Oklahoma State University Athletics
On The Road Again
March 21, 2001 | Cowboy Baseball
March 21, 2001
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THIS WEEK
Oklahoma State returns to conference play this weekend and will play its
first game away from Allie P. Reynolds Stadium since March 5 when the
Cowboys travel to Lubbock, Texas to take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders. The
Cowboys will play a three-game set starting with Friday's 7 p.m. contest.
The series will continue on Saturday with a 2 p.m. tilt and wrap up with a 1
p.m. start on Sunday.
SCOUTING THE RED RAIDERS
Texas Tech will be looking to reach the 20-win plateau this weekend when
the Cowboys come calling. The Red Raiders enter the weekend with a 19-11
mark overall and a 4-5 conference ledger.
Red Raider hurler Brandon Roberson earned Big 12 Pitcher of the Week last week, making him the second Tech pitcher to receive the distinction this season with Chris Phillips being the other. The righthander tossed a nine-inning shutout, striking out nine, in Friday's win over Kansas State
Tech is fresh of an 11-9 win over New Mexico on Tuesday. On the mound,
Last weekend, the Red Raiders took two out of three games in Manhattan, Kansas. Tech won the first two contests 7-0 and 16-2 from the Wildcats before falling in the final contest 8-4.
OSU leads the all-time series 12-10 after taking two-of-three games from Tech last season in Stillwater.
PROBABLES ON THE MOUND
The Cowboys will send Josh Merrigan, Nick McCurdy and Scott Baker to the
mound against the Red Raiders. Merrigan, a senior southpaw, leads the team
in innings pitched with 41.2 and strikeouts with 40. In seven starts,
Merrigan has tallied a 4-2 record with a 3.89 ERA and has limited the
opposition to 32 hits.
McCurdy, a righthanded junior college transfer, has started six times this season for the Cowboys and has made one relief appearance. He is currently sporting a 4-1 mark with a 3.06 ERA. The Thomasville, Alabama native has struck out 25 batters on the year.
Freshman Scott Baker rounds out the weekend rotation. A righthander from Shreveport, Louisiana reeled off four consecutive wins to start the season before suffering his first loss against Texas. Currently, Baker is 4-1 with a 3.72 ERA. Baker has worked 36.1 innings in his inaugural campaign with the Pokes and has struck out 36 while holding his opponents to a .213 batting average.
LOOKING BACK
The Cowboys wrapped up an 11-game homestand on Tuesday by completing a
two-game sweep of Marshall, giving the Pokes a 9-2 mark during the stretch.
The Cowboys hosted the University of Texas last weekend, dropping
two-of-three contests to the Longhorns. The UT pitching staff handcuffed a
Cowboy offense that had reached double figures in the run column in four
consecutive. The Horns held the Cowboys to seven runs in the three games.
Texas took the series' first game 2-1, scoring a run in the tenth inning to
end the Cowboys' eight-game winning streak. OSU bounced back with a 3-2 win
on Saturday as freshman Joe Weaver picked up the win to move to 4-0 on the
season. The Longhorns took the rubber match on Sunday, putting up a five-run
inning on the Pokes and holding on for a 6-3 victory.
The Thundering Herd came calling for the first of two games on Monday. The series saw the return of the Cowboy offense as they outscored the Herd 23-4 in the two games. Freshman Jimmy Rhodes earned the win in Monday's 12-2 triumph, moving to 2-0 on the season. Three pitchers, Darren Heal, Justin Meccage and Shane Hawk, combined to no-hit MU through six innings as the Cowboys cruised to an 11-2 decision.
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