It was going to be a late night for Kenny Gajewski.

Chalk it up to the job for the OSU softball head coach, whose team suffered a 1-0 loss to Florida in the opening round of the Women's College World Series on Thursday.

The Cowgirls now have their backs against the wall. They'll face Stanford in an elimination game at 8:30 p.m. Friday. And with the first pitch being less than 24 hours away, Gajewski won't waste any time getting to work.

"I'm going to go home here, go to the hotel and turn the game on immediately," Gajewski said. "I'll be able to watch it very fast. Probably only take me about 30 minutes to watch it. May watch it twice just to see things, see what we want to see. (Then) we'll get up in the morning and prepare."

Gajewski says his team will prepare to face Stanford's NiJaree Canady, who figures to get the start inside the circle.

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The USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year leads the nation in Earned Run Average (0.76) and strikeouts (315), and she went the distance in Stanford's 4-0 loss to Texas on Thursday. Canady gave up four earned runs and record five strikeouts in six innings pitched.

Canady has pitched back-to-back days on 10 different occasions this season. And since Stanford will also have its back against the wall on Friday, it's hard to imagine its ace pitcher not getting the ball to start.

"I would imagine we're going to face NiJa," Gajewski said. "Their season is on the line. ... We'll start preparing NiJa and all that. That's who I think we would see. Again, we'll see."

Lexi Kilfoyl is also likely to make back-to-back starts.

The graduate pitcher delivered a complete game against Florida. She recorded five strikeouts and only allowed two hits, but one of them was a solo home run by Katie Kistler in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Similar to Canady, Kilfoyl is built to handle a heavy workload in the postseason. The Big 12 Pitcher of the Year boasts a 1.06 ERA with 146 strikeouts this season, and she has pitched back-to-back days eight different times throughout the campaign.

More: Why Oklahoma State softball's Lexi Kilfoyl was overwhelmed with emotion ahead of WCWS

It'll take a team to get Kilfoyl ready for Friday's game. Gajewski says she'll get treated by athletic trainer Mike Barlow Thursday tonight. Kilfoyl will then get taken care of by strength and conditioning assistant Chance Marek Friday morning.

It's a process, but whether or not Kilfoyl is up for the challenge is the least of Gajewski's concerns.

"She wants to put the team on her back and go," Gajewski said of Kilfoyl. "We'll talk as a staff, go through all that. She's ready. I'm not worried about it at all. ... When you're in this moment, in this setting, you just got to go. ... We've got to ride our horse."

The bigger concern for Gajewski is OSU's offense.

After averaging nine runs in its two Super Regional wins over Arizona, OSU got shut out against Florida. It had no answer for freshman pitcher Keagan Rothrock, who only surrendered two hits and tallied three strikeouts.

OSU failed to score for only the fourth game this season. The Cowgirls' two hits are also tied for their second-lowest total.

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OSU must find a way to generate more offense against Stanford with its season on the line. Add that to the to-do list for Gajewski, who's ready to search for solutions.

"We kept moving back off the plate," Gajewski said. "We kept getting blown up. I'm kind of curious to go home and watch this. Probably keep me up all night, but it is what it is. It's part of the growth, part of being here. It's the highest of highs and the lowest of lows."

OSU vs. Stanford

8:30 p.m. Friday at Devon Park (ESPN2)

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State softball braces for WCWS elimination game vs Stanford