What makes Oklahoma State softball's Rosie Davis so good? 'She's 100% fearless'

STILLWATER — Coming to the plate with no outs in the top of the seventh inning in a tight game at Baylor last Sunday, Oklahoma State freshman Rosie Davis’ only job was to move the tying runner from second base to third.

OSU coach Kenny Gajewski laid out the situation for his freshman.

“I need you to get the runner over here,” he told her. “Do you want to bunt or do you want to hit?”

Davis wanted to hit, and with two strikes, she grounded out to first, advancing pinch-runner Scotland David to third. The next hitter, Micaela Wark, drove in David, and soon after, Megan Bloodworth came through with a go-ahead RBI single on the way to a 3-2 Cowgirl victory. 

“It really turned the game for us,” Gajewski said. “It got pressure on them and with a runner on third, it opened us up to do some great things.”

As fourth-ranked OSU (21-3) heads into its first home Big 12 series of the season, hosting Central Florida in a three-game series that begins at 6 p.m. Friday at Cowgirl Stadium, Davis has emerged as one of the team’s most reliable young hitters.

Her .500 on-base percentage leads the team, while her batting average (.429) and RBI total (19) are both second-best. She has three home runs and eight total extra-base hits through 23 games as the regular second baseman. 

More:Oklahoma State softball: Lexi Kilfoyl, pitching staff carrying load lately for Cowgirls

Gajewski initially identified Davis as an elite defender, playing shortstop on a high-level travel team. But she was always in the bottom half of the lineup. 

“Last summer, a bunch of her team got hurt or changed teams. Typical travel ball stuff,” Gajewski said. “And it forced her to have to hit third. I remember seeing her early in the summer and going, ‘Man, this is a different hitter than I’ve seen in the past.’ 

“What I convinced myself was that may be the best thing that ever happened to her. It forced her, playing the best travel ball schedule that you can play, hitting three-hole on one of the teams that has a good name, it changes the way you have to hit or produce or think.”

Her recruiting battle was a tight one between the Cowgirls and Florida State, but when she arrived at OSU last fall, Davis found a rhythm at the plate right away.

“I think she hit .330 or .340 in the fall against good teams and that told me maybe she’s a little bit farther ahead than I anticipated there,” Gajewski said. 

Davis is still getting the hang of defense at the Big 12 level, adjusting to the speed of the game, though she’s committed just three errors with a .960 fielding percentage.

More:Big 12 softball power rankings: Cydney Sanders has OU rolling again, back in top spot

“She’s fearless,” sophomore third baseman Tallen Edwards said. “Last fall, I was watching her like, ‘Does she have it? Does she not have it? Just trying to figure it out. With all the freshmen on the field, it’s like, do they have what it takes? It gets harder. It gets so much harder. 

“Rose has just shown me that she’s 100% fearless. She’s gone up against a bunch of really good pitchers already, flying balls all over the yard, being aggressive on the basepaths.”

Davis has shown a knack for clutch hits, too, including some late-inning hits to score runs last week. Her 19 RBIs have come mostly batting in the bottom half of the order.

“We’ve been trying to hide her down around eight for a long time, then we’ve just slowly been moving her up,” Gajewski said. “We’ve tinkered around with moving her a little higher, but I think I kind of like where she’s at now in that five-hole. 

“She’s been driving in a lot of runs, so she deserves that chance. I’m very happy with what she’s done. I think the future’s very bright.