Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State Opens Big 12 Play Against Texas Tech
March 14, 2002 | Cowboy Baseball
March 14, 2002
What's On Tap
Oklahoma State, winners of six of its last seven games, opens Big 12 play this weekend against Texas Tech in Stillwater. Friday's contest is scheduled for a 3 p.m. start followed by a 2 p.m. contest on Saturday at Reynolds Stadium. The teams will close out the three-game set on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Texas Tech
Texas Tech is 18-9 on the year after splitting with Sam Houston State Tuesday and Wednesday. The Red Raiders were swept in their conference opener against Texas A&M in College Station two weeks ago, but rebounded to take two of three from Texas last weekend in Lubbock.
Preseason All-American third baseman Nick Blankenship is the offensive catalyst for Tech, batting .363 on the year with 10 homers and 45 RBIs in 26 games. As a team, Tech is second to the Cowboys in the conference in batting average at .331 while scoring 8.6 runs per game.
The Red Raiders will start three righthanders this weekend led by senior Chris Phillips. He did not factor in the decision in his last start against Texas on March 8. Sophomore Steve Gooch will start on Saturday and is coming off a loss to Texas on March 9 in which he gave up six runs in 6.1 innings of work. Junior Nathan Fouts, coming off a win against Texas on March 10, will close out the series on Sunday. He shutout the Longhorns in his 5.1 innings of work and limited them to just four hits with five strikeouts.
Head coach Larry Hays is in his 16th season at Texas Tech and brings a 601-314-3 record to Stillwater. He is 1,296-695-3 in 32 seasons as a collegiate baseball coach.
Friday Chris Phillips (RHP) 2-1, 3.44 ERA, 49.2 IP, 46 SO, 7 BB
Saturday Steve Gooch (RHP) 2-2, 4.41 ERA, 32.2 IP, 18 SO, 2 BB
Sunday Nathan Fouts (RHP) 5-1, 3.99 ERA, 38.1 IP, 34 SO, 20 BB
The Series
Oklahoma State leads the all-time series 13-12 but Texas Tech has won three of the last four meetings on the baseball diamond. Since Big 12 play in 1997, the Red Raiders are 9-7 against the Cowboys, including taking two of three last season in Lubbock. OSU owns an 8-4 advantage in contests played in Stillwater and won two of three the last time the teams met at Reynolds Stadium in the 2000 campaign.
Last Six Meetings
Mar. 25, 2001 OSU 2, Texas Tech 1 Lubbock, Tex.
Mar. 25, 2001 Texas Tech 10, OSU 2 Lubbock, Tex.
Mar. 23, 2001 Texas Tech 2, OSU 0 Lubbock, Tex.
May 14, 2000 Texas Tech 7, OSU 3 Stillwater, Okla.
May 13, 2000 OSU 5, Texas Tech 0 Stillwater, Okla.
May 12, 2000 OSU 2, Texas Tech 0 Stillwater, Okla.
On The Mound
Sophomore righthander Scott Baker or sophomore lefthander Shane Hawk will get the nod to start Friday's game against Texas Tech. Baker held Arizona State scoreless for 5.2 innings last Sunday in Tempe. Hawk gave up five runs on six hits in 2.2 innings of work against UNLV on March 9. Saturday and Sunday's starters are to be announced.
Friday Scott Baker (RHP) OR 1-0, 0.93 ERA, 9.2 IP, 9 SO, 2 BB
Shane Hawk (LHP) 1-1, 6.94 ERA, 11.2 IP, 13 SO, 8 BB
Saturday TBA
Sunday TBA
Recapping Texas-Arlington
Junior Chris Reilly pitched six strong innings to lead Oklahoma State to a 6-2 win over Texas-Arlington in baseball action Tuesday afternoon at Reynolds Stadium.
Reilly gave up just one run, on a homer by Darrell Preston in the fourth inning, off of three hits while striking out six to win his second game of the year.
The Cowboys opened the scoring in the second inning when first baseman Ali Modami sacrifice bunted with the bases loaded, knocking in Paul Powell from third.
OSU held a 1-0 lead until Preston's homer in the fourth tied the game. In the bottom half of the stanza, centerfielder Jeff Salazar walked with two outs and the bases loaded to give the Pokes a 2-1 lead. Leftfielder Jos? Virgil followed with a RBI single and then second baseman Nebasett Brown cleared the bases with a double to left-centerfield to give OSU a 6-1 advantage.
The Mavericks would add a run in the eighth inning off a wild pitch by reliever Nick McCurdy to cut the advantage to 6-2, but that was as close as they would get.
Jeff Salazar, Jos? Virgil and Paul Powell all had two hits each to lead the Pokes.
Recapping Last Weekend
The Cowboys extended their win streak to five games after winning the first two games of the weekend against St. John's, 17-4, and UNLV, 10-6, before falling to host Arizona State, 7-2, at the Bob Schaefer Memorial Classic.
OSU evoked the 12-run rule after seven innings against the Red Storm last Friday and pounded out 17 hits in the win. Four Cowboys had multiple-hit afternoons, led by Jos? Virgil who finished 3-for-4 with three runs scored. Daylon Monette had five RBIs, including a bases clearing triple, and finished 2-for-4. Mitch Mitchell, Paul Powell and Jeff Salazar also had two hits on the day for the Pokes. Justin Meccage was solid in relief of starter Nick McCurdy and picked up his first win of the year. He pitched four innings of two-hit shutout ball while striking out six.
Kenny Hansley was the hero in Sunday's contest, breaking a 5-5 tie with a pinch-hit two-run double with two outs as Oklahoma State won its fifth straight game. Catcher Jason Jaramillo led the team with three hits on the afternoon while reliever Daniel Rew picked up the win with 3.2 solid innings of relief. He gave up one run on two hits while striking out two before giving way to Joe Weaver who earned his first save of the season with three scoreless innings of work.
The Cowboys pitching staff gave up seven walks and hit one batter in the bottom of the eighth inning to blow a 2-0 lead over Arizona State in a 7-2 loss. Starter Scott Baker held the Sun Devils scoreless for 5.2 innings but the relief staff could not hold it as OSU's win streak ended at five. Daylon Monette was the lone Cowboy to have two hits on the day as he finished 2-for-3 with one RBI.
Big 12 Openers
Oklahoma State is 4-1 in conference openers since the Big 12 began baseball play in1997. Of the five Big 12 opening series, OSU has won three of them including a three-game sweep of Missouri last season in Stillwater. Of note, this is the latest the Cowboys have opened conference play since the final year of the Big Eight in 1996 when they took on Iowa State March 11-13.
Pitchers Sharing The Wealth
Pitching depth was believed to be the strength going into the 2002 season for Oklahoma State and that has been proven to be the case literally. 10 different Cowboys have won a game this season showcasing the depth on the staff. Chris Reilly was the first pitcher to win two games this season after OSU's 6-2 win over UTA on Tuesday.
Hitman Hansley
Junior Kenny Hansley was signed in 2001 as a possible replacement for second baseman Nebasett Brown who the coaching staff believed was a high draft choice possibility last June. Brown was not drafted, which left the Cowboys with two players capable of starting at second. That has not deterred Hansley who has excelled at every playing opportunity he has had this season. He has hit at an amazing .609 clip (14-for-23) in nine games with a homer and 10 RBIs. Last Saturday against UNLV, with the game tied at 5-5, the Cowboys had runners on second and third with no outs and after two straight strikeouts, Hansley came up to bat as a pinch-hitter and promptly lined a double to left center to give the Cowboys a 7-5 lead they would never relinquish. With the continued clutch performances, Hansley will be a player to watch as the conference season begins.
Jaramillo Breaks Out
Freshman catcher Jason Jaramillo made the most out of his starting opportunities last week against Western Illinois and UNLV. The Franksville, Wisc., native went 6-for-7 in two games as the starter behind the plate including nearly hitting for the cycle against the Rebels. He went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and his first collegiate homer against Western Illinois last Wednesday and then went 3-for-3 with a solo homer, single and double against UNLV before being lifted for a pinch runner in the seventh inning. On the season, the freshman is batting .500 in eight games with four of his seven hits going for extra bases.
Meccage Sends Message
In 2001, pitcher Justin Meccage was known more as a finesse pitcher with a 3-2 record and 4.89 ERA. In 35 innings pitched, he had 21 strikeouts with 18 walks, numbers that he set out to improve on over the summer. Meccage came back in the fall and surprised the coaching staff with added zip to his fastball. So far in 2002, the senior righthander has been dominating at times on the mound in five appearances. He pitched four innings of scoreless relief in his last outing against St. John's and picked up his first win of the year. Meccage sports a 1.12 ERA and an impressive 20 strikeouts in 16 innings pitched. With continued success on the mound, he gives the Cowboy pitching staff a versatile performer as a reliever or as a starter if needed.
Monette Is Money
Rightfielder Daylon Monette has put up some huge offensive numbers early in the 2002 season. Through 13 games, the Fontana, Calif., product leads the team with a .439 batting average to go along with two homers and 16 RBIs. After a 4-for-5 performance in two games against Western Illinois last week, Monette had two multi-hit games including a career high five RBIs against St. John's. In five games he went 8-for-17 (.471) with 10 RBIs.
Baker Looking Strong In Return
Sophomore righthander Scott Baker has continued to impress in his return from arm problems that forced him to miss the last third of the 2001 season. He made a successful return to the mound against Delaware on Feb. 24. Baker, a native of Shreveport, La., picked up the win against the Blue Hens after going four innings in the start and giving up two runs, one earned, off of five hits. His arm showed no signs of strain as evident in his six strikeouts. Baker's numbers against Top 25 ranked Arizona State last Sunday were impressive as he limited the Sun Devils to just three hits in 5.2 scoreless innings of work. He left the contest with a 2-0 lead which the Cowboys could not hold onto. On the season, Baker is 1-0 with a miniscule 0.93 ERA while also recording nine strikeouts in 9.2 innings of work.
Cowboys On The Air
Every game on the 2002 Oklahoma State baseball schedule will be broadcast on Stillwater Radio. Due to the busy spring schedule, several games will be broadcast on either 93.7 FM or 780 AM until early April when the rest of the season's contests can be heard on KSPI 93.7. In addition, fans outside of the Stillwater area can listen to the games on the internet by going to Oklahoma State's official athletic website: www.okstate.com. Calling the action in his 20th year with Oklahoma State baseball is Rex Holt, of the famous Oklahoma Holts. He will be joined once again this year by former Cowboy player Ryan Folmar who welcomed a new addition to his family, son Kade, who was born on Jan. 4.
Radio schedule for this week:
March 15 Texas Tech 93.7 FM
March 16 Texas Tech 93.7 FM
March 17 Texas Tech 93.7 FM
On Deck
After this weekend's games, the Cowboys will step out of conference play for a midweek series against Louisville. The Cardinals are 9-3 on the season entering their Conference USA opener against Memphis Friday afternoon. OSU will play Louisville next Tuesday (March 19) and Wednesday (March 20) at 3 p.m.
Cowboy Notes
Rob Watson has been hit by seven pitches this season which ties him for 24th on the OSU single season list ... Oklahoma State's .366 team batting average currently leads the Big 12 ... Daylon Monette is fourth in the conference in hitting with a .439 average ... 13 of the Cowboy's 19 games in March will be played in Stillwater ... The Cowboys are one game short of the NCAA maximum of 56 games, meaning the team will be looking for a makeup game sometime in the future ... Over the last 15 years Oklahoma State has made the College World Series every third year dating back to 1987 (87, 90, 93, 96, 99, 02?).
Oklahoma State's Road to 2000
Through the years OSU has sustained a baseball legacy that is one of the best in the country. Entering the 2002 season, Oklahoma State has the 22nd best record all-time in the history of NCAA Division I baseball. The Cowboys record entering 2002 was 1,986-956-4 over 88 years is good for a .676 winning percentage, which is second among Big 12 schools (Texas- .761). With 11 wins this season, OSU is now 1,997-959-4 all-time and is just three games short of winning its 2000th game.
The Polls
The Cowboys are ranked as high as No. 16 and as low as No. 22 in this week's polls. Many prognosticators have forecasted a top-three finish for Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Conference this year. OSU is No. 12 in Collegiate Baseball, No 21 in the ESPN/Baseball Weekly's Coaches Poll and No. 22 by the NCBWA.
Ali Modami's Baseball Diaries
Senior first baseman Ali Modami is keeping a running journal throughout the 2002 season. The diary will be published on Oklahoma State's official website: www.okstate.com usually every Thursday and Monday throughout the year, Ali's schedule permitting. The most recent journal entry has Ali talking about his bittersweet homecoming last weekend in Arizona.
