STILLWATER — Over her first two seasons with the Oklahoma State softball team, Megan Bloodworth’s glove was the biggest reason she held down a regular starting job.
Now as a senior, her bat has become indispensable.
As the 13th-ranked Cowgirls enter a three-game series with Baylor beginning at 6 p.m. Friday at Cowgirl Stadium, Bloodworth leads the team in slugging percentage at .700.
That’s a team with power hitters like Karli Godwin and Micaela Wark, extra-base hit machines like Rosie Davis and Tallen Edwards.
Yet it was Bloodworth who carried the Cowgirls to a much-needed 3-0 win over Houston last weekend with a solo home run and an RBI triple to provide two of the runs.
“She’s been doing it the whole year,” OSU coach Kenny Gajewski said. “She did it all fall. It’s cool to see her growing up and getting to eat the fruit. She’s been working hard. She’s worked hard every day she’s been here. But it’s cool to see.”
After transferring from Alabama, Bloodworth batted .192 with two home runs, 17 RBIs and a .277 slugging percentage as a sophomore, playing third base and regularly batting ninth.
Last year, she moved to shortstop, where her defense remains a force. But her batting average dipped to .185 with four home runs, 25 RBIs and a .353 slugging percentage.
Through just 23 games this season, she is tied for the team lead with five home runs and has driven in 13 on just 18 hits, to go with the aforementioned .700 slugging percentage.
She has a .360 batting average, fourth on the team. Ahead of her are slap hitters Tia Warsop (.404) and Megan Delgadillo (.392), as well as Godwin (.362).
“A lot of it has been me struggling mentally,” Bloodworth said. “I think I’m finally starting to work through that and get it back.
“I think I’m learning myself and how I work, just little stuff like that.”
Gajewski refers to those mental struggles as the boogeyman.
“She’s good. There’s a reason we keep running her out there,” Gajewski said. “She’s a great defender. She’s shown that.
“If she can keep the boogeyman out of her head when she’s batting, she’s legit. And she’s showing signs of being able to keep that guy out of there.”
With Bloodworth’s emergence at the bottom of the lineup, Gajewski has gotten creative when writing out his batting order.
Warsop is a prototypical leadoff hitter, but with Delgadillo already locked into that spot, Gajewski moved Warsop to the No. 6 spot. That gives the feel of coming back to the top of the order in the middle of the lineup.
But that only works if the 7-8-9 hitters produce, and so far, Bloodworth has been the star of that chunk of the order.
“Maybe I’m the idiot for batting her in the eight-hole. Maybe I need to take a look at that,” Gajewsi said. “The bottom of our lineup has been phenomenal.
“Megan can go. She had a great fall. When the boogeyman’s there, it drives you nuts. He tells you that you can’t and you gotta believe you can.”
OSU vs. Baylor
Three-game series at Cowgirl Stadium in Stillwater (All games on ESPN+):
- Game 1: 6 p.m. Friday
- Game 2: 2 p.m. Saturday
- Game 3: 1 p.m. Sunday
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: How Megan Bloodworth became Oklahoma State softball's top slugger
