Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
Dallas Baptist
Cowboy Baseball Hosts Dallas Baptist in Midweek Showdown
March 12, 2018 | Cowboy Baseball
Game Notes
Oklahoma State (8-6) vs. Dallas Baptist (8-6)
Tues., March 13/3 p.m.
Allie P. Reynolds Stadium (4,000) • Stillwater, Okla.
Video/TV: FOX Sports Plus (Dave Hunziker & Tom Holliday)
Radio: KSPI 93.7 FM/okstate.com/watch (Casey Kendrick & Matt Davis)
Live Stats: www.sidearmstats.com/okstate/baseball
Twitter In-Game Updates: @OSUBaseball
About Oklahoma State
• The Cowboys are 8-6 on the season and in the midst of a seven-game homestand that concludes this week with the midweek matchup against Dallas Baptist and weekend tests against Seton Hall (two games) and Missouri State.
• OSU is coming off a 2017 season in which it made its fifth consecutive NCAA Regional appearance and finished 30-27 overall. The Cowboys went 8-14 in conference play a year ago to finish eighth in the standings but made history when they became the first-ever team to win the Big 12 Championship title as a No. 8 seed; OSU swept through the tourney field with a 4-0 mark.
• The Cowboys return six position players who started at least 30 games last season, while nine pitchers who combined for 16 wins return to the staff.
• The 2018 season marks OSU's sixth under head coach Josh Holliday, who has compiled a 208-112 record at his alma mater.
About Dallas Baptist
• Dallas Baptist is 8-6 on the season, which includes an 0-4 record in road games. The Patriots are coming off a weekend series win against Oral Roberts in which they won the first two games of the series in Dallas.
• Led by junior outfielder Jameson Hannah (.418, HR, 7 RBI) and senior outfielder Devlin Granberg (.327, 3 HR, 18 RBI), the Patriots own a .254 team batting average.
• DBU's pitching staff sports a collective 4.72 ERA and has recorded 140 strikeouts in 122.0 innings.
• Dan Heefner is in his 11th season as DBU's head coach and owns a 396-214 career record. He has led the Patriots to seven NCAA Regional appearances and a Super Regional in 2011.
• Kody Funderburk is expected to start on the mound for DBU vs. the Cowboys. The junior southpaw is 0-1 with a 4.35 ERA in three appearances (two starts) and has nine strikeouts and two walks in 10 1/3 innings pitched. He is also hitting .214 with three homers and 10 RBIs in 13 starts.
Cowboys vs. Patriots
Oklahoma State is 11-4 in the all-time series against Dallas Baptist, including a 4-0 mark under Josh Holliday.
Previous Four Meetings
2015 - OSU 10, DBU 7 (10 inn. - Stillwater); OSU 11, DBU 2 (Dallas)
2016 - OSU 7, DBU 6 (Dallas); OSU 8, DBU 7 (11 inn. - Stillwater)
High Five
OSU entered the 2018 season as the fifth-winningest team in NCAA history in terms of winning percentage at .663.
Team Seasons Wins Losses Ties Pct.
1. Texas 121 3,443 1,283 31 .727
2. Florida State 70 2,839 1,066 11 .726
3. Miami (Fla.) 73 2,567 1,058 18 .707
4. Arizona State 106 2,836 1,413 8 .667
5. Oklahoma State 106 2,586 1,315 4 .663
Home Sweet Home
Allie P. Reynolds Stadium has been home to Oklahoma State baseball since April 4, 1981, and in those 37 seasons, the Cowboys have been nearly unbeatable on their home field.
OSU is 918-232 (.798) all time at Reynolds Stadium and has lost more than two consecutive games on its home turf only eight times (six in a row in 2007; five straight in 2017; four in a row in 2016; three straight in 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2017).
The Cowboys are 4-3 on their home field in 2018.
Building A Winner
In the first five seasons as head coach at his alma mater, Josh Holliday built quite an impressive resume. Among the highlights:
• The Cowboys have earned five NCAA Regional berths, advanced to two Super Regionals and played in the College World Series for the first time since Holliday was a senior for the Cowboys in 1999.
• OSU finished first or second in the Big 12 Conference standings each season from 2013-16.
• The Cowboys finished in the top 10 in the national rankings in 2014 (10th) and 2016 (4th) after ending the 2013 season ranked as high as No. 19. In 2015, they were ranked as high as 17th in the final polls
• In 2014, OSU won its first-ever Big 12 Conference regular season championship, and the 2017 club captured the second Big 12 Championship title in program history.
• OSU hosted NCAA Regionals in 2014 and 2015 and was the top-seeded team both times.
• Holliday has coached 42 All-Big 12 performers, six All-Americans, two Big 12 Pitcher of the Year honorees and a Big 12 Player of the Year.
Close Calls
OSU is 52-33 in one-run games under Josh Holliday, and 55 of the Cowboys' 112 losses under Holliday have come by two runs or less.
In 2017, 13 of OSU's 22 conference games were decided by two runs or less; the Cowboys were 4-9 in those games with six one-run defeats and three two-run setbacks.
Comeback Cowboys
Come-from-behind victories have been a trend for the Cowboys under Josh Holliday; OSU has overcome deficits to win 84 games in Holliday's six seasons.
Tank Smash
Colin Simpson, aka "Tank", enjoyed a breakout sophomore season for the Cowboys in 2017. The catcher/DH collected honorable mention All-Big 12 honors and led OSU with 11 home runs while ranking third in RBIs (40) and slugging percentage (.492).
Simpson did the majority of his damage against Big 12 competition as in 22 conference games he hit .272 with seven homers and 23 RBIs — no other Cowboy had more than two homers or 19 RBIs in league play. During one stretch, Simpson went deep in four-straight Big 12 contests, including smacking two homers vs. West Virginia on April 2.
Simpson was named to the Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team after hitting .368 (7-for-19) with two doubles, two homers and five RBIs in four tourney games.
Off to a strong start in 2018, Simpson is hitting a team-high .327 and also leads OSU in hits (18), doubles (6), homers (3), RBIs (13), total bases (33) and slugging percentage (.600). He has started all 14 games for the Cowboys — 10 at catcher, three as DH and one in left field.
Teel Time
Carson Teel joined the OSU program as a walk-on in 2015 and spent that season redshirting for his hometown team. Since then, Teel has flourished into a scholarship player with a significant role in the Cowboys' pitching rotation.
In 2017, the southpaw led OSU with 28 appearances, 25 of those in relief, and topped the Pokes with a 3.06 ERA and three saves while ranking second on the pitching staff in wins (5) and strikeouts (77).
In OSU's run to the Big 12 Championship title, Teel appeared in all four games, striking out 10 and allowing only one run in 8.1 innings out of the bullpen.
Teel was a 27th-round draft pick of the Boston Red Sox in last June's MLB Draft but put a professional career on hold to return for his junior season.
In eight appearances this season, Teel has matched his save output of a year ago with three, a total that is tied for third in the Big 12, and he earned his first win of the season with a career-high 7 1/3 innings of work against Arizona State. Opponents are hitting just .175 against Teel, the second lowest batting average against Big 12 pitchers, and he ranks in the top 10 in the league in ERA (third at 1.45) and strikeouts (sixth with 25).
RPI Talk
The latest official NCAA RPI (games through March 11) has OSU at No. 126; Dallas Baptist checks in at 63.
Texas Tech is No. 2 in the RPI, while other Big 12 teams are West Virginia (35), Oklahoma (36), TCU (47), Baylor (52), Kansas State (51), Kansas (71) and Texas (104).
New Faces
OSU's active roster includes 17 newcomers — nine from the junior college ranks along with eight high school recruits.
Over the first three weeks of the season, 12 Cowboy newcomers have made their OSU debut; seven of those have seen their names in the starting lineup.
Of the Cowboys' nine JUCO signees, four of those started their collegiate careers at the Division I level — Matt Kroon (Oregon), Reza Aleaziz (Oregon State), Jacob Ruder (Kansas State) and Ryan Van Leeuwen (UT Arlington).
Shining In Stillwater
In his third season at the collegiate level, Matt Kroon is showcasing the skills that have made him a two-time Major League Baseball Draft pick.
OSU's starting third baseman in all 11 games this season, Kroon arrived in Stillwater following stints at Oregon and Central Arizona CC, and he has been among the Cowboys' most consistent hitters through the first two weeks of 2018.
Kroon owns a .300 batting average and is among the team leaders in hits (15), RBIs (11), slugging percentage (.480) and on-base percentage (.426).
The Arizona native has four multi-hit games, and he has reached base safely in 12-straight games.
Kroon's father, Marc, pitched four seasons in the big leagues for the Padres, Reds and Rockies.
Mr. Versatility
Andrew Rosa is in his fifth season at OSU and looks poised to make his final collegiate season his best yet.
Rosa's ability to play multiple positions makes him a valuable part of the lineup. He's played in nearly 120 career games, 70 of those as a starter, and he has been in the starting lineup as a first baseman, second baseman, third baseman, left fielder, center fielder and DH.
Listed as an infielder, Rosa's first three starts of 2018 came at second base, but he was inserted as a starter in center field — a position he had never previously played for the Cowboys — during the two midweek contests against Little Rock. He has started six games at second base and six in center field this season while batting either leadoff or second in the order.
Rosa is hitting .308 on the season to go along with a .487 slugging percentage, and his .473 on-base percentage ranks leads the team. He also ranks seventh nationally in hit by pitches with eight.
