'You Really Screwed Up' — How a 5 a.m. Walk With Mike Holder Changed Gajewski's Approach to 11th Season

For most of Kenny Gajewski’s time at Oklahoma State, he and former athletic director Mike Holder would embark on long, heartfelt walks. 

They still share them, though, not as much in recent years, Gajewski clarified Wednesday during OSU’s annual softball team media day. But days after the Cowgirls’ 2025 campaign abruptly ended in a regional exit after a loss to host Arkansas, Gajewski felt prompted to follow up. 

So, he did.

It was an odd request, especially to Holder, who hired Gajewski to succeed former OSU coach Rich Wieligman in 2015. Still, Holder agreed. 

Holder requested the two meet at 5 a.m. at Karsten Creek. 

“I asked him, ‘Why can’t we do 6?’” Gajewski said.

Holder remained adamant, and the two met at the golf course at his requested time. 

And it didn’t take long for Holder utter words that pierced through Gajewski’s soul.

“You really screwed up this last year.”

Gajewski’s response?

“I was like 'Damn, we're just 500 steps into a seven-mile walk,’” he said. “I said to (myself), 'This is going to be tough.’”

And it was.

Expectations within the Cowgirl softball program have risen since Gajewski, entering his 11th season at the helm, took over in 2016. As to be expected after a program logs five consecutive Women’s College World Series appearances and cliches its first Big 12 Tournament title in that same span. 

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The 2025 team — “Team 10,” as Gajewski called it — fell short of lofty preseason expectations. Most national publications tabbed OSU in the top five nationally heading into Opening Weekend. At times, Gajewski went as far as calling it his “best team ever," well before OSU even played its season opener. 

But with good reason.

The Cowgirls returned star players Tallen Edwards, Rosie Davis and Karli Godwin, while reeling in All-American starting pitcher Ruby Meylan through the transfer portal. Gajewski said he profusely convinced himself that “last year’s team would be the first group to win its last game.”

Until it didn’t. Holder’s sentiment merely provided constructive criticism toward that mentality.

"(Holder) just said, ‘You  screwed up when you kept saying this is the best team you've ever had,’” Gajewski said. “And I was like, 'OK, well, that's how I felt.’”

By the end of their walk, Gajewski said he’d pinpointed the indictment of last year’s disappointment  — himself.

“They hadn't earned that,” Holder explained to Gajewski. “And if I'm Chyenne Factor and Kiley Naomi and Taylor Tuck and Chelsea Alexander and I've been to four straight Women's College World Series and you're telling everybody in this room and outside of here that this is the best team I've ever had, I'd be pissed. It's like you slapped them in the face.”

Holder is a national championship coach. He led the OSU men's golf program to eight national titles during his tenure. And Gajewski has praised Holder’s blunt, yet accurate personality countless times in years past. 

The words of his former boss resonated with him into the fall. They etched their way into his mind, tethering to it to the point where Gajewski spent countless days pondering what could have been.

Thus, Gajewski made one thing clear when addressing reporters Wednesday in the Gallagher-Iba Arena theatre room. 

“You’re not gonna hear me today say that this is the best team that we have ever had (at OSU),” Gajewski said. “And I told this team in the fall, I said I’m getting back to Team 1 (version of myself). It’s OK. It won’t be unfair. But we’re getting back to every single thing mattering.”

Gajewski said fall camp was the most-rigorous it had been since his first season. Conditioning, weight lifting, practice reps — all of it.

As was team discipline. No requests to wear shorts during team workouts. No non-matching pairs of socks among teammates. No leaving conditioning sessions prematurely for self-benefit.

"You're going to earn that stuff,” Gajewski said. “And as your coach, I need to do a good job of making sure you understand you can get anything that you want to get. You just got to earn it."

His players said they were even taken aback with the intensity of fall camp. 

“I feel like it did kind of (surprise me) with how intense it was,” said outfielder Melina Wilkison, who transferred to OSU from Indiana over the offseason. “Going back to the basics. Going back to why I play softball and why we (as a team) play softball. Coach G made us realize all of that.

“Our conditioning was so intense. But it was also so rewarding when we got done with it. And hopefully it will be as rewarding when it pays off.”

Gajewski said he feels more confident about “Team 11.” Still, he refused to attach any lofty expectations to them. 

A difficult lesson was learned a season ago. Now, Gajewski said he hopes that will carry into Team 11’s season. And perhaps it will aid them in fulfilling the destiny Team 10 fell short of. 

“I think with all the winning, I’m learning how to be a good head coach,” Gajewski said. “And I’m a long way away. I think a couple of the missteps I made was one of them being last fall, we were so good. We were just so good. The practice, the discipline, all of the stuff that you dream about as far as a coach. The talent — we’re looking at that going, ‘Man, it just looks good. These guys are giving us everything here.’ I think what I did in my mind, I thought I was doing them a little bit of a favor and I skipped some steps. I didn’t quite make them earn it from Point A to Point B.

“We’re not making the same mistakes we made last year. Everything we achieve, we’ll earn it.”