Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Set For Bedlam Baseball Battle
May 15, 2002 | Cowboy Baseball
May 15, 2002
No. 29 Oklahoma State (36-17; 12-11 Big 12)
vs.
Oklahoma (31-22; 13-11 Big 12)
Thursday, May 16, 7 p.m. (Tulsa)
Friday, May 17, 7 p.m. (OKC)
Saturday, May 18, 7 p.m. (OKC)
Drillers Stadium (11,033) * Bricktown Ballpark (13,066)
What's On Tap
It's Bedlam time as Oklahoma State wraps up its regular season against rival Oklahoma this weekend. The Cowboys and Sooners will hook up starting on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Drillers Stadium in Tulsa. The series will then move to Oklahoma City for two games at the Bricktown Ballpark on Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. The Bedlam Cup is on the line and the winner of the series will not only take the cup but will move up in the Big 12 standings heading into the conference tournament next week.
On The Mound
The Cowboys will go with sophomore righthander Scott Baker (6-2, 3.82 ERA) Thursday, junior righty Chris Reilly (6-2, 3.57 ERA) on Friday and senior righthander Nick McCurdy (5-0, 4.22 ERA) on Saturday.
Baker allowed a career-high eight runs in 1.1 innings of work in his last start,an 11-2 loss to Texas A&M on May 10. Reilly lost for the second time this year against A&M last Saturday. He gave up four runs, three earned in 6.2 innings of work but the Cowboy offense only managed a run in a 4-1 loss. McCurdy won his third consecutive start against the Aggies on Sunday by a 7-2 count.
About Oklahoma
Oklahoma is 31-22 on the year after dropping a Monday night contest to Wichita State, 5-1, in Wichita. The Sooners moved past the Cowboys in the conference standings by taking two-of-three against Kansas in Lawrence last weekend.
Outfielder Jason Franz leads the team with a .342 batting average to go along with 12 homers and 48 RBIs. As a team OU is batting .299 with 64 homers (second in the Big 12) and 354 runs scored in 53 games.
Oklahoma's probable rotation for this weekend will be righthander Mark Roberts (6-3, 4.23 ERA) on Thursday, lefty David Purcey (4-4, 3.12 ERA) on Thursday and righty Austin Mix (6-5, 6.03 ERA) on Saturday.
Southern Recap
Oklahoma State and Southern both put on an offensive display in the two-game series on Monday and Tuesday. The Cowboys defeated the Jaguars 20-11 and 10-3 to take the two contests which averaged over three hours played.
OSU pounded out 26 hits in the two games with four homers and nine doubles. Junior Zach Cates had a 3-for-4 day at the plate with a grand-slam blast and six RBIs in the Monday win while senior Rob Watson led the Pokes with a 2-for-3 afternoon on Tuesday with a homer and RBI triple.
Southern also fared well at the plate batting .349 in the two games but the Jaguars left 15 men on base in the Tuesday loss. Junior Mike Miller pitched four effective innings to pick up the win and move to 3-2 on the season.
Salazar Sizzling At The Plate
Centerfielder Jeff Salazar's sizzling second half of the season has him vying for post season accolades as the year winds down. The junior from Bethany, Okla. is tops on the team with a .342 batting average and first in runs (60), doubles (16), triples (7) and stolen bases (22). Salazar has gone 15-for-42 (.357) at the plate over the last 10 games and is riding a 19-game hitting streak heading into the Oklahoma series. His seven triples places him fourth on the OSU single season list, two shy of the all-time leader Benji de la Rosa who accomplished the feat in 1982.
On Deck: The Big 12 Tournament
After the Bedlam series, the Cowboys will head down to Arlington, Texas, to play in the Big 12 tournament. The eight teams going into the tourney are set, but where they finish in the standings and thereby their seeds, will not be decided until this weekend. Oklahoma State will depart for Arlington on Monday , May 20, and will practice at the Ballpark In Arlington at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, May 21.
Down The Stretch They Come
Oklahoma State dropped to seventh in the Big 12 standings after losing two of three to Texas A&M. The conference tournament field is all set as Kansas State defeated Missouri twice to make the tourney for the first time since the formation of the Big 12. Only one game separates the Cowboys from third place in the Big 12 (Baylor at 13-10) with three teams tied for fourth (Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Oklahoma at 13-11). This weekend several matchups will determine the seeding for the conference tournament next week, including OSU-OU, UT-TAMU, TT-BU and KU-KSU. Oklahoma State can finish as high as third and as low as eighth.
McCurdy Moves In
Senior Nick McCurdy continued his resurgence on the mound with his first complete game of the season in the Cowboys 7-2 win over Texas A&M on Sunday. The Thomasville, Ala., native opened the year as the Friday starter but lost his spot in the weekend rotation after a stretch of three bad starts and four rocky appearances that saw his ERA balloon from 2.74 to 5.35. Sunday's win marked McCurdy's third consecutive start with a win and improved his 2002 record to 5-0 with a 4.22 ERA.
Watson Warming Up
Senior shortstop Rob Watson has had a resurgence at the plate for the Cowboys recently, bumping his average up from .261 to .304 entering the OU series. The Riverside, Calif., native has gone 16-for-36 (.444) with three homers, 11 RBIs and 11 runs scored over the last 10 contests. He is third on the team with nine homers and third in RBIs with 40. Watson has also showed solid base running skills with seven stolen bases in seven attempts this season.
Bollig Strikes Back
Senior designated hitter Jake Bollig opened the year with a 4-for-4 showing against Prairie View A&M with two homers and eight RBIs. The Moore, Okla., native went through a prolonged mid-season slump, going into 4-for-52 funk with his batting average diving to .185. In his last nine games the senior has been hot at the the plate for the Pokes, batting .385 with six homers and 13 RBIs. Bollig has shown to be a true power source as eight of his 10 hits have gone for extra bases, giving him a 1.154 slugging percentage. The recent streak has bumped his average up to .247 on the year with 11 homers and 32 RBIs in 34 games played. He is averaging one homer per eight at-bats, a number that would rank him among the national leaders if he had more plate appearances.
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 with former Cowboy player Ryan Folmar providing analysis.
The Polls
Oklahoma State is ranked No. 29 by Collegiate Baseball and No. 31 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association this week.
Cowboy Notes
Offensively, OSU is averaging 9.2 runs per game which is tied for seventh in the nation ... Oklahoma State is among the leaders in several offensive categories in the Big 12 including homers (1st), runs (1st), stolen bases (1st) and batting average (3rd) ... the pitching staff sports a 4.51 team ERA which is fifth best in the Big 12 ... the Cowboy starting rotation of Scott Baker, Chris Reilly and Nick McCurdy sport a 17-4 record on the year ... of Oklahoma State's 17 losses, all came against teams with winning records; 15 came against teams that have been ranked among the Top 30 teams this season ... Jeff Salazar is 12th in the nation with seven triples ... the Pokes are 81-of-90 in stolen bases this season, tops in the Big 12 ...Oklahoma State has six starters with 30 or more RBIs and 11 players batting .300 or better ... third baseman Paul Powell is second in the Big 12 with 14 homers, including eight in conference games ... 10 different hurlers have recorded wins this year ... Nebasett Brown, with 14 career triples, is one away from tying Randy Whisler for third on the all-time list ... Rob Watson has been hit by 10 pitches this season which is fifth on the OSU career list.
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 the A&M and Southern series and the Bedlam rivalry.
