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“I can remember recruiting her

SINCE 1957,

and telling her, ‘This is going to happen, and you fit here,’ I can see it just in the talks,” Gajewski said.

Becker ended up committing to Gajewski and his program, the program that Sprang had left but still loved and the program that she wanted her teammate to be apart of.

When Becker told Sprang that she was going to be a Cowgirl, Sprang was ecstatic and told her she couldn’t wait to visit, which she lived up to when she came to Stillwater for homecoming this past fall.

It was full circle. She was back in Stillwater with her former teammates, but now her Purdue “locker buddy” was in orange and black.

“Seeing her in orange and black, I was like, ‘Wait a minute, this is so full circle for me,’” Sprang said.

Now Sprang is following along as her friend and former teammate leads her alma mater to postseason success. It’s what Becker wanted, and it’s what Sprang and Gajewski both envisioned—Becker leading this team on the biggest stage.

“She’s such a good player, and people are seeing that now,” Sprang said. “I wanted her to be able to experience postseason and hosting and hopefully going to the World Series, and just things that a lot of players don’t get to experience.

“She’s killing it; she deserves all the glory.” sports.ed@ocolly.com