Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Host Kansas On Easter Weekend
March 28, 2002 | Cowboy Baseball
March 28, 2002
What's On Tap
Oklahoma State gets back into conference play with a three-game series against Kansas, starting on Friday at 3 p.m. at Reynolds Stadium. Both Saturday and Sunday's contests are scheduled for a 2 p.m. start.
On The Mound
Senior right hander Nick McCurdy is slated to get the Friday afternoon start for the Cowboys. He did not factor in the decision in his last time out against Kansas State on March 22.
Sophomore righty Scott Baker will go for his third win of the year on Saturday. He went a season-high 6.1 innings in 10-9 win over KSU last Saturday. He allowed one run on six hits with a strikeout and two walks.
Sunday's starter is yet to be announced.
About Kansas
Kansas is 12-9 on the season after beating Baker, 9-3, on Wednesday. The game was added to the schedule after the Jayhawks cancelled a Tuesday tilt with Creighton.
Head coach Bobby Randall is in his seventh season at Kansas and enters this weekend with a 156-193 record in that span. His overall record is 465-504-1 in 18 seasons of collegiate coaching.
Third baseman Ryan Klocksien, a second-team All-Big 12 performer a year ago, leads KU offensively with a .382 batting average to go along with nine doubles and 20 RBIs. Outfielder Matt Tribble is the main power source with five homers in 21 games.
The Jayhawks rotation for the weekend will be either Dan Olson or Jeff Davis on Friday and Saturday and Jake Wright on Sunday.
Olson is 3-2 on the year with a 2.88 ERA in six starts. The righthander took the loss against Texas-Pan American in his last outing on March 20.
Davis is 3-1 with a 3.16 ERA entering this weekend's action. He went eight innings in his last outing against Michigan last Friday, and gave up four runs on 10 hits with eight strikeouts.
Wright is 2-1 on the season with a 4.55 ERA in five starts. He lasted only 2.2 innings against Oral Roberts after allowing nine runs on nine hits.
Friday Jeff Davis (R) OR 3-1,3.16 ERA, 42.2 IP, 15 SO, 5 BB
Saturday Dan Olson (R) 3-2, 2.88 ERA, 40.2 IP, 32 SO, 9 BB
Sunday Jake Wright (R) 2-1, 4.55 ERA, 27.2 IP, 10 SO, 3 BB
Powell Named Big 12 Player of the Week
Senior third baseman Paul Powell has been named the Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Baseball Player of the Week, in voting by a select panel of media covering Big 12 baseball for games played from Mar. 18-24.
Powell exploded for a .500 average (7-for-14) with three homers and seven RBI in the Cowboys' 2-for-3 performance at Kansas State over the weekend. He hit a grand slam homer that sparked a 12-run sixth inning against K-State in OSU's 16-6 win last Friday.
The Cushing native also hit a homer in both games of a doubleheader Saturday to raise his average to .474 in Big 12 play (five games) with four homers and 11 RBI.
This marks the first time a Cowboy has received the award this season.
Recapping Memphis
The Cowboys used solid hitting and pitching to sweep Memphis, 12-1 and 9-3, on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Junior Chris Reilly shutout the Tigers in six innings of work on Tuesday to move to 4-0 on the year. OSU had 11 hits in the contest, eight of them coming from the combo of Jeff Salazar, Jos? Virgil, Zach Cates and Matt Oakes, all of whom had two hits each.
The Pokes had solid work out of the pen in the win on Wednesday. Joe Weaver pitched 2.2 innings of scoreless relief to move to 2-1 on the year. Shane Hawk and Daniel Rew both pitched an inning of scoreless relief as well, as Oklahoma State won its 17th game of the year. Offensively, Rob Watson delivered the big blow in the fifth, a three-run homer that broke open a 4-3 contest. Virgil led OSU with three hits on the day and finished the series 5-for-5.
Oklahoma State Picks Up Win 2000
Oklahoma State's 16-6 victory over Kansas State last Friday marked the Cowboys 2000th win in the 89-year history of the program. OSU is now 2003-963-4 all-time which is the 22nd best record in the history of Division I baseball. The Cowboys .674 winning percentage is second among Big 12 schools behind Texas' .761 mark. .
Cowboys To Be On Television
The April 6 Oklahoma State-Baylor contest in Waco will be shown regionally on Fox Sports Southwest, the Big 12 office announced. The game time has been moved up an hour, from 3 p.m. to 2 p.m. in order to accomodate Fox programming. This will be the first Big 12 contest of the year to be broadcast on television.
Fields Splitting Time On Fields
Freshman Josh Fields has had a hectic spring schedule as he has split time at spring football practice and on the baseball diamond. The Stillwater High product had his best performance at the plate last weekend at Kansas State. He sparked the Cowboys offense to a Big 12 record 12-run sixth inning with a three-run triple last Friday in Manhattan. He then hit his first homer of the season on Saturday and added another triple as well. On the weekend, Fields was 5-for-9 at the plate with a double, two triples, a homer and five RBIs.
In addition to his baseball duties, Fields is splitting time with spring football responsibilities where he is challenging for the starting job in the fall.
The Polls
The Cowboys are ranked No. 21 in the Baseball Weekly/ESPN Coaches Poll and No. 27 in Collegiate Baseball this week. OSU is one of seven Big 12 teams ranked in the Top 30 in the country by the various polls. The highest ranking Big 12 team in any of the polls is Nebraska at No. 8 by Baseball America.
Life of Reilly
Junior Chris Reilly transferred to Oklahoma State from Seton Hall over the summer because he wanted a chance to contribute to a team with a chance to go to Omaha. He has proven throughout his career that he is a pitcher with a knack for winning games.
Reilly picked up his fourth win of the season against Memphis on Tuesday and is now 14-1 in his collegiate career. He had a 10-1 record heading into the 2002 season after going 3-0 as a freshman and 7-1 as a sophomore for the Pirates in 2000-01.
Reilly leads the Cowboys in wins (4), ERA (1.93), innings pitched (28.0) and strikeouts (29). H is impressive start has made him a candidate for a spot in the weekend rotation.
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 discussing the two-game sweep of Memphis this week.
Cowboys On The Air
Every game for the rest of the 2002 Oklahoma State baseball season will be broadcast on Stillwater Radio 93.7 KSPI.
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.
On Deck
Oklahoma State closes out its six game homestand against Arkansas State next Tuesday at 3 p.m. The Pokes will then head to Waco, to face Baylor in a pivotal Big 12 matchup.
Cowboy Notes
Rob Watson has been hit by eight pitches this season which puts him seventh on the OSU single season list ... Oklahoma State's .329 team batting average is currently second in the Big 12 ... 15 of the Cowboy's next 18 games will be played in Oklahoma (14 in Stillwater, 1 in Tulsa) ... 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?).
