Oklahoma State University Athletics
Up Next For Cowboy Baseball In Omaha
June 23, 2016 | Cowboy Baseball
Oklahoma State squares off against Arizona in Game 11 of the College World Series Friday at 2 p.m. at TD Ameritrade Park in a game televised by ESPN2. The Cowboys are 43-20 on the season and 2-0 in Omaha, and a win over the Wildcats would move them into next week's CWS Finals.
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Arizona brings a 46-22 record into the contest and needs to beat OSU twice to move in the CWS Finals. If the Wildcats win Friday, the two teams would square off again Saturday in an elimination game (start time yet to be determined).
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How We Got Here
OSU opened the CWS with a 1-0 win against UC Santa Barbara last Saturday before picking up another 1-0 triumph over Arizona Monday. Thomas Hatch was the winning pitcher vs. UCSB, tossing his fourth shutout of the season, while Tyler Buffett threw eight scoreless innings against the Wildcats and Trey Cobb worked the ninth inning for the save. Garrett Benge has driven in both of the Cowboys' runs with singles.
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Arizona began its trip to Omaha with a 5-1 win over Miami as the Wildcats plated three runs in the first inning and never looked back. After dropping a 1-0 contest to Oklahoma State, UA stayed alive with a 3-0 win over UC Santa Barbara in an elimination game Wednesday.
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History
OSU has faced Arizona 18 times on the diamond and owns a 14-4 record. The two have met at the CWS six times (1954, 1955, 1959, 1960 and 2016) with OSU 4-2 in those games. In 1959, Oklahoma State bounced back from an earlier CWS loss to Arizona to knock off the Wildcats in the NCAA title game for their lone NCAA baseball championship.
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Mound Matchup
Freshman Jensen Elliott will take the mound for OSU. The right-hander is 9-2 with a 3.27 ERA in 16 starts and has recorded 69 strikeouts in 85 1/3 innings.
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Toeing the rubber for Arizona will be Nathan Bannister, a senior right-hander who is 12-2 with a 2.64 ERA in 21 appearances (19 starts) this season. In the Wildcats' CWS opener against Miami, he earned the win after working seven innings and allowing just one run on eight hits while striking out 11. In 139 2/3 innings of work this season, Bannister has struck out 109 batters.
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Leading The Way
OSU is hitting .266 on the season with its middle infielders highlighting the attack. Shortstop Donnie Walton sports a .345 batting average, three homers and 44 RBIs to go along with 15 doubles, while second baseman J.R. Davis owns a team-high .349 batting average and is one of seven Cowboys with at least 30 RBIs.
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Arizona sports a .288 team batting average. Zach Gibbons leads the way as the outfielder is hitting .381 with 41 RBIs, while first baseman Ryan Aguilar has eight homers and 52 RBIs along with a .303 batting average.
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Arizona brings a 46-22 record into the contest and needs to beat OSU twice to move in the CWS Finals. If the Wildcats win Friday, the two teams would square off again Saturday in an elimination game (start time yet to be determined).
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How We Got Here
OSU opened the CWS with a 1-0 win against UC Santa Barbara last Saturday before picking up another 1-0 triumph over Arizona Monday. Thomas Hatch was the winning pitcher vs. UCSB, tossing his fourth shutout of the season, while Tyler Buffett threw eight scoreless innings against the Wildcats and Trey Cobb worked the ninth inning for the save. Garrett Benge has driven in both of the Cowboys' runs with singles.
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Arizona began its trip to Omaha with a 5-1 win over Miami as the Wildcats plated three runs in the first inning and never looked back. After dropping a 1-0 contest to Oklahoma State, UA stayed alive with a 3-0 win over UC Santa Barbara in an elimination game Wednesday.
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History
OSU has faced Arizona 18 times on the diamond and owns a 14-4 record. The two have met at the CWS six times (1954, 1955, 1959, 1960 and 2016) with OSU 4-2 in those games. In 1959, Oklahoma State bounced back from an earlier CWS loss to Arizona to knock off the Wildcats in the NCAA title game for their lone NCAA baseball championship.
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Mound Matchup
Freshman Jensen Elliott will take the mound for OSU. The right-hander is 9-2 with a 3.27 ERA in 16 starts and has recorded 69 strikeouts in 85 1/3 innings.
Â
Toeing the rubber for Arizona will be Nathan Bannister, a senior right-hander who is 12-2 with a 2.64 ERA in 21 appearances (19 starts) this season. In the Wildcats' CWS opener against Miami, he earned the win after working seven innings and allowing just one run on eight hits while striking out 11. In 139 2/3 innings of work this season, Bannister has struck out 109 batters.
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Leading The Way
OSU is hitting .266 on the season with its middle infielders highlighting the attack. Shortstop Donnie Walton sports a .345 batting average, three homers and 44 RBIs to go along with 15 doubles, while second baseman J.R. Davis owns a team-high .349 batting average and is one of seven Cowboys with at least 30 RBIs.
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Arizona sports a .288 team batting average. Zach Gibbons leads the way as the outfielder is hitting .381 with 41 RBIs, while first baseman Ryan Aguilar has eight homers and 52 RBIs along with a .303 batting average.
Players Mentioned
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