Oklahoma State University Athletics
Baseball Looks To Stay Hot
March 23, 2000 | Cowboy Baseball
March 23, 2000
STILLWATER, Okla. - Oklahoma State, winners of seven of its last nine games, looks to stay hot this weekend in Austin when the Cowboys take on No. 4 Texas in a key Big 12 series. The Pokes and Longhorns open Friday at 6:30 p.m. and will continue Saturday at 2 p.m. The teams close out the series Sunday at 1 p.m. The contests will air on the Cowboy Baseball Radio Network with Rex Holt (play-by-play) and former OSU standout Ryan Folmar (analyst) calling the action.
About Texas:
Texas, winners of six straight, are 23-5 overall and 9-2 in Big 12 play.
The Longhorns took two from Kansas State last weekend and beat Texas-Pan
American 12-4 on Tuesday.
Outfielder Ben Emond leads the team with a .423 batting average in 22 games played. First baseman Jeff Ontiveros is the Longhorns top power source with eight homers and 35 doubles.
The rotation for Texas will be D.J. Jones (7-2, 2.20 ERA) on Friday, Beau Hale (5-2, 3.31 ERA) on Saturday, while Sunday's hurler is to be determined. UT head coach Augie Garrido is in his fourth year as the pilot of the Longhorn program and has posted a 111-85-1 record during that span. Last season Garrido guided Texas to a 36-26 record and an NCAA regional appearance
The Series:
Texas owns a 22-14 series lead over OSU dating back to the 1913 season.
Last year the Cowboys swept the three-game series in Stillwater. The Pokes
are 6-3 against the Longhorns since the Big 12 formed in 1996-97.
1999 Results
May 7 Oklahoma State 9, Texas 6 May 8 Oklahoma State 8, Texas 5 May 9 Oklahoma State 13, Texas 1
On the Mound:
The Cowboys rotation this weekend will be lefthander Matt Smith on Friday,
righthander Frank Bludau on Saturday and southpaw Josh Merrigan on Sunday.
Smith dropped his last decision to Kansas last Saturday despite pitching a
season high 6.2 innings and striking out a season-high 10 batters. Bludau
pitched a seven-inning complete game shutout in OSU's 12-0 run-rule win over
the Jayhawks last Sunday. He has a 14.1 scoreless innings streak heading
into Saturday's contest.
Merrigan gave up one run on four hits in 7.1 innings of work in Sunday's 7-5 nightcap win over KU. He has won his last three starts and leads the team with a 5-1 record and a 2.83 ERA.
Day No. Name G/GS Season Stats
Fri. 36 Matt Smith (L) 6/6 2-3, 4.91 ERA, 37 SO, 33.0 IP Sat. 16 Frank Bludau (R) 7/5 3-2, 3.00 ERA, 18 SO, 27.0 IP Sun. 32 Josh Merrigan (L) 7/7 5-1, 2.83 ERA, 24 SO, 35.0 IP
Recapping Arkansas:
Oklahoma State five-run rally in the eighth inning fell short as Arkansas
defeated the Cowboys 10-8 in college baseball action Tuesday night at
Reynolds Stadium.
The loss snapped OSU's four-game win streak over the Hogs. The last time Arkansas defeated the Pokes was a 13-9 decision on Mar. 23, 1994.
The Razorbacks jumped out to an 8-0 lead sparked by a six-run third inning. Kyle Washburn and Ryan King both had two-RBI singles in the inning off of Cowboy pitchers Clint Salisbury and Ryan Herrmann.
Salisbury, who started the game, was charged with the loss to drop to 2-2 on the year. He gave up five runs, four earned in 2.1 innings of work.
Rightfielder Bryan Kirby blasted a two-run homer in the fifth before Oklahoma State responed with a run in the bottom half of the inning when Ryan Budde scored on a passed ball.
Josh Newland hit a solo homer to rightfield in the seventh to extend the Hogs lead to 9-1. The Pokes rallied to score two runs off of wild pitches to cut the Arkansas lead to 9-3.
After Arkansas added a run in the eighth, OSU responded with five runs in the bottom half beginning with a solo homer by Jimbo McAuliff, his first of the season. The Cowboys then scored four more runs sparked by Roy York's RBI single.
OSU loaded the bases in the ninth with one out but failed to score as Budde struck out and York hit into a fielder's choice to end the game.
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 146-70 is tops among the
Cowboys' all-time coaches records 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.
Gautreaux Named Big 12 Baseball Player of the Week:
Senior outfielder Carl?s Gautreaux, who led Oklahoma State to a 4-1 record
last week, was named the Big 12 Player of the Week the conference office
announced Monday afternoon.
The Abbeville, La., native sparked the Cowboys from the leadoff spot going 10-for-16 (.625) with four doubles and five runs scored. His .700 on-base percentage helped the Pokes score in double digits in three of their five games.
Gautreaux currently leads the team with a .413 batting average (second in the Big 12) with eight doubles and 17 runs scored.
This is the second Oklahoma State player to receive the conference award this season. Outfielder Roy York received the award on Feb. 21.
Cowboys Corral:
OSU will play its next four games on astroturf (Texas, Arkansas) ... The
Cowboys are 6-4 at home this season compared to a 21-4 ledger last season at
Reynolds Stadium ... Cowboy starters held Kansas scoreless for 14 plus
innings in Sunday's doubleheader ... Frank Bludau is 2-0 with a 1.04 ERA in
Big 12 contests and is limiting opponents to just a .202 batting average ...
Three of Michael Lorsbach's six hits this season have been doubles ... Ront?
Langs saw action against Arkansas for the first time in five games due to a
bad back... Shortstop Curt Anthony did not start for the first time this
season in game one of the Kansas doubleheader and has not started the last
three games ... The Pokes haven't played a Friday game since Feb. 18 against
Kansas State in San Diego (includes all four conference series) ... OSU is
9-0 when it scores in double-digits, 5-9 when it does not. Friday's game
opens a stretch of eight of 12 games on the road.
The Rankings:
The Cowboys are unranked in the three polls this week.
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 |
| Mar. 6 | NR | NR | NR |
| Mar. 13 | NR | NR | NR |
| Mar. 20 | NR | NR | NR |
*- Preseason Poll
Cowboys Among Conference Leaders:
Oklahoma State was ranked in several categories in the latest Big 12
overall statistical report released on Mar. 20. The Cowboys were ranked
second in team batting average (.311) behind Texas Tech (.320) and second in
runs scored (203) and homers (26) behind the Red Raiders (272, 28).
Individual Cowboys among the league leaders are listed below:
| Player | Category | Rank | Number |
| Carl?s Gautreaux | Batting Avg. | 2nd | .413 |
| Nebasett Brown | Triples | 2nd | 4 |
| Luke Scott | Home runs | T-6th | 5 |
| Rob Watson | Home runs | T-6th | 5 |
| Ryan Budde | Batting Avg. | 15th | .346 |
| Josh Merrigan | ERA | 7th | 2.83 |
| Wins | T-3rd | 5 | |
| Frank Bludau | ERA | 8th | 3.00 |
| Rusty Rushing | Saves | 5th | 4 |
Season Streaks:
The Cowboys enter 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 make the NCAA tournament for the 20th straight year. Only Miami (27)
and
Florida State with 22 NCAA treks in a row have longer skeins.
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.
OSU Probable Starters
| Pos. | No. | Name | G/GS | Season Stats |
| C | 6 | Ryan Budde | 22/20 | .337, 4 HRs, 22 RBIs |
| 1B | 24 | Luke Scott | 22/20 | .333, 5 HRs, 23 RBIs |
| 2B | 5 | Rob Watson | 17/12 | .439, 5 HRs, 14 RBIs |
| SS | 22 | Anthony Purkiss | 23/17 | .176, 21 BB, 7 RBIs |
| 3B | 13 | Nebasett Brown | 22/20 | .325, 4 3Bs, 13 RBIs |
| CF | 17 | Jimbo McAuliff | 22/15 | .392, 11 RBIs, 6 SBs |
| LF | 1 | Carl?s Gautreaux | 21/19 | .397, 9 2Bs, 8 RBIs |
| RF | 9 | Roy York | 21/18 | .348, 2 HRs, 18 RBIs |
| DH | 19 | Michael Lorsbach | 15/9 | .194, 3 2Bs, 5 RBIs |
Who's Next: After this weekend the Pokes will be back in action Tues., Mar. 28, against Arkansas in Fayetteville. OSU will turn around and play Arkansas-Little Rock at home the next day at 6 p.m. before hosting Cal-State Northridge next weekend.
