Coaches

Kenny Gajewski

In seven full seasons (plus the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign) as head coach at Oklahoma State, he has led the Cowgirls to four trips to the Women’s College World Series and has guided OSU to the NCAA Tournament every year.

> From 2021-23, Oklahoma State won 143 games, fourth nationally behind only Oklahoma, Florida State and UCLA.

> Oklahoma State has had a final national ranking of No. 6 or better in four of the last five seasons, with the lone exception being the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign.

> From 2021-23, Oklahoma State went a combined 15-1 in the Regional and Super Regional rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

> Gajewski enters the 2024 season trailing only Patty Gasso (Oklahoma) and Mike White (Texas) in career win percentage among active Big 12 coaches.

> Since 2019, Gajewski has led Oklahoma State to a 96-15 record at home (.865 pct).

> Brought OSU its first conference title in the Big 12 era with a win over No. 1 Oklahoma at the 2022 Big 12 Softball Championship.

> Has coached Oklahoma State to 17 wins over teams ranked in the top 10 of the NFCA poll, including three wins over the nation’s top-ranked team.

> His OSU staff was twice honored as the NFCA Midwest Region Coaching Staff of the Year (2017 and 2019).

> His Oklahoma State student-athletes have earned 19 All-America honors, 36 All-Region honors and 39 All-Big 12 honors.

> His Oklahoma State student-athletes have earned 12 Academic All-America honors, 13 Academic All-District honors and 88 Academic All-Big 12 honors.


Kenny Gajewski’s time as head coach at Oklahoma State has been marked by high-level success.


Gajewski would say OSU’s success has everything to do with the student-athletes, to whom the program belongs and the decisions he and his staff make simply reflect that larger philosophy.


Prioritizing mental health and freshness

Just one of the real-world examples of how he applies this approach has become an offseason tradition for the Cowgirls. Each August, Gajewski and his staff coordinate a team trip to Broken Bow, Oklahoma, as an opportunity for a new group of student-athletes to become familiar with each other as people, not just as players.


The retreat has yielded such positive results that Gajewski has made it part of the team’s postseason routine each of the past three seasons. Immediately after the Big 12 Softball Championship and before the start of the NCAA Tournament, the Cowgirls have returned to Broken Bow to take a mental and physical break from the grind of the season and reset their focus on the NCAA postseason.


The May trip has re-energized the Cowgirls at a time when most teams are dragging and as a result, OSU has compiled a 15-1 record in the Regional and Super Regional rounds of the last three NCAA Tournaments.


Making Oklahoma State a premier destination for transfers

Understanding the personal side of his student-athletes is an area of strength for Gajewski, and it has become a significant factor in several high-level transfers being attracted to his Cowgirl Softball program. Since 2019, Samantha Show (Texas A&M), Carrie Eberle (Virginia Tech), Alysen Febrey (Georgia) and Hayley Busby (Virginia) earned All-America status for the first time in their respective careers after transferring to OSU. Miranda Elish (Texas) and Rachel Becker (Purdue) also earned All-America recognition after joining the Cowgirls.


On-field success

When it comes to on-field production, Oklahoma State has become a true national power during Gajewski’s tenure, advancing to the Women’s College World Series in 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023 and winning the Big 12 Tournament in 2022.


From 2021-23, Oklahoma State won 143 games, which is fourth nationally behind Oklahoma, Florida State and UCLA.


The Gajewski era has yielded single-season program records in just about every category of significance and in that same time frame, the Cowgirls have earned 19 All-America honors, 36 All-Region honors, two Big 12 Player of the Year honors, two Big 12 Pitcher of the Year honors and 39 All-Big 12 honors. In 2022 and 2023 alone, Cowgirl Softball collected eight All-America honors.


In 2021, eight Cowgirls were named to the NFCA All-Region team and seven earned All-Big 12 recognition. That same season, OSU also posted a 15-3 record in conference play for its best record of the Big 12 era.


Since 2021, seven Cowgirls have been drafted to play professionally with Athletes United and five were drafted to play with Women’s Professional Fastpitch.


Academic success

In addition to on-field success, Gajewski’s Cowgirls have also thrived in the classroom.


In 2023, Cowgirl Softball produced five Academic All-Americans, which was the highest total for any softball team in NCAA Division I, II or III that year.


During Gajewski’s time as head coach, OSU has earned 12 Academic All-America honors, with nine of those coming in the last three seasons alone.


Jules Callaham was honored as the Elite 90 winner at both the 2021 and 2022 Women’s College World Series. That award is given each year to the student-athlete with the highest grade point average at the NCAA championship site.


Taylor Tuck and Morgyn Wynne were both honored following the 2023 season, with Tuck securing the Dr. Prentice Gautt Postgraduate Scholarship and Wynne earning the McLendon Institute Postgraduate Scholarship.


In 2021, OSU set a program record with 13 first team Academic All-Big 12 honorees then followed it up with 12 first team selections in 2022, which ranks first- and second-most in program history and second- and third-most in Big 12 Conference history, respectively. During Gajewski’s tenure as head coach, 88 Cowgirls have earned Academic All-Big 12 recognition – the most of any team in the conference in that stretch.


The rise of the Cowgirls

It has been a steady climb for Oklahoma State softball under Gajewski’s tutelage. He inherited a program that went 3-13 in Big 12 play the year prior to his arrival.


In 2016, the Cowgirls were 6-11 in conference, then made the jump to 12-6 and a third place finish in 2017. While OSU had an identical 12-6 record in 2018, it improved to a tie for second place in the conference standings. The Cowgirls of 2019 went 13-5 in the league for sole possession of second place. In 2021, OSU went 15-3 against Big 12 opponents to finish second. The Cowgirls went 14-4 in conference in 2022 and won the Big 12 Tournament for the first time.


Gajewski and his Oklahoma State staff have twice been recognized as the NFCA Midwest Region Coaching Staff of the Year after both the 2017 and 2019 seasons. The 2017 season was highlighted by the program’s first top-three finish in the Big 12 since 2010 and a shutout victory at No. 1 Florida during the NCAA Gainesville Regional. The 2019 Cowgirls tallied 11 victories over top-15 opponents, played in the Women’s College World Series – Oklahoma State’s first WCWS appearance since the 2011 season – and finished No. 6 in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll, marking the school’s highest standing in the national polls since 1998.


Before Oklahoma State

Before coming to Oklahoma State, Gajewski coached alongside Tim Walton at Florida, where the Gators won back-to-back national championships in his final two years. In 2015, Florida posted top-25 NCAA marks in earned run average (1.63), scoring (6.55 runs per game) and on-base percentage (.438), in addition to leading the nation in fielding percentage The Gators’ 60-7 record led the country in win percentage and marked the second-highest win total in school history.


Prior to joining the Gators, Gajewski spent a season as the director of baseball operations at Tennessee. With the Volunteers, he was in charge of managing UT’s camps, overseeing student managers and handling the day-to-day operations of the baseball program. Gajewski’s roots trace back to the University of Oklahoma, however, as he played for the Sooner baseball squad in 1994 that won a national championship and earned him his first coaching stint as a graduate assistant the following season.


Gajewski then served as a volunteer assistant at Kansas State in 1996 before returning to Norman, where he would begin a 10-year stretch as the Sooners’ turf and maintenance director. In 2001, the field at OU’s L. Dale Mitchell Park was named the Beam Clay Baseball Diamond of the Year. That same season, the OU Softball Complex was presented the Field Maintenance Award by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association and TURFACE sports field products.


From 2007 onward, Gajewski was the owner and operator of three Norman, Oklahoma-based turf businesses - Champions Athletic Turf (athletic field renovation), Sooner Curb and Border (decorative concrete) and Ameriturf MidSouth (synthetic turf), but has since moved on from the projects to fully invest in his coaching career.


A native of Los Alamitos, California, Gajewski is married to Rachel, a Texas A&M softball alumna, and has two kids, Preston and Logan.