Cowgirl Softball travels south for River State Classic

Thursday, February 19

San Marcos, Texas

11 a.m.

Oklahoma State University

Kansas City

February 17, 2026 | Cowgirl Softball

Game Notes

The Basics
The No. 24/19 Oklahoma State softball team (6-4 overall) heads to San Marcos, Texas, this week to compete in the River State Classic. The Cowgirls face Kansas City (4-4 overall) and Texas State (5-4 overall) on Thursday, Brown (0-0 overall) and Colorado State (4-6 overall) on Friday and finish with Brown on Saturday.

Watch, Listen, Follow
Only OSU's contest against Texas State will be streamed on ESPN+.
All contests can be heard live on KGFY-FM 105.5, as well as on the Varsity Network app with Ryan Breeden on the call.
Live stats for all of OSU's games are available online at okstate.statbroadcast.com.
Fans can follow @CowgirlSB on X all season for regular coverage and updates, including a live scoreboard during games.

In The Rankings
After falling out of the Top 25 of the NFCA/GoRout Coaches poll for the first time since 2018 last week, Oklahoma State returned to the Top 25 and is ranked No. 24. The ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 ranks the Cowgirls at No. 19, while Softball America has the Pokes at No. 22 and D1Softball has OSU at No. 18.
The Cowgirls were picked to finish second in the Big 12 Conference with one first-place vote in a poll by the league's head coaches.

Oklahoma State from a Distance
Oklahoma State held its own against Women's College World Series-caliber competition at the Clearwater Invitational last week, highlighted by wins over No. 6 UCLA, No. 8 Texas A&M and No. 20 Georgia. Rosie Davis and Amanda Hasler combined for six extra-base hits and 15 RBIs at the showcase event, while RyLee Crandall notched a pair of wins in the circle.
Of the Cowgirls' first 10 games, six were played against ranked opponents, and their four defeats came at the hands of No. 12 Stanford (twice), No. 19 LSU and No. 20 Duke.
Leading the team in batting average (.429), slugging percentage (.643) and on-base percentage (.529), Karli Godwin has been an early-season standout. She is one of seven OSU players with at least one home run through 10 games this season. Tia Warsop is batting .375 on the year and .467 in her last four games (7-for-15). Ruby Meylan leads the team and is 20th nationally with 34 strikeouts. Solid contributions have also come from Claire Timm and Audrey Schneidmiller.
Newcomers have produced as well, with Jayelle Austin earning Big 12 Freshman of the Week honors in week one, Melina Wilkison tying for the team lead in stolen bases, Jayden Jones delivering the game-winning swing against UCLA, Aubrey Jones securing her role as starting shortstop and Preslee Downing putting together a 1.83 earned run average in 7.2 innings of work.

Notable Streaks and Trends
• OSU has been ranked or receiving votes in the NFCA poll in each of its last 397 games, dating back to the start of the 2019 season.
• OSU is undefeated in one-run games, going 3-0 with wins over Georgia, Texas A&M and UCLA.
• OSU has scored in the first inning in seven of its 10 contests this season.
• The Cowgirl offense has totaled more than five runs in 60% of their contests.
• Jayelle Austin and Tia Warsop have both reached base in all 10 of OSU's contests.
• Tia Warsop enters the weekend on a nine-game hitting streak. During that streak, she is batting .417 (10-for-24), with nine runs scored.
• Dating to last season, Karli Godwin has started 126 consecutive games, the longest streak on the team.

Series History
The Cowgirls are competing in San Marcos, Texas, for the first time since 2016.
OSU holds a commanding 12-1 series lead over Kansas City and is 3-1 against the Roos in the Kenny Gajewski era.
The Pokes and Bobcats have met 10 times, and OSU leads the series 7-3. In San Marcos, the Cowgirls are 3-2.
Oklahoma State and Brown will face off for the first time in program history.
The Cowgirls hold an 8-2 series lead over Colorado State, including a 6-2 advantage on neutral sites. Gajewski is looking to avenge his lone loss to the Rams, which came in 2019.

Team and Player Notes

Here's to 400
With 406 career wins in his 10-plus seasons at Oklahoma State, Kenny Gajewski joins Hall-of-Famer Sandy Fischer as the only two coaches to lead the Cowgirls to more than 400 wins. Fischer amassed 901 wins in her 23 seasons at the helm.
Gajewski is the fastest coach in school history to 400 wins, securing his 400th in his 568th career contest while Fischer obtained hers in her 569th career game.

Route 66
Returning NFCA All-America Ruby Meylan pieced together a record year in her first season at Oklahoma State. The dominant righty set single-season career bests in ERA (1.81), wins (21), strikeouts (238) and opponents' batting average (.201) while being one of 10 pitchers in the country to reach the 20-win, 200-strikeout mark.
Meylan was a unanimous 2026 preseason All-American and figures to be one of the most dominant pitchers in the nation. The Omaha, Nebraska, native is one of seven active Division I players with at least 600 career strikeouts and 50 wins.

Keeping Up with the Joneses
Sisters Aubrey and Jayden Jones are the second set of sisters to play for Oklahoma State, joining Linda and Sharon Sodano (1990-91).
According to an SID survey, they are one of 17 sets of sisters competing on the same team this season in Division I.

Fresh Faces
The Cowgirls welcome 11 newcomers to the mix - eight freshmen and three transfers - that are all expected to contribute. Freshmen Jayelle Austin, Gabby Castillo, Preslee Downing, and Aubrey Jones have made immediate impacts and will see significant playing time.
Kenny Gajewski has enjoyed success in the transfer portal during his time at Oklahoma State. This year's group of transfers includes Kaya Booker (Georgia Tech), who redshirted her freshman season in Atlanta but has impressed with her speed and bat ability and can slot in anywhere in the outfield. Jayden Jones (Virginia Tech) batted .250 with 14 runs and 12 RBIs across 26 appearances in her first season of collegiate softball last year. Melina Wilkison (Indiana/Ohio State) was a two-time NFCA All-Region honoree at Ohio State and boasts a career .349 batting average with over 70 extra-base hits and 102 RBIs.

Another Tough Schedule
Kenny Gajewski has consistently crafted tough schedules, and this year is no exception.
Over 60% of OSU's games (34 of 53 scheduled contests) are against opponents who finished last season inside the Top 75 of the RPI. The Cowgirls match up against 15 NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago and 12 opponents who received votes in the 2026 preseason NFCA/GoRout Coaches Poll.

New Board Who Dis?
The Cowgirls may not play a home game until February 26, but they'll have college softball's largest LED video display awaiting their return.
The nearly 28 feet high by 40 feet wide videoboard was installed this offseason, replacing the old scoreboard in right field. It'll deliver crisp, clear imagery that enhances the gameday experience for all fans throughout the stadium.

Bringin' the Juice
Freshman Jayelle Austin, nicknamed Juice, performed well in her first weekend in America's Brightest Orange and was rewarded with Big 12 Freshman of the Week honors. The Owasso, Oklahoma, native became just the seventh OSU freshman to hit a grand slam, and the third to do so on opening weekend, with her four-run blast against California.
Austin slashed .385/.467/.923 in the first action of her collegiate career and totaled seven RBIs to go with a double and two home runs.

The Timm Reaper Strikes Again
Senior Claire Timm's senior season is off to a good start. Hailing from Buena Park, California, she enjoyed being back in her home state on opening weekend and batted .444 with a home run and five RBIs. On the season, she's slashing .364/.444/.500 with six runs and six RBIs. Timm received NFCA All-Region honors in 2024 after tallying 10 homers and driving in 30 runs.

Mashin' Mando
After a quiet opening weekend, senior Amanda Hasler made her presence felt in Clearwater. The senior catcher totaled eight RBIs on the weekend to go with two doubles and a home run that might still be in the air. The Avon, Connecticut, native slugged at a .769 clip in five games played in Florida.