'A ton of emotion': Ruby Meylan says OSU softball fans will know how she's feeling
Cowgirl transfer pitcher, in her own words, on leaving Washington, picking OSU.
When Oklahoma State softball signed Ruby Meylan, it was such a big deal that it made waves even though the news broke right before the deciding game of the Women's College World Series.
The hard-throwing, right-handed pitcher was a huge get for the Cowgirls. They've added to their transfer-portal haul since then, but Meylan remains their biggest transfer so far.
I had a chance to talk with her, and while I wrote about her decision to become a Cowgirl, I wanted you to be able to listen to her story in her words. Why she decided to leave Washington, what she thought of her trip to OSU, why she picked the Cowgirls and also what she hopes to bring to the team.
I had fun talking to Meylan, and I hope you enjoy our conversation.
Jenni: Let's start with this: can you kind of talk me through just a little bit of timeline? How things rolled for you as far as deciding to enter the portal, when you started, thinking about it, just how all that went down for you?
Ruby: OK, so, just to be completely transparent, I loved Washington. I would have never thought of leaving. But when our team, it was literally like a one-day thing. Our team kind of broke apart, and a lot of girls decided to transfer. I was like, ‘OK, it's probably in my best interest to transfer.’ So … I told my parents and I entered the next day, so it was a pretty quick thing, just knowing that the World Series was going to happen and we're going to try to just get on a visit before that happened. So that’s why we wanted to enter so soon. I got in on a Thursday night, and I was in Stillwater the next afternoon. As soon as my name went in, like within 15 minutes Coach G had called me and he was like, ‘Well, you want to get down here. I was like, ‘Yeah.’ So I did, left the next morning and got down there and then I had my visit. It was a great time but I was like, ‘I probably just need to take a couple more just to be safe.’ I don't know, just like a courtesy. The dead period happened during the World Series so I couldn't go any visits then. I had two more visits planned, and I was like, ‘I don't think I want to go into either of these schools,’ so I canceled that and committed the next day.
Jenni: So were you were you in Stillwater super-regional weekend?
Ruby: Yes ma'am.
Jenni: So, put me there on your trip. What was it about the visit? What was it about OSU? It sounds like you liked it even though you waited a minute to commit. But what was it about the trip that sort of stood out for you?
Ruby: I would just say the willingness to have me here. Most coaches I feel like would be like, ‘OK, it's super regionals, we're going to wait till after to have people on this,’ which is totally understandable but the fact that this coaching staff wanted me down there immediately and was so welcoming on a game day when that stuff can be super stressful, it just felt like I was already a part of the family when I literally had just gotten there and hadn't committed yet. So the girls were great. They let me in the locker room and stuff. It was just very welcoming and loving and it just it felt super low pressure. I felt like it would be a really good environment for me to play in.
Jenni: It’s not often that somebody that they want to join them gets a chance to see the inside workings of a team on game day. Not just that they allowed you, but did you sort of of have maybe a different view than you might have otherwise had?
Ruby: I feel like there's no hiding anything at that point, so I think it was really good for me to see what the atmosphere was like on the game day. If it's not, which that's normal, it's great, but if you don't get to see that, you kind of unmask it. ‘Oh, these are all the nice beautiful facilities, here's the school,’ and you don't actually get to see what like a day in the life really looks like. So I feel like it was really good. I loved to hang out with the girls. On the game day just was crazy to me. I was like, ‘Dang, at Washington, I would have been sitting in my apartment alone.’ But it was just cool to like see that before even experiencing that as a player.
Jenni: So tell me about the lead-up to deciding, ‘No more visits, I'm committing.’ Did it just kind of percolate in your head or how did it sort of come to you that that was the decision to make?
Ruby: I feel like it just took a little bit of time. I was talking to my parents every day about it, and they were schools that I was a little bit interested in but never was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I need to go there.’ And so my dad my dad is like, ‘If you don't have any interest, why why waste their time? Why waste your time? There's no point in going down there. It's going to be what it is, but if you already have your mind made up and your heart set on OSU, then you might as well. So, we figured out some of the things like scholarship, all that stuff, and I was like, ‘All right, I'm gonna call. Got really excited, so it was good.
Jenni: Well, I was gonna ask you to tell me about the call. When did you call? What was the conversation like?
Ruby: (OSU coach Kenny Gajewski) was on a flight. I was like, ‘Hey, can I call you?’ And he was like, ‘I’m on flight,’ and I was like, ‘All right, call me when you're done.’ He called was like, ‘What's up?’ and I was like, ‘I’m going to be a Cowgirl.’ He just got super excited, but he had to go on another flight, so it wasn't super long. But he's like, ‘OK, I'll call you tomorrow. We can talk about like school and stuff.’ I got applied and everything happened super quickly, so yeah, it was good.
Jenni: Had you had any previous association or contact with with Kenny? I mean, I know you're more from this part of the country than the West Coast where you've been playing. But had you had any overlap with him at any point?
Ruby: No. I wasn't recruited by OSU out of high school at all, so I had never met him. I didn't know much about the program or anything.
I was watching TV during regionals, and I was just watching OSU play. I can't remember who, but I was like, ‘If I ever were to transfer’ — and this is way before I actually thought about transferring — I was like, ‘If I ever were to transfer, I would probably go to OSU.’ My dad's like, ‘Why?’ I was like, ’The thing that really excites me is the underclassmen.’ They're really talented, hardworking freshman and sophomores, and that takes a program to the next level, when you can have people lead like that from their freshman year. Seeing girls my own age do that, it's like, ‘OK, we would graduate together. We would play the rest of our careers together,’ so that was really exciting. Then after that I started to learn more about the coaching staff and all that, I just I kind of fell in love with it.
Jenni: Now you've gotten to meet like Karli Godwin and Rosie Davis and Claire Timm and Micaela Wark. What's your sense of that group?
Ruby: They're just fun. They just have a lot of fun and kick butt. It's cool. I'm excited to join up.
We play them down in Florida in (non-conference play), and they kicked our butts, so I’m like, ‘Might as well join them.’
Jenni: Did you pitch that day against them?
Ruby: I did not pitch. No.
Jenni: I was going to say, if you were pitching, surely the kicking butt thing might not have happened quite so badly.
You were talking a little bit about Kenny, but obviously Carrie Eberle will be your pitching coach. Got a chance to meet her. What's your sense of just how you're going to work with her, how she is similar or different to maybe other pitching coaches you worked with?
Ruby: I really like that she's young, and she's been in the game playing college and pro ball. So just the experience that she has and all of that. And then, too, having Lexi (Kilfoyl) hopefully on staff will really help with the different dynamics. Lexi just coming off of a season and Carrie being out for a few years, just a different perspective and then them having worked together too, I feel like they'll be able to collaborate on some things. So, I’m really excited to get to work with her
Jenni: Talk to me a little bit about sort of what you feel like you know next-level Ruby looks like as a pitcher. I think people have a pretty good sense of how successful you've been at Washington in the two years there, but what do you feel like with this offseason, next fall coming into OSU, what's sort of your hopes and expectations of where you can go?
Ruby: My goal is to be a top-five arm in the country, and I think that's really attainable. This summer I’m really focusing on recovery, nutrition, sleep and then lifting. All of that I feel like has really worked for me in the past and just to kind of get my body back to where it needs to be. This season was tough mentally and physically, and so I think just getting back to where I know I can be and to lead this team to a national championship. That's what it's going to take, so I'm willing to do whatever. Even if it's crappy. I want to get back to where I know I can be and will be so that I can put our team in the best situation possible to hopefully host regional, super regional and get back to Oklahoma City.
Jenni: I said a second ago that people have a sense of what you can do, but maybe OSU fans, they may have seen you but maybe not a ton of you. So for them, describe what kind of things you hope to bring to the team. What kind of pitcher, what kind of player, what kind of personality? Who can they expect to see when you step on the field in that orange and black?
Ruby: I’m a very big personality. Really loud. I can't really control it, but my voice is super loud. You will know I'm in the room. I play with a ton of passion. I say this a lot: I truly believe that no one loves softball more than me. Which I think is a good thing. I play with a ton of passion. I get excited. I get sad. I get mad. It's just really authentic, and I'm always going to wear my heart of my sleeve. You're going to know how I'm feeling, and I think that's the best way to play because people want to see the real you, not this fake, I guess, person. I play with a ton of emotion, passion. I literally do celebrations. I'll laugh. I’ll scream. Whatever it's going to be, people like to watch it.