OSU Softball Coach Says Star Outfielder ‘Should be Back’ for NCAA Tournament
The Oklahoma State softball team is generally healthy going into the NCAA Tournament this weekend, with one notable exception.
Junior outfielder Tia Warsop did not play in the Big 12 Tournament due to an undisclosed injury. During his Zoom session with media after the Cowgirls learned they would host a regional this weekend, head coach Kenny Gajewski said the decision to sit her was made looking ahead to the NCAA Tournament.
He’s encouraged by what the week of rest did for the team’s leading hitter by batting average.
Tia Warsop’s Postseason Availability
Gajewski said he sat Warsop because he didn’t want to risk her availability long-term. The Cowgirls knew they were heading to the NCAA Tournament. But it wasn’t clear until Sunday if they would host. Either way, he said he wasn’t “willing to jeopardize her season” for the Big 12 Tournament.
“I want to do what's best for this team and we need Tia to be the best team,” he said. “She looks good right now. I don't know that she'll be at 100% — we'll just have to kind of wait and see. But she'll be better than if she had played the last couple of games. I'm very thankful that I've got good people around me to help me make good decisions. But she should be back.”
Warsop last played on May 3 against Kansas in the finale of that series. She went 2-for-2 in that game. She did not play in either game of the Big 12 Tournament. She enters the NCAA Tournament with a team-leading batting average of .349 with one home run and 22 RBI. She is one of the team’s fastest players and has 10 stolen bases in 12 attempts.
Warsop was an All-Big 12 second team selection in 2025 as she led the Big 12 in batting average for a majority of the season and finished batting .348. She saw time as a freshman in 2024, a season that led the Cowgirls to the WCWS and batted .333 in 30 at-bats.
Without Warsop, Oklahoma State has been using freshman Madison Hoffman in her place. She has been batting better than .500 since April 22 and in that span won a Big 12 freshman of the week honor.
Oklahoma State opens the Stillwater Regional on Friday against Eastern Illinois at 3:30 p.m. Before that, Stanford will face Princeton at 1 p.m. The double-elimination tournament concludes on Sunday. The winner advances to super regionals.
NCAA Tournament
Stillwater Regional
Friday’s Games
Game 1 – 1 p.m. CT – Princeton vs. Stanford (ESPN2)
Game 2 – 3:30 p.m. CT – Eastern Illinois at Oklahoma State (ESPN+)
Saturday’s Games
Game 3 – Noon CT - Winner G1 vs. Winner G2
Game 4 – 2:30 p.m. CT - Loser G1 vs. Loser G2
Game 5 – 5 p.m. CT - Winner G4 vs. Loser G3
Sunday’s Games
Game 6 – 3 p.m. CT - Winner G3 vs. Winner G5
Game 7 – 5:30 p.m. CT - Winner G6 vs. Loser G6 (if necessary)
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Matthew Postins is the publisher of Oklahoma State on SI. He is an award-winning sports journalist who was formerly the editor of the College Football America Yearbook and covers the Big 12 Conference for Heartland College Sports.
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