Cowboys Host Arizona State In Final Home Weekend Series

May 01, 2014 | Cowboy Baseball

May 1, 2014

OSU Game Notes - Arizona State

#9 Oklahoma State (32-13)

vs.

#26 Arizona State (24-17)

Fri., May 2 • 6:30 p.m.

Sat., May 3 • 3 p.m.

Sun., May 4 • Noon

Stillwater, Okla. • Allie P. Reynolds Stadium (4,000)

Oklahoma State

Oklahoma State hosts its final regular season home series of the year this weekend when the ninth-ranked Cowboys take on No. 26 Arizona State at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium. OSU is 32-13 on the season and brings a three-game winning streak into Friday night's opener.

With two Big 12 series remaining, coach Josh Holliday's ballclub is in first place in the conference standings with a 13-5 mark. The Cowboys have won five-straight league series for the first time since 2008 and for just the fourth time since the Big 12 began play in 1997.

OSU is coming off a 41-19 season in which the Pokes finished second in the Big 12 Conference standings and advanced to the finals of the NCAA Louisville Regional. Six position starters and seven pitchers return from that ball club, including eight players who earned all-conference recognition, and the Cowboys' recruiting class was ranked among the top five in the nation.

OSU is hitting .264 on the season, while its pitching staff sports a 3.20 ERA.

About Arizona State

Arizona State is 24-17 on the season, which includes a 7-7 mark in road games. The 26th-ranked Sun Devils are hitting .278 as a team, while their pitching staff owns a 3.59 ERA.

Expected to start on the mound for Arizona State are:

Friday - LHP Brett Lilek (4-2, 1.75) Saturday - LHP Ryan Kellogg (6-2, 3.15)

Sunday - RHP Darin Gillies (1-4, 4.31)

OSU is 7-13 all time against Arizona State but has never faced the Sun Devils in Stillwater. On March 2, OSU suffered a 6-1 loss to the Sun Devils at the Sanderson Ford College Baseball Classic in Surprise, Ariz., in a game that saw southpaws Ryan Kellogg and Brett Lilek combine to allow just three hits while striking out 15.

Watch, Listen, Follow

All OSU baseball games are carried live by Stillwater Radio and air on KSPI 93.7 FM/780 AM. Rex Holt, who is in his 32nd season on the air with Cowboy baseball, calls the action, with Matt "Chief" Davis providing color commentary.

Links to live stats for all games can be found at www.okstate.com. Additionally, live online video and audio for all home games not televised can be accessed via okstate.com (a fee is involved with this service). Video/audio/live stats links are all available on the OSU baseball page under Schedule.

In The Polls

OSU is nationally ranked in five polls this week, coming in at No. 9 in the NCBWA poll, 10th in the USA Today coaches poll, 14th in Collegiate Baseball, 17th by Perfect Game and 18th in Baseball America. OSU's has held the No. 9 ranking by the NCBWA each of the last two weeks, which marks its highest national ranking since the Cowboys occupied the No. 5 spot in the NCBWA poll on May 26, 2008.

The Cowboys have now been ranked in at least one national poll for 26 consecutive weeks dating back to 2013, when OSU was in the polls for the final 14 weeks of the season. In 2013, the Cowboys peaked at No. 12 in the NCBWA poll on May 20.

It's Not Where You Start...

Oklahoma State was picked to finish second in the Big 12 Conference standings in 2014 in a preseason vote of the league's head coaches.

Defending champion Kansas State was picked to retain its crown, and the Cowboys and TCU tied for the second spot in the poll. K-State received five first-place votes, while OSU picked up two and TCU one. Texas, which was picked fourth, garnered the other first place vote.

OSU's second-place spot ties its highest ever in the Big 12 preseason coaches' poll. The Cowboys were also picked to finish second in 2007 and eventually finished third in the final standings.

Winning

The goal of college baseball coaches and players is to make it to the College World Series in Omaha, and the OSU coaching staff has plenty of experience in that regard.

The Cowboys' staff of Josh Holliday, Rob Walton and Marty Lees has combined to make 12 CWS appearances as either a player or coach.

Holliday played on a pair of CWS teams at OSU (1996 & 1999) and has coached in the CWS as an assistant at Georgia Tech (2006), Arizona State (2009) and Vanderbilt (2011).

Walton spent four seasons as a pitcher at OSU from 1983-86, and each of those teams appeared in the CWS.

As an assistant coach at Oregon State, Lees helped lead the Beavers to Omaha three-straight years from 2005-07, with two of those trips resulting in national championships (2006 & 2007).

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

In January 2013, despite his having not yet coached a game, Baseball America named OSU's Josh Holliday the nation's top college head coach under the age of 40. The top 10 list was compiled based on the voting of coaches and scouts.

In addition, Marty Lees came in at No. 6 on Baseball America's list of the nation's top 10 college assistant coaches. That list was compiled from the votes of 70 Division I head coaches across the country, as well as the input of more than a dozen scouts. Coaches with prior D-I head coaching experience, such as OSU pitching coach Rob Walton, were excluded from the list.

Baseball In Their Blood

Baseball -- and Oklahoma State -- is definitely a family affair for Josh Holliday.

Josh's father, Tom, served as an OSU assistant coach for 19 years then took over as the Cowboys' head coach from 1997-2003, leading the program to its last College World Series appearance in 1999. Tom is currently in his eighth season as the associate head coach at North Carolina State.

Josh's younger brother, Matt, is an outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals. In 10 major league seasons, Matt has been named to six All-Star teams.

Josh's uncle, Dave Holliday, was an OSU assistant coach from 1981-88 and has since held a variety of roles in Major League Baseball, including his current spot as a professional scout for the Atlanta Braves. Dave's son, Heath, is a senior catcher for the Cowboys this season.

Home Sweet Home

Allie P. Reynolds Stadium has been home to Oklahoma State baseball since April 4, 1981, and in those 33-plus seasons, the Cowboys have been nearly unbeatable on their home field.

OSU is 854-198 (.812) all time at Reynolds Stadium and has lost more than two consecutive games on their home turf only five times (six in a row in 2007; three straight in 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014).

The Cowboys are 18-8 at home in 2014.

On A Roll

OSU opened the season 7-0, marking the best start to a season since the 1995 Cowboys won 11 in a row to open the year. After 11 games, the Pokes were 10-1, and you would also have to go back to 1995 to find the last time OSU had a better record in its first 11 games.

I Feel A Draft

OSU has eight players on its 2014 roster who have been Major League Baseball Draft picks: Conor Costello (2011, Cincinnati, 16th round), Zach Fish (2011, Texas, 24th), Thomas Hatch (2013, Colorado, 32nd), Heath Holliday (2009, Colorado, 45th), Tyler Nurdin (2011, Cleveland, 28th), Andrew Rosa (2013, Boston, 30th), Donnie Walton (2012, NY Mets, 36th) and Garrett Williams (2013, San Diego, 33rd).

Big 12 Elite

OSU had 11 players garner All-Big 12 accolades in 2013, the program's highest total since 2008, and eight of those players return this season. Relief pitcher Vince Wheeland and outfielder Zach Fish were named to the first team, while infielder Tanner Krietemeier earned second-team honors.

Named honorable mention were pitchers Tyler Nurdin and Mark Robinette, outfielder Saulyer Saxon, utility player Brendan McCurry and infielder Donnie Walton, who was also named to the All-Freshman Team.

Great Expectations

OSU's 35-man roster consists of 18 newcomers, and the Cowboys' recruiting class was ranked No. 4 nationally by Baseball America and No. 5 by Collegiate Baseball.

Grab A Roster, Get To Know Them

Seventeen different Cowboys have made their OSU debuts this season, and of those, nine are true freshmen. Nine Cowboys have recorded their first-career hits, while freshmen pitchers Thomas Hatch, Garrett Williams and Tyler Buffett and junior Michael Freeman have notched their first wins.

Fab Frosh

Baseball America ranked the top 50 players nationally for the 2014 freshman class, and three Cowboys were among the top 25 on the list. Two-way threat Garrett Williams came in at No. 6, while outfielder Ryan Sluder took the 20th spot and pitcher Thomas Hatch came in at No. 25.

Additionally, Baseball America ranked Williams as its preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year.

The Scouts Will Be Watching

Baseball America ranked a pair of OSU juniors among the top prospects in the Big 12 for the 2014 Major League Baseball Draft, with Zach Fish coming in at No. 8 on their list and Tyler Nurdin taking the ninth spot.

For the 2015 Draft, Baseball America ranks Conor Costello, who is a draft-eligible sophomore this year, as the conference's eighth-best MLB Draft prospect, while Donnie Walton comes in at No. 10.

Comeback Cowboys

Come-from-behind victories have become a trend for the Cowboys under Josh Holliday. OSU has overcome deficits in 17 of its 32 wins this season. In 2013, that comeback trait was prevalent as well, with 18 of OSU's wins coming in games in which they trailed.

Close... And The Cigar

OSU is 9-0 in one-run ball games this season.

Thievery

OSU ranks fourth in the Big 12 with 56 stolen bases. The Cowboys have been successful on 56 of their 73 attempts to steal, while their opponents are just 37-of-60. Gage Green leads the Pokes with 13 steals, while Tim Arakawa has 11.

The Cowboys swiped nearly twice as many bases as their opponents in 2013 as they racked up 80 stolen bases and allowed just 42. The 80 steals was the second-highest total in the program in the last decade. Gage Green led the Pokes with 13 stolen bases, while Aaron Cornell swiped 12.

Making A Sacrifice

Donnie Walton's 18 sacrifice bunts as a freshman in 2013 set an OSU single-season record. Walton broke the previous record of Fred Ocasio, who had 16 in 1993. With 11 sac bunts this season, he has 29 for his career to put him fifth on OSU's all-time list.

As a team, the Cowboys rank eighth nationally this season with 58 sacrifice bunts. Walton's 11 leads OSU, while Gage Green, Tim Arakawa and Saulyer Saxon each have seven.

It's A Walk Off

OSU has recorded three walk-off wins this season. Tim Arakawa has twice been the hero with a two-out, walk-off single. The first of those was a two-RBI hit on March 15 that gave the Cowboys a 7-6 win over Texas-Pan American. The junior's second walk-off single came vs. TCU on March 29 in a 2-1 OSU win.

On March 25, Gage Green delivered a walk-off double in the bottom of 11th inning to lift OSU to a 3-2 win over Missouri State.

The Pen Is Mighty

OSU's bullpen has been the strength of its pitching staff this season. The Cowboys' relievers have combined to go 19-2 with 14 saves in 131 relief appearances. That group has also racked up 210 strikeouts in 227.1 innings of relief and allowed only 61 earned runs, which equates to a 2.41 ERA. Opponents are hitting just .215 against the Cowboy bullpen.

Ball Four, Take Your Base

OSU ranks seventh out of nine Big 12 teams in batting average (.264), but the Cowboys are third in the league with a .377 on-base percentage. The reason? OSU leads the conference and ranks fourth nationally with 228 walks, 15 more than the next-highest Big 12 team.

Wheeland And Dealin'

For the second time in as many years, Cowboy senior Vince Wheeland finds himself on the College Baseball Hall of Fame's Pitcher of the Year Award Watch List.

In 21 outings this season, Wheeland is 5-0 with a 1.46 ERA that ranks second in the Big 12, and he is also among the top 10 in the league in opponent batting average (.200, 5th) and appearances (6th).

A right-hander, Wheeland made 30 appearances last season, the second most in a single season in program history, and was 8-2 with two saves and a 1.97 ERA. In 73.0 innings of work, the All-Big 12 First Team selection recorded 64 strikeouts, and he ranked fifth in the league in opponent batting average at .219.

Wheeland's 75 career appearances are tied for third on OSU's all-time list.

Slamming The Door

OSU senior Brendan McCurry is one of 50 relievers on the 2014 NCBWA Stopper of the Year Mid-Season Watch List and also one of 47 on the College Baseball Hall of Fame's Pitcher of the Year Award Watch List, and he's showing why he should be at or near the top of the final lists.

In 25 appearances this season, McCurry is 5-0 with a 0.53 ERA and ranks sixth in the NCAA with 12 saves. He has allowed just two runs in 34.0 innings and has given up only 22 hits while recording 36 strikeouts.

Posting big numbers has led to McCurry moving to the top of the OSU saves record books. Earlier this month, the right-hander surpassed Jordy Mercer as the Cowboys' career saves leader. Mercer recorded recorded 17 saves from 2006-08, while McCurry's career total now stands at 20.

Additionally, McCurry's 12 saves this season are an OSU single-season record, besting the 10 of his older brother, Randy (2009), as well as Marques Davis (1997) and Dennis Livingston (1982).

McCurry was named All-Big 12 Conference Honorable Mention as a utility player a year ago after going 6-3 with eight saves and a 2.72 ERA. His 29 appearances and eight saves tied for fifth on OSU's single-season chart.

Big 12, Big Arms

OSU owns a 3.20 team ERA for the season, but in the Cowboys' 18 conference games, the staff ERA is even better, coming in at a league-best 2.32. And Big 12 opponents are hitting only .231 against the Cowboys.

Battenfield Blanks Opposition

Blake Battenfield had quite an impressive start to his OSU career. The freshman right-hander did not allow a run in his first 24 innings as a collegiate pitcher. The streak finally ended in Battenfield's 13th relief appearance when he surrendered a run against Texas Tech.

Battenfield is 2-0 with a 1.11 ERA in 19 appearances and has 30 strikeouts in 40.2 innings.

Strong-Armed

Under the direction of coach Rob Walton, the OSU pitching staff was impressive on the mound in 2013. The Cowboys finished with 41 wins, and seven pitchers who combined for 30 of those wins return this season.

Among the accomplishments of the 2013 staff were:

• OSU finished the season with a 3.04 team ERA, the lowest by a Cowboy pitching staff since 1973.

• Eight Cowboy hurlers with at least 14 appearances had an ERA of 3.58 or lower.

• The Cowboys recorded seven shutouts, a total the program had reached just once in the previous 26 years and only four times in program history.

• OSU ranked seventh in the NCAA in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.02), and the Cowboys were 11th nationally in walks allowed per nine innings (2.47).

Power Surge

OSU leads the Big 12 in home runs with 31, and 12 different Cowboys have homered this season. Zach Fish ranks third in the league with eight homers, while Tanner Krietemeier is tied for fourth with seven.

Dynamic Duo

The Cowboys ranked either first or second in the Big 12 in six offensive categories in 2013 and a big reason for that was the two-headed monster in the middle of the lineup in the form of All-Big 12 performers Tanner Krietemeier and Zach Fish, a duo that returned in 2014.

• Krietemeier's .314 batting average led OSU, and the first baseman ranked among the top 10 in the Big 12 in hits (72), walks (33) and RBIs (45).

• Fish ranked in the top 10 in the Big 12 in home runs (7), doubles (17), RBIs (41) and total bases (103).

• Krietemeier had 20 multi-hit games to lead the Cowboys, while Fish's 19 ranked third.

• Krietemeier hit .368 (32-for-87) with runners in scoring position, while Fish finished at .338 (27-for-80).

• Fish led the Cowboys with a .451 slugging percentage and 11 multi-RBI games.

Both sluggers have been productive this season. Fish is hitting a team-high .324 with eight homers, 12 doubles, 31 RBIs and a .535 slugging percentage, and he leads the Cowboys with 18 multi-hit and eight multi-RBI games. Krietmeier has seven home runs and seven multi-RBI games and and has racked up 28 RBIs.

Versatile, Dependable, Productive

All those adjectives can be used to describe Cowboy junior Gage Green. The Texan is second on OSU with a .302 batting average and a .415 on-base percentage. He is tied for sixth in the Big 12 with 13 stolen bases, which equals his career high of a year ago.

And it's a safe bet that Green is one of a very few collegiate players -- and maybe the only one -- who splits his time between catcher and the outfield. Of his 41 starts this season, 18 have been in center field, 20 behind the plate and three in left field.

Green is also flexible when it comes to filling out the lineup -- he has hit in the leadoff spot in the batting order nine times, while the rest of his time has been divided between the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh spots.

Hit Man

Tanner Krietemeier went on quite an offensive tear in OSU's final two games at West Virginia. On Saturday, the senior flied out in his first at bat, then reeled off five-straight singles to finish the game 5-for-6. The five hits was a career high for Krietemeier, and he became the first Cowboy since 2012 to reach that mark.

After walking in his first at bat in Sunday's finale, Krietemeier reeled off three more singles. The streak of eight consecutive hits tied him with Jimmy Barragan (1986) for the third-longest streak in OSU history, two shy of Roberto Lopez' school-record string of 10-straight hits in 1994.

Friday Night Lights

Junior Jon Perrin started the season in the OSU bullpen, but on March 14 he made his first start against UTPA. The right-hander has started every Friday since, and the move is paying big dividends.

After a no-decision against UTPA, Perrin took losses against Baylor and TCU despite solid outings. However, in his next three starts, he went 3-0 and allowed just one run in 21.1 innings.

Perrin turned in a career performance against Kansas on April 18, recording his first-ever shutout and complete game in a 130-pitch effort. He racked up a career-high nine strikeouts while issuing just one walk, and he allowed only six hits, all singles. Five of the hits came in the first three innings, and the only hit Perrin surrendered over the final six innings came in the seventh with two outs. Perrin then retired seven KU hitters in a row to end the game.

2-for-1 Bedlam

OSU played the longest game in program history on April 15 against rival Oklahoma, dropping a 12-9 contest that lasted 18 innings and spanned five hours, 52 minutes (started at 6:36 p.m., ended at 12:28 a.m.).

A total of 42 players saw action in the game, with OSU using 25. Along with the 21 runs, the teams combined for 33 hits -- five of them home runs -- and 35 runners left on base. Sixteen pitchers were used, nine of those by the Cowboys, and 630 pitches thrown.

The Cowboys totaled a school-record 70 at bats, while Tanner Krietemeier's nine at bats also set a record.