Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Travel To Arizona
February 12, 2003 | Cowboy Baseball
Feb. 12, 2003
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Oklahoma State (1-1)
at the Surprise Coca-Cola Spring Training Classic
vs. Oregon State, No. 5/7 Arizona State, Gonzaga
February 14-16
Surprise Stadium (10,500) * Surprise, Ariz.
The Matchups:
Oregon State (1-2) * Feb. 14 *?4 p.m. CT
Oregon State leads the all-time series 1-0
Arizona State (14-1) * Feb. 15 * 5 p.m. CT
ASU leads the all-time series 9-7
Gonzaga (0-0) * Feb. 16 * Noon CT
Oklahoma State leads the series 2-1.
In The Polls
Arizona State is 5th in Baseball America; 6th in the Sports Weekly/ESPN Coaches Poll; 7th in both Collegiate Baseball and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Polls.
Oklahoma State, Oregon State and Gonzaga are unranked.
The Coaches:
OSU's Tom Holliday is 248-127 in his seventh season in Stillwater.
Oregon State's Pat Casey is 240-177-4 in nine seasons in Corvallis.
Arizona State's Pat Murphy is 320-165-1 in his ninth season in Tempe.
Gonzaga's Steve Hetz is 611-602-5 in 23 seasons in Spokane.
Radio:
Feb. 14 vs. Oregon State/KSPI 93.7 FM
Feb. 15 vs. Arizona State/KVRO 98.1 FM
Feb. 16 vs. Gonzaga/KSPI 93.7 FM
Rex Holt (Play-by-Play) in 21st season.
What's On Tap
Oklahoma State travels to Arizona for the first of two consecutive weekendsin "The Grand Canyon State." The Cowboys will play in the Surprise Coca-Cola Spring Training Classic in Surprise, Ariz. Surprise Stadium is part of a brand-new complex that serves as the spring training home of both the Texas Rangers and the Kansas City Royals.
Oklahoma State will play Oregon State in the first ever game at the new stadium on Friday at 4 p.m. The Cowboys will take on No. 5 Arizona State on Saturday at 5 p.m., before closing out the tourney against Gonzaga on Sunday at noon.
About Oregon State
Oregon State is 1-2 on the year after dropping two of three at UC Riverside last weekend. The Beavers return five starters off of last year's squad that finished 31-23 and in sixth place in the Pac-10.
Outfielder Seth Pietsch went 4-for-12 (.333) with a homer and four RBIs to lead the team against UC Riverside.
Junior southpaw Jake Postlewait is scheduled to start against Oklahoma State. He led the Pac-10 in appearances last year with 30 and did not factor in the decision in a start against UC Riverside on Feb. 7.
Oregon State leads the all-time series 1-0, with the win coming behind the one-hit pitching performance of B.R. Cook on Feb. 18, 1999 in San Diego, Calif.
About Arizona State
Arizona State is 14-1 on the year and ranked as high as No. 5 by Baseball America. The Sun Devils carry a five-game winning streak into the tournament and open with Gonzaga on Friday night.
ASU is coming off a series sweep of BYU over the weekend and are averaging 10.7 runs per game. Sophomore infielder Jeff Larish is off to a torrid start and leads the team with a .469 batting average to go along with seven homers and 27 RBIs.
Senior righthander Beau Vaughan is slated to get his first start of the season against Oklahoma State. He made relief appearances in two of the three games against the Cougars last weekend and is 1-1 with a 4.96 ERA in seven outings this season.
Arizona State leads the all-time series between the two schools 9-7, including a 7-2 win last season in Tempe. Righthander Scott Baker shutout ASU for 5.2 innings and left with a 2-0 lead before being relieved in the sixth. Baker allowed just three hits and struck out three in the no-decision.
About Gonzaga
Gonzaga opens its season this weekend in Surprise and are coming off a 27-29 finish in 2002. The Zags return five starters from last year, including top hitter Jeff Culpepper (.349, 3 HR, 31 RBIs).
Sophomore righty Eric Dworkis is slated to take the mound against Oklahoma State. He was a honorable mention Freshman All-American a year ago after compiling a 4-6 record with a 5.82 ERA in 17 appearances.
Gonzaga leads the all-time series 2-1, including a 10-5 win the last meeting on April 18, 2001.
Baker Named Big 12 Pitcher Of The Week
Junior pitcher Scott Baker was tabbed as the first Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Baseball Pitcher of the Week in voting by a select panel of media covering Big 12 baseball for games played from Jan. 24-Feb. 10.
Baker pitched the first seven innings of OSU's 9-0 shutout of 18th-ranked Stetson in Deland, Fla., during the News-Journal First Pitch Invitational on Feb. 8. He had a career-high eight strikeouts against the hard-hitting Hatters, allowed five hits and walked two before yielding to relief man Daniel Rew. That duo combined to pitch the only shutout by a Big 12 staff in 31 games this year.
This is the second time Baker has received the honor in his career. He received the honor as a freshman on Feb. 6, 2001, for his five scoreless innings of work against UC Riverside.
He was named a third-team preseason All-American by Baseball America after going 6-3 last season with a 4.23 ERA in 13 starts The second-team All-Big 12 pick led the team with three complete games and struck out 47 batters in 76.2 innings pitched.
The Shreveport, La., native was a Cape Cod League All-Star for the Orleans Cardinals over the summer and helped lead them to the league championship series. He went 3-1 with a 1.61 ERA in nine starts for the Cardinals and struck out 52 in 56 innings pitched.
After the successful summer campaign in the Cape, Baseball America rated Baker as the 15th best pro prospect to come out of that league.
Newcomers Step In
The Cowboys started six newcomers over the two games in Florida last weekend. Outfielder Jeff Tuttle made the most significant impact offensively, going 3-for-8 with two doubles, two RBIs and two runs scored. Outfielder Scott Kirby and shortstop Chris Gutierrez recorded two hits while designated hitter Mario Matulich and Ryan Olivo chipped in with a hit each.
Mid-year transfer pitcher Cody King pitched four innings of scoreless relief against South Florida on Feb. 7. The junior from El Paso allowed just two hits while walking one and striking out one. Sophomore southpaw Spencer Grogan saw his first action at OSU, pitching to one batter against USF.
Holliday Two Wins Shy of 250
Head coach Tom Holliday heads into the three-game Surprise Coca-Cola Spring Training Classic just two wins away from reaching 250 wins in his coaching career. He will join select company at OSU as only two other coaches have achieved that mark, Gary Ward (953 wins from 1978-96) and Toby Greene (318 from 1942-43 and 1946-64). He passed Chet Bryan (247 wins from 1965-77) and moved into third place on the all-time wins list with the 9-0 win over Stetson on Feb. 8.
Cowboy Notes
Oklahoma State will travel nearly 7,000 miles to play eight games before the home opener against Cal on Feb. 28 ... With the Jan. 31 induction of Josh Holliday, all three assistant coaches are in the Cowboy Baseball Hall of Fame ... Jos? Virgil (Phoenix) is the lone Cowboy from Arizona ... OSU's 1.00 team ERA after two games is the best in the Big 12 ... Senior pitcher Mike Miller underwent shoulder surgery last week and will miss the 2003 season ... Freshman shortstop Chris Gutierrez first career hit was a triple against Stetson on Feb. 8 ... The Cowboys hit six doubles in two games last weekend in DeLand ... With the cancelled Florida A&M game, OSU now has 57 games on the slate, one more than the NCAA maximum of 56.
Changing Places in 2003
Relievers Joe Weaver and Shane Hawk make the move into the starting rotation after spending their first two seasons mainly in relief roles. Weaver, a 2001 Freshman All-American and Big 12 Freshman Pitcher of the Year, went 3-2 with a 4.01 ERA in a team-high 24 appearances last year. He opened the season, taking the hard-luck 4-3 loss to South Florida on Feb. 8. He gave up two earned runs in 4.2 innings of work with three walks and three strikeouts.
Hawk opened the 2002 season as a starter but moved into the bullpen after four starts to further harness his control. He proved to be very effective in long relief and did not allow an earned run in his last eight appearances (12 innings). He struck out 50 batters in 42.1 innings in 23 appearances. He was scheduled to start against Florida A&M last Sunday, but the game was cancelled due to rain.
Baseball America Tidbits
The Cowboys had several mentions in Baseball America's College Preview in January. Oklahoma State is picked to finish fourth in the Big 12 and make the NCAA tournament in 2003. Catcher Jason Jaramillo and pitcher Scott Baker were preseason All-Big 12 picks by the magazine and listed among the top prospects to watch. Baker is the third best prospect in 2003 while Jaramillo and Josh Fields are the fourth and fifth top prospects in the 2004 draft class. In the best tools category, Fields was rated as the second best pure hitter in the conference while Jaramillo was rated to be the best defensive catcher with the best arm. Baker's breaking ball was rated as the third best in the Big 12 to round out the Cowboy contingent.
2003 Schedule
Oklahoma State's 2003 schedule should be considered one of the toughest in the country. The slate includes 10 schools that made the NCAA tournament a year ago. The Cowboys will play 20 games against teams that finished in the Top 50 of the official Division I RPI rankings a year ago. In addition, the 2003 schedule includes games against six teams that are ranked in the Top 25 of the preseason polls. OSU's first eight games of the season are on the road and expanding that list, 13 of the first 19 are away from Stillwater.
From the Gridiron to the Diamond
Fresh off the Houston Bowl victory on the gridiron, sophomore Josh Fields makes the transition over to the baseball field where he hopes to build upon a solid freshman campaign. Fields set numerous single season records at quarterback for the Cowboy football team and is considered one of the top hitters in the conference in baseball. In 2002 the Stillwater High product batted .383 with three homers and 29 RBIs and was an honorable mention Freshman All-American. He proved to be just as deadly in conference play, batting .396 with two homers and 16 RBIs while boasting a .679 slugging percentage and was named to the All-Big 12 Freshman team. This season he makes to move to third base after spending last season at either first base or as the designated hitter. He went 3-for-10 with one run scored last weekend in DeLand.
Oklahoma State and USA Baseball
USA Baseball ranked Oklahoma State No. 18 in a recent study that ranks the Top 50 Collegiate Baseball Programs that have produced USA Baseball National Team players, since 1984.
The Cowboys have produced six members on the team during the 18-year span which is tied with Texas, Tennessee and Long Beach State.
Oklahoma State players selected to play on the national team:
Gary Green SS 1984
Robin Ventura 3B 1988
Brad Beanblossom INF 1989
Jeromy Burnitz OF 1989
Matt Smith LHP 1999
Ryan Budde C 2000
Brian's Baseball Diaries
Senior shortstop Brian Kraft is keeping a running journal throughout the 2003 season. The diary will be published on Oklahoma State's official website: www.okstate.com usually every Thursday and Monday throughout the year, Brian's schedule permitting. In the most recent journal entry "Krafty" talks about the results of opening weekend.
