Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State To Take On Oral Roberts This Weekend
April 11, 2002 | Cowboy Baseball
April 11, 2002
What's On Tap
Oklahoma State and Oral Roberts, two of the hottest teams in the country, face off in a three-game weekend series starting Friday at 7 p.m. at Reynolds Stadium. The teams will play again on Saturday at 2 p.m. before switching sites to Tulsa on Sunday for a 3 p.m. contest. Oklahoma State has won nine of its last 10 games while ORU has won 11 straight.
On The Mound
The Cowboy probable rotation for this weekend is slated to be righthander Chris Reilly on Friday, Jimmy Rhodes on Saturday and Scott Baker on Sunday.
Reilly (5-0, 2.92 ERA) did not factor in the decision in his last outing, an 8-6 loss to Baylor on April 6. He allowed five runs on nine hits in five innings of work.
Rhodes (2-2, 5.34 ERA) will be making his first start since March 23 against Kansas State. He pitched three scoreless innings of relief last Tuesday against San Francisco.
Baker (3-0, 3.41 ERA) missed his Sunday start against Baylor due to the game cancellation and started against San Francisco on Tuesday. He gave up two runs on four hits in five innings of work and struck out four to pick up his third win of the year.
About Oral Roberts
Oral Roberts is 22-8 on the year and rides a 11-game win streak entering Friday's contest. The Golden Eagles have made the NCAA tournament the last four seasons under head coach Sunny Galloway.
Sophomore catcher David Castillo leads ORU offensively with a .423 batting average in 29 starts this season with eight homers and 47 RBIs. Outfielder Wilton Reynolds is the top power source with 10 home runs on the year.
Senior Michael Rogers leads a solid pitching staff with a 7-0 record in 2002 with a 2.66 ERA. He will start on Friday while freshman Dennis Bigley (3-0, 4.29 ERA) will take the hill on Saturday. Mid-Con Pitcher of the Week Rene Recio (5-3, 2.18 ERA) is slated to start on Sunday for the Golden Eagles.
Cowboy Offense Leads The Way
During the Cowboys surge to the top of the conference standings, the catalyst has been the Oklahoma State offense. OSU has scored in double-digits in nine of the last 13 games and 16 contests overall this year. The Cowboys have outscored opponents by a 335-174 margin and have hit 46 homers in 32 games, a 1.44 average per game. Oklahoma State is among the Big 12 leaders in several offensive categories including batting average (.328-1st), slugging percentage (.548-1st), homeruns (46- T-1st) and runs (335- 1st).
Cates/Fields Provide Two-Headed DH Combo
Junior Zach Cates and freshman Josh Fields have produced stellar numbers from the designated hitter's position this season. Cates has been on a tear offensively in the last 10 games, batting at a .538 clip in eight starts. Overall the lefthanded hitter is batting .440 with two homers and 15 RBIs in 24 games.
Fields has shown his power potential over the last month with two homers and three triples, which is second on the team. In the last 10 games, he is 6-for-15 with nine RBIs and an .800 slugging percentage. Both have also seen some time in the field at first base this season.
Powell Powers Pokes
Senior third baseman Paul Powell blasted his team-leading tenth homer of the season against San Francisco last Tuesday, tying the number of round-trippers he hit all of last season. The Cushing native has shown a knack for hitting in Big 12 games, as evident in his .444 batting average and six homers in 10 conference contests this season. Powell is second in the Big 12 in homers and tied for fifth in RBIs with 35. He is 10 RBIs away from passing his high of 44 set a year ago.
On Deck
Oklahoma State will wind up its seven-game non-conference swing against Centenary next Tuesday and Wednesday at Reynolds Stadium. The Cowboys and Gents will hook it up at 7 p.m. Tuesday and at 3 p.m. Wednesday before OSU prepares for a Big 12 weekend series against Nebraska.
Cowboys Lead The Big 12
Oklahoma State moved into sole possession of first place in the Big 12 for the first time this season after splitting two games with Baylor over the weekend. The Pokes are 7-4 (.636) in league play which is percentage points ahead of Nebraska at 9-6 (.600). The Cornhuskers took two of three from Oklahoma while Texas took two of three from Kansas, creating a logjam in the middle of the conference standings. While the Cowboys are out of league action this weekend, Big 12 series of interest will be Texas at Oklahoma and Nebraska at Missouri.
The Polls
The Cowboys are ranked No. 17 in Collegiate Baseball, No. 19 in the Baseball Weekly/ESPN Coaches Poll and No. 24 in Baseball America. OSU is one of six 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 Texas at No. 9 by the ESPN/Baseball Weekly Coaches Poll.
Triple Terror
Oklahoma State is known for its powerful offense over the years and added to that Tuesday night, tying two school records for triples in a game. OSU tied the school record for triples in a game with four, last set against Oklahoma on May 13, 1998. Centerfielder Jeff Salazar also tied the school record for triples in a game with two which was last done by Lamont Matthews against TCU on April 13, 1999. Toby Rhodes and Mike Patitucci also recorded triples in the record-setting night.
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 is 5-0 this season and 15-1 in his three-year 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 (5), ERA (2.92), innings pitched (40.0), and strikeouts (34). After starting the season as a midweek starter, the Bound Brook, N.J., product has solidified his 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 midweek wins over San Francisco and this weekend's series against Oral Roberts.
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.
Cowboy Notes
OSU has won its last eight home games ... After starting 1-2 in the Big 12, the Cowboys have gone 6-2 since ... John Forrest picked up his first career save against San Francisco Wednesday night ... Toby Rhodes is 7-for-14 at the plate over his last nine games ... Oklahoma State has six starters with 20 or more RBIs and 13 players batting .300 or better ... third baseman Paul Powell is second in the Big 12 with 10 homers, including six in conference games ... outfielder Daylon Monette is second in the Big 12 with a .398 batting average ... 10 different hurlers have recorded wins this year ...16 of the Cowboys remaining 22 games on the schedule are against teams with winning records ... eight out of the next 10 games are at home ... Rob Watson has been hit by eight pitches this season which puts him seventh on the OSU single-season list ... The Cowboys are two games short of the NCAA maximum of 56 games, meaning the team will be looking for two makeup games 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?).
