Oklahoma State University Athletics
Baseball Hosts Nebraska This Weekend
March 02, 2000 | Cowboy Baseball
March 2, 2000
STILLWATER, Okla. - Oklahoma State hopes to get its offense back on track this weekend as the Cowboys host Nebraska in a three-game series. The Pokes and Huskers will open Friday at 3 p.m. and will continue the series Saturday at 2 p.m., before closing it out on Sunday at 2 p.m. All three contests will air on the Cowboy Baseball Radio Network (flagship 93.7 KSPI in Stillwater) with Rex Holt (play-by-play) and former OSU standout Ryan Folmar (analyst) calling the action.
About Nebraska:
The Cornhuskers are 6-3 on the year after taking two of three from
Texas-San Antonio last weekend.
Nebraska spent the first three weekends of the season in the state of Texas before having its home opener against Nebraska-Omaha cancelled on Tuesday due to rain.
Freshman infielder Matt Hopper leads the team with a .381 batting average while catcher Justin Cowan is the offensive power source with two homers and 13 RBIs.
All three Nebraska starting pitchers have earned run averages under 3.00. Chad Wiles leads the trio with a 2.21 mark to go along with a 2-0 record. Shane Komine, last season's Big 12 Freshman of the Year, is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA while freshman Jamie Rodrigue rounds out the rotation with a 1-1 record and a 2.45 ERA.
Nebraska head coach Dave Van Horn is in his third year as the pilot of the Husker program and has posted a 72-41 mark in that span. Last season Van Horn led his team to a 42-18 record and the Big 12 tournament championship.
The Series:
Oklahoma State holds a 100-52 lead all-time in the series against
Nebraska. The Cornhuskers took two of three last year in Lincoln and
defeated the Cowboys again in the first round of the Big 12 tournament.
The last time the two teams met in Stillwater, the Pokes won twice 12-0 and
13-11.
1999 Results
| April 9 | Oklahoma State 10, Nebraska 2 (Lincoln) |
| April 10 | Nebraska 15, Oklahoma State 7 (Lincoln) |
| April 11 | Nebraska 6, Oklahoma State 2 (Lincoln) |
| May 19 | Nebraska 5, Oklahoma State 0 (OKC) |
On The Hill: The OSU probable pitching rotation for this weekend against Nebraska:
| Day | No. | Name | G/GS | Season Stats |
| Fri. | 36 | Matt Smith (L) | 4/4 | 2-1, 3.68 ERA, 24 SO, 22.0 IP |
| Sat. | 16 | Frank Bludau (R) | 4/3 | 1-2, 6.39 ERA, 9 SO, 12.2 IP |
| Sun. | 32 | Josh Merrigan (L) | 4/4 | 2-1, 5.40 ERA, 7 SO, 15 IP |
Smith has won in his last two starts, striking out 12 in 12.1 innings. Smith limited Baylor to just three hits in the Cowboys 2-1 decision over the Bears last Saturday.
Bludau gave up two runs on four hits in four innings of work in Sunday's 7-5 loss to Baylor. He left the game with a 4-2 lead which the Cowboy bullpen could not hold.
Merrigan lasted only three innings in suffering his first loss of the season against Baylor by a 13-1 margin last Saturday. The junior southpaw gave up five runs (four earned) off of six hits but did strikeout a career-high four batters.
Rushing Not Rusty On The Mound:
Senior Rusty Rushing has certainly picked up where he left off last
season as the most reliable Cowboy hurler out of the bullpen. Rushing
combined with Matt Smith to three-hit Baylor in a 2-1 win last Saturday.
The Claremore, Okla., native held the Bears hitless over two and a third
innings to pick up his second save of the season. Rushing also pitched in
relief in the Pokes loss to Missouri Southern on Tuesday. He once again
pitched two innings and a third and gave up one unearned run while striking
out four. The righthander has posted impressive strikeout totals this
season with 21 K's in 12 innings. Hitters have been limited to a .176
batting average while Rushing maintains a 0.75 ERA.
Gautreaux On The Go:
Senior Carlos Gautreaux remains one of the offensive bright spots
for the Cowboys over the first 13 games of ths season. Gautreaux, who did
not play in the 2-1 win over Baylor in the first game of the series last
weekend, batted .625 over the next two games. He went 5-for-8 with two
RBIs and two runs scored, but the more impressive feat was that four of the
hits went for extra bases. Gautreaux was 2-for-4 in Saturday's nightcap
loss with a double and followed that up with a 3-for-4 day on Sunday. He
recorded two doubles and a triple in the contest batting in the leadoff
spot. He extended his hot hitting against Missouri Southern on Tuesday
going 2-for-5 with three runs scored. With his recent offensive surge,
Gautreaux is now batting .412 overall with a .588 slugging percentage, both
of which lead the team.
The Last Time Out:
Missouri Southern jumped out to a 10-2 lead after three innings en
route to a 14-9 win over Oklahoma State in baseball action last Tuesday at
Reynolds Stadium.
The loss was the Cowboys first in a home opener since the 1984 season when Texas Tech beat the Pokes 6-4.
Missouri Southern and Oklahoma State traded runs in the first inning before the Lions erupted for six runs in the second to take a 7-1 lead. Missouri Southern took advantage of two Cowboy errors in the inning as all six runs were unearned off of Cowboy starter Mike Miller.
The Lions struck for three more runs to take a 10-1 lead in the third courtesy of RBI singles by centerfielder Joey Ballard and Jon Wengert and an error by OSU centerfielder Toby Rhodes which allowed Ballard to score.
The Pokes scored a run in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI single by Ryan Budde to cut the lead to 10-2.
Missouri Southern scored two more runs in the fourth and fifth to take a 14-2 advantage. The Cowboys scored a run in the fifth and three in the seventh and ninth off of home runs by Luke Scott and Curt Anthony to cut the deficit to 14-9.
Miller was tagged with the loss to drop to 0-1 on the season while Jerrod Reineke picked up the win for the Lions to move to 1-1.
Head Coach Tom Holliday:
Oklahoma State head coach Tom Holliday is in his fourth year as the
pilot of the Cowboys program. Holliday's record of 139-67 is tops among the
Cowboys' all-time coaches ledgers after three seasons. Last season
Holliday led the Cowboys to the school's 19th College World Series
appearance. OSU finished with a 46-21 mark and its 19th consecutive NCAA
regional showing. Holliday served as an assistant at Oklahoma State from
1977-96.
Cowboys Corral:
Only five of Missouri Southern's 14 runs were earned in the Pokes 14-9 loss
on Tuesday. Four of Curt Anthony's 10 hits this season have been home runs
and he has hit a homer in the last two contests ... Luke Scott is 4-for-13
with a homer, double and six RBIs in his last four games ... Matt Smith has
a 2-0 record with a 0.73 ERA in his last two starts ... Rusty Rushing has
struck out 21 batters in 12 innings so far this season and has recorded two
saves ... OSU has used a different lineup in 11 of its 13 games this season
... The Pokes are 7-for-12 in stolen bases while opponents are 19-for-24
this season ... The Cowboys 19-run inning against Grambling on Feb.11 was
two runs shy of the NCAA record of 21 runs scored in an inning by Wichita
State against Friends in 1984 ... Toby Rhodes' 3-for-3 performance against
Grambling (2/11) tied the NCAA mark for hits in an inning set by many
players ... OSU is 5-0 when it scores in double-digits, 2-6 when it does
not.
Home At Last:
The Cowboys played their first 12 games of the season on the road
and are 7-6 on the season after losing its home opener to Missouri Southern
14-9 on Tuesday. OSU will play its next four games at the friendly confines
of Reynolds Stadium before heading back on the road for a weekend series
against Missouri on Mar. 10-12. The rest of the schedule includes only two
more series outside the state of Oklahoma (Texas: Mar. 24-26, Kansas State:
Apr. 7-9). In fact the Pokes close out the season with 21 games in
Oklahoma, not including the Big 12 tournament which is in Oklahoma City on
May 17-21.
Schedule Changes:
There have been a couple of schedule changes for future Cowboy
games on the road. The Apr. 4 game against Oral Roberts has been moved to
a 7:05 start (from 6:30) and the Apr. 22 game against Oklahoma has been
moved from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. The OU game will be broadcast on Fox Sports
Southwest.
The Rankings:
The Cowboys remained in Collegiate Baseball's Top 30 with a No. 27
ranking. The Pokes are unranked in Baseball America and in the
ESPN/Baseball Weekly Coaches poll.
Cowboys Week-By-Week in the Polls
| Collegiate Baseball | ESPN/Baseball Weekly | Baseball America | |
| Jan. 1 | 23* | 25 | NR |
| Feb. 7 | 23* | 25* | NR |
| Feb. 14 | NR | NR | NR |
| Feb. 21 | 24 | NR | NR |
| Feb. 28 | 27 | NR | NR |
Season Streaks:
The Cowboys begin the 2000 season with two long-standing streaks to
build on. Oklahoma State is looking to win 40 games for the 21st straight
season and is also looking to make the NCAA tournament for the 20th
straight year.
Preseason Predictions:
According to Baseball America, Oklahoma State is predicted to
finish fourth in the Big 12 conference behind Baylor, Texas and Texas A&M.
The Cowboys were also one of five teams picked by the publication to make
it to the NCAA tournament along with the Bears, Longhorns, Aggies and Texas
Tech.
Sophomore catcher Ryan Budde and pitcher Matt Smith were named to the preseason All-Big 12 team in Baseball America and the Dallas Morning News while Smith also garnered pitcher of the year plaudits in both publications. Smith is also a preseason All-America selection by Collegiate Baseball and Baseball America and is considered one of the top professional prospects to watch in 2000.
Cowboys Among Conference Leaders:
Oklahoma State was ranked in several categories in the latest Big
12 statistical report released on Feb. 22. The Cowboys were ranked second
in team batting average (.322) behind Texas Tech (.348) and second in runs
scored (94) and homers (10) behind the Red Raiders (116, 11). Individual
Cowboys among the league leaders are listed below:
| Player | Category | Rank | Number |
| Nebasett Brown | Triples | T-2nd | 2 |
| Hits | T-9th | 12 | |
| Stolen bases | T-12th | 3 | |
| Curt Anthony | Home runs | T-3rd | 2 |
| Rob Watson | Home runs | T-3rd | 2 |
| Triples | T-5th | 1 | |
| Anthony Purkiss | Triples | T-5th | 1 |
| Roy York | Runs | T-5th | 11 |
| RBIs | T-6th | 11 | |
| Josh Merrigan | Wins | T-3rd | 2 |
| Matt Smith | Innings Pitched | 11th | 15.2 |
| Strikeouts | 6th | 17 | |
| Rusty Rushing | Strikeouts | T-8th | 13 |
| Saves | T-6th | 1 | |
| Quenten Patterson | Saves | T-6th | 1 |
