU's record at home in NCAA Regional and Super Regional contests to 20-1 since 2019. In those five games, the Pokes outscored their opponents by a combined margin of 34-7.
Gajewski and his staff coached Lexi Kilfoyl and Caroline Wang to All-America status, as well as leading eight Cowgirls to NFCA Midwest All-Region recognition and five different Cowgirls to All-Big 12 honors this season.
Working with the offense this season after being named the hitting coach in December, Shippy-Fletcher helped OSU finish in the top five of 10 different offensive single-season lists, highlighted by hitting the second-most home runs in program history (92) and scoring the second-most runs in program history (363).
The full list of all the top-five marks in the offensive single-season record book includes:
As a pitching staff, OSU finished the season ranked 14th in the nation in ERA (2.07) and 10th in shutouts (15).
For more on Oklahoma State Softball, visit okstate.com and follow @CowgirlSB on X and @osusoftball on Instagram.
Head coach Kenny Gajewski and his first-year assistant coaches, hitting coach Vanessa Shippy-Fletcher and pitching coach Carrie Eberle, led the Cowgirls to a fifth-consecutive Women's College World Series berth, one of only two teams in the nation to reach the WCWS in each of the last five years.
This marks the third time Gajewski and a staff of his has received this award, previously receiving the honor in 2017 and 2019.
Gajewski and Co. led the Cowgirls to a 49-12 record on the year and a 21-6 record in Big 12 play, good for a third-place finish in the conference. OSU's 49 wins this season is the most in the Gajewski era and marks the third-most victories in a single season in program history.
The staff also lead the team to a 5-0 record in the NCAA Regional and Super Regional rounds, improving OSU's record at home in NCAA Regional and Super Regional contests to 20-1 since 2019. In those five games, the Pokes outscored their opponents by a combined margin of 34-7.
Gajewski and his staff coached Lexi Kilfoyl and Caroline Wang to All-America status, as well as leading eight Cowgirls to NFCA Midwest All-Region recognition and five different Cowgirls to All-Big 12 honors this season.
Working with the offense this season after being named the hitting coach in December, Shippy-Fletcher helped OSU finish in the top five of 10 different offensive single-season lists, highlighted by hitting the second-most home runs in program history (92) and scoring the second-most runs in program history (363).
The full list of all the top-five marks in the offensive single-season record book includes:
- Slugging percentage: .554 (second)
- Hits: 475 (tied for fifth)
- Runs scored: 363 (second)
- RBIs: 338 (second)
- RBI per game: 5.54 (third)
- Doubles: 85 (fourth)
- Home runs: 92 (second)
- Home runs per game: 1.51 (second)
- Total bases: 858 (second)
- Total bases per game: 14.1 (second)
As a pitching staff, OSU finished the season ranked 14th in the nation in ERA (2.07) and 10th in shutouts (15).
For more on Oklahoma State Softball, visit okstate.com and follow @CowgirlSB on X and @osusoftball on Instagram.
Players Mentioned
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