How Oklahoma State softball's Ivy Rosenberry rediscovered passion, assumed key role

If you're keeping an eye on Ivy Rosenberry when she pitches for Oklahoma State in the Big 12 softball tournament this week at Devon Park, you might see a fist pump after a big strikeout, and you might even hear a “Yes!” from the Cowgirl senior.

On the celebration scale, it might seem small, but such moments are symbolic of something much bigger for Rosenberry.

“I try not to talk bad about my previous school, but emotion was just not accepted,” Rosenberry said. “Being here, I feel like I can be the most me, and that’s celebrating. I sometimes don’t even realize that I yell. It’s just natural. I get excited.”

Rosenberry, who transferred from Virginia Tech in the summer of 2022, will pitch at some point this week as the third-seeded Cowgirls pursue their second Big 12 Tournament title in the last three years. Their journey begins against sixth-seeded BYU at 11 a.m. Thursday.

She’s been pitching through pain, after an MRI revealed a rib fracture on her right side. But aside from an early exit against Kansas two weeks ago, the injury has limited her very little.

Pitching through pain that can be pretty significant at times, has allowed just eight runs over her last six appearances, totaling 24 innings. That includes 8 ⅓ innings against one of college softball’s most potent offenses at OU.

More: Mussatto: How Kenny Gajewski built an Oklahoma State softball program unafraid of Sooners

For the season, her ERA is 1.68 and she has 89 strikeouts over 100 innings, which is a big turnaround from a year ago, when she had a 3.41 ERA over 37 innings and saw little action in the postseason.

But the key to Rosenberry’s turnaround begins with her happiness. She had struggled to find the same joy in softball that had been so important to her when her career was winding down at Virginia Tech.

“Virginia Tech Ivy hated softball,” she said. “I needed something new, and that’s what I got when I came here — people that believed in me every day, people that supported me even in my lowest of days.”

Yet even last season at OSU, being the No. 4 option on the pitching staff, she hadn’t yet rediscovered her passion for the game.

Late in the season, OSU coach Kenny Gajewski suggested to Rosenberry that she play summer ball with a league in Tennessee that is popular among college players.

“I did not want to go play summer ball whatsoever,”  Rosenberry said. “I was in a spot where I wanted to be done and have a fun summer and do things that every college kid wanted to do.

“It was my last summer before I graduate and I have to go get a big-girl job. I wanted to be a kid for one last time.”

Gajewski encouraged her to think about it.

More: How did Karli Godwin power Oklahoma State softball to Bedlam win? 'This kid is special'

“In my head, I’m going, ‘If you don’t want to go, I don’t think you really want to pitch here, because you need to go get innings,’” Gajewski said. “I didn’t tell her that. I let it sit for a couple days.”

Then Rosenberry called her coach, who fully expected her to lay out the reasons why she should not play summer ball.

“I think I need to go and play,” Rosenberry told him.

After a few heart-to-heart phone calls with her mother back in Winchester, Virginia, Rosenberry came to the realization that she didn’t want her softball career to end with a whimper.

“I realized it was my time to give it all I had,” she said. “Summer ball was one last shot at gaining some confidence, getting more innings under my belt and giving myself the best chance I had to play here this season.”

So Rosenberry went to Tennessee for summer ball, and the benefits flooded in.

She gained the experience she needed, while also boosting her confidence.

She began to formulate an improved approach to pitching, which she had been discussing with new OSU pitching coach Carrie Eberle.

And above all, Rosenberry fell in love with the game again.

More: OU softball leads All-Big 12 selections with nine; OSU's Lexi Kilfoyl named top pitcher

“The one thing I’ve always known is if you’re not happy off the field, there’s no way you’ll perform on the field,” Gajewski said. “There has to be some level of lifestyle that enables you to be the best you.”

And that’s what Rosenberry needed.

“Summer ball was the best thing I ever did in my college career, and that’s crazy to say,” Rosenberry said. “I gained so much confidence, where I could go out every day and know I’m gonna win. You’re gonna lose, I’m gonna win.”

Her elevation from the fourth-best pitcher at OSU to one of the best in the Big 12 wasn’t as simple as just gaining confidence and being happy.

She also dialed in her method for attacking hitters and her ability to locate pitches improved as well.

Last fall as he plotted out ideas for using his pitchers, Gajewski viewed Rosenberry as someone who was good to get six outs. But she’s thrown four complete games this season, and gone at least four innings in 14 appearances.

“Confidence is a big deal whenever you’re a pitcher,” Rosenberry said. “But whenever I left for summer ball, my main job was to hit my locations better. My mechanics have gotten way better. I know now, OK, I need to do these three things mechanically and my pitches are going to work.

“I’m aggressive, and Coach G. has been telling me that I bring an energy to the team. I can be myself and react, and it feeds my team, and I realize that. I get to be me, and I think that’s the coolest thing of all.”

More: Big 12 softball tournament: 2024 final standings, bracket, TV schedule

No. 3 OSU vs. No. 6 BYU

BIG 12 QUARTERFINALS: 11 a.m. Thursday at Devon Park (ESPN+)

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Ivy Rosenberry rediscovered passion, assumed key role for OSU softball