'OSU is coming': Cowgirls land RyLee Crandall, make statement to softball world

With a third big-time transfer, no other team now has a better 2025 outlook than Oklahoma State.

Right-handed pitcher Rylee Crandall is the latest transfer to commit to Oklahoma State. According to Softball America, the Cowgirls have landed three of the top 20 transfers to commit so far. (OSU Athletics)

Tallen Edwards saw the teaser photo on Oklahoma State softball's social media Thursday evening, and even though it was impossible to identify the player stepping out of shadows obscuring her face and her jersey number, the Cowgirl third baseman had a pretty good idea who it was.

"That's definitely her," Edwards thought to herself.

She whispered those words as she told me the story Friday during a Juneteenth Play Ball event sponsored by the Rookie League Foundation of Oklahoma.

"But I didn't say anything to her," Edwards said. "And then they announced it ... and I was like, 'Woohoo! Hooray!'"

The cause for celebration: former Baylor pitcher RyLee Crandall was transferring to OSU.

While Edwards and other OSU faithful were celebrating, the rest of the college softball world likely has an entirely different take on the evolving situation in Stillwater.

That reaction goes something like this: Oh, crap.

OSU is the clear early winner in the transfer portal. There are still many players in the portal, so we won't know who will have the best transfer class until later this summer. Still, the Cowgirls will be tough to beat after what they've done already — and they might not be finished.

According to Softball America, three of the top 20 transfers committed as of mid-day Saturday have signed with the Cowgirls. That includes the top two transfers who've committed, former Washington pitcher Ruby Meylan and Crandall.

The other top-20 transfer is former NC State catcher and power hitter Amanda Hasler.

Those three not only fill the Cowgirls' most pressing needs — pitchers and catchers — but they make a statement.

OSU has its foot on the gas.

That's not to say the Cowgirls are the only ones with the pedal to the metal. Lots of other teams will return talented rosters next season, and lots more are loading up in the portal. But as of this moment, no other team that made the Women's College World Series earlier this month has any better outlook for next season than the Cowgirls.

"I think there's something special happening there in Stillwater," Crandall told me during a phone interview Friday, "and it goes beyond the coaches. We hang around the girls when we go on these trips, too, and I think it's more about the program and the culture that they have there.

"They want you there because they know what each transfer can do."

What could Crandall do at OSU?

She is coming off a breakout sophomore season at Baylor. The righty became the Bears' ace after Dariana Orme was injured, posting a 17-9 record with a 3.20 earned run average.

One of those wins came against OSU, a complete-game, one-hit shutout. It was one of only three times the Cowgirls were shut out during the regular season.

On the back of that win, Crandall earned Big 12 pitcher of the week honors.

"Honestly, that goes to show a lot about Oklahoma State," Crandall said. "That's the kind of weight they hold, and that's the kind of program they are, that when people do that against them, it's a big deal."

Crandall, who mixes her screwball and curveball and often forces weak contact, entered the transfer portal two days after Baylor's season ended with a super-regional loss at Florida. The Bears pushed the Gators to three games, getting a Game 2 victory from Crandall, but when she returned the next day for Game 3, she lasted less than two innings and Florida ended up winning 5-3.

After a recruiting dead period during the Women's College World Series, Crandall started making on-campus recruiting visits. When she got to Stillwater, she said it felt different.

"It felt amazing," she said. "It just felt like immediate family."

Crandall was leaning toward committing to OSU before leaving campus, and after a video presentation that ended with a picture of her in an OSU uniform, she knew what she wanted to do.

RyLee Crandall (OSU Athletics)

Crandall and her parents were sitting in Cowgirl coach Kenny Gajewski's office toward the end of her visit, going over a few last-minute things. Lingering questions. Final details.

When there was a lull, Crandall interjected.

"Where do I sign?" she asked.

"What?" she remembers Gajewski asking.

"Where do I sign?" she repeated with a big smile.

Her decision to officially become a Cowgirl triggered a celebration.

Or at least that was the reaction among OSU types. Fans of other teams didn't seem so stoked.

"OSU the new OU of the Big 12," one wrote on Twitter. "Sheesh!"

"Dang," another wrote, "OSU is coming."

Landing three great transfers, of course, does not a conference champion, much less a national champion make. But adding Meylan, Crandall and Hasler to a young talented core of returners led by Karli Godwin, Rosie Davis, Claire Timm, Lexi McDonald and yes, Edwards, the Cowgirls will be an early favorite next spring.

For now, the Cowgirls are enjoying the buzz.

"We absolutely love it," Edwards said. "At Oklahoma State, we don't have all the flashy things. We don't have the top-notch facility, the top-notch stadium and locker room ... so there hasn't always been buzz around coming to Oklahoma State. But I think there's a lot more people coming out of the transfer portal and just looking to find a place that's going to love them back the same way that they love it.

"So the buzz around it is ... that they feel that they're cared for and they feel like they're going to be able to go play at the highest level on the biggest stage and do it around people they love."