Softball, a love of learning and an extremely competitive spirit runs in Chelsea Garcia’s family. After choosing softball over ballet, jazz and tap dance, Garcia credits her father for her wins and her mother for her academic discipline.
“Being a scholar-athlete means giving your all,” Garcia said. “I’ve been given this opportunity to come to a great university and play a sport. Some people don’t get the opportunity to go to college. I want to do a great job to represent my family and my college on and off the field.”
The Oklahoma State University senior is known for a humble spirit, dogged determination, and a love of learning. The 22-year-old admits that the road to success has required a lot of discipline.
“It’s been hard,” she said. “My freshman year, I wanted to go home. I stuck it out, and the last four years have changed my life. I’ve met great people along the way, and I’ve taken advantage of the resources.”
When the team was on the road, Garcia still can be found hitting her books whenever she was not playing softball to ensure that she maintained her 3.9 GPA. She majored in both secondary education/mathematics and Spanish. “I stud[ied] on the bus when we [were] not joking around and for about three hours before bed, and every chance I [got]. During the fall when we [were] not in season, I [went] home to visit my family, who are an hour away, as often as possible.”
Her impressive Cowgirl resume includes starting every game of her four-year career at shortstop. Her .292 career batting average ranks 24th in the school’s history, her .468 slugging percentage ranks 14th in the Cowgirl record books, while her .360 on-base percentage ranks 20th, and she is 22nd on the all-time career at-bats list with 487.
Garcia hit her second career grand slam with one out in the seventh inning at Tulsa, propelling the Cowgirls to a 7-3 victory. In addition, she has also had a game-winning RBI against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. She collected her 100th career RBI in the win against Kansas and is the sixth Cowgirl in school history to reach that milestone.
