Oklahoma State University Athletics
Baseball Team Heads Back To Arizona
February 20, 2003 | Cowboy Baseball
Feb. 20, 2003
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vs. Dayton, Minnesota, Arizona
February 22-24
HoHoKam Park (12,623) * Mesa, Ariz. (Dayton)
Frank Sancet Field (6,700) * Tucson, Ariz.
The Matchups:
Dayton (0-0) * Feb. 22 *?1 p.m. CT
First ever meeting between schools on the diamond.
Minnesota (0-0) * Feb. 23 * 5 p.m. CT
OSU leads the all-time series 6-3.
Arizona (6-3) * Feb. 24 * 3 p.m. CT
OSU leads the all-time series 9-3.
In The Polls:
Dayton, Minnesota, Arizona and Oklahoma State are unranked this week.
The Coaches:
OSU's Tom Holliday is 249-129 in his seventh season in Stillwater.
Dayton's Tony Vittorio is 87-79 in four seasons in Dayton.
Minnesota's John Anderson is 760-473-3 in 22 seasons in Minneapolis.
Arizona's Andy Lopez is 37-27 in two seasons in Tuscon.
Radio:
Feb. 22 vs. Dayton/KSPI 780 AM
Feb. 23 vs. Minnesota/KSPI 93.7 FM
Feb. 24 vs. Arizona/KSPI 780 AM
Rex Holt (Play-by-Play) is in his 21st season.
What's On Tap
Oklahoma State closes out its eight-game season opening road slate with three more games in Arizona. The Cowboys will face Dayton on Saturday at HoHoKam Park in Mesa, Ariz. at 1 p.m. CT. OSU will then travel to Tucson to take on Minnesota on Sunday at 5 p.m. CT and Arizona on Monday at 3 p.m. CT. Both of those contests will be played at the Wildcats' Sancet Field.
About Dayton
Dayton opens its 2003 campaign this weekend in Arizona, with games against Notre Dame and Arizona State on Friday. The Flyers are coming off a 32-21 campaign last season which is one of the best in school history.
Outfielder Tom Beechem (.349, 5 HRs, 26 RBIs) is the top returning hitter for Dayton which returns five starters from last year. Senior righthander Cory Allen, who missed the 2002 season due to injury, will get the start against Oklahoma State.
Saturday's contest will be the first ever meeting on the baseball diamond between the two schools.
About Minnesota
Minnesota opens its season this weekend with a three-game series against Arizona. The Golden Gophers went 32-26 a year ago and were the regular season Big 10 champs.
They return five starters, including senior second baseman Luke Appert (.361, 14 HRs, 43 RBIs) who led the team in batting average and homers.
Senior C.J. Woodrow was the team's ace in 2002 as he led the team with an 8-5 record and 3.71 ERA in 15 appearances. The starter against Oklahoma State was yet to be determined.
Oklahoma State leads the all-time series 6-3 and last faced Minnesota on May 24, 1992, and came away with a 15-6 win at the NCAA Midwest Regional in Wichita, Kan.
About Arizona
Arizona is 6-3 on the year after sweeping UC Irvine last weekend in Irvine, Calif. The Wildcats return five starters from last season's 31-24 team.
Rightfielder Jeff Van Houten leads the team with a .528 batting average through nine games. He also leads the team in stolen bases with four (in four attempts) and is second in RBIs with 12. As a team the Wildcats are batting a lofty .356 with 11 homers and 84 RBIs while scoring 10.4 runs per game.
Righthander John Meloan (1-0, 1.69 ERA) is slated to get the start against Oklahoma State. It will be the freshman's first career start after making two relief appearances with a save.
The Cowboys and Wildcats have met 12 times previously, with OSU holding a 9-3 advantage. The Pokes beat Arizona 7-4 in their last meeting on Feb. 21, 1999 in San Diego, Calif.
Holliday One Win Shy of 250
Head coach Tom Holliday heads into the three-game Arizona trip just one win shy from reaching 250 in his 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.
Virgil Leads The Way
Senior Jos? Virgil has gotten off to a fast start in 2003 after missing the final four games last season due to an ankle injury. The Phoenix native leads the team with a .400 batting average while also making the transition to center field this season. His eight hits is tied for the team lead while he is second on the team with three runs scored.Virgil will enter this weekend with a five-game hitting streak.
Grogan and King Shine In Relief
Two Cowboy newcomers are making an immediate impact on the pitching staff through five games this season. Junior college transfers Spencer Grogan and Cody King have shone in their relief appearances and will be counted on heavily the rest of the year.
King has not been scored upon in two relief outings and is one of just two pitchers in the Big 12 to have a 0.00 ERA in more than one appearance this season. He pitched four scoreless innings of relief against South Florida on Feb. 7 and followed that up with 2.1 innings of shutout ball against Gonzaga on Feb. 16. The junior from El Paso, Texas, picked up the win against the Zags and is limiting opponents to just a .150 batting average against him.
Grogan has allowed just one run in two relief appearances and sports a 1.42 ERA that is second best on the team. He pitched just a third of an inning in his first outing against South Florida but followed that with six innings of work against Oregon State on Feb. 14. The sophomore from Cantonment, Fla., allowed just one run on three hits with five strikeouts and three walks against the Beavers.
With the early success the duo has had, they are in line for expanded roles on the staff which may include starting assignments as the year goes on.
Recapping Last Weekend
The Cowboys went 1-2 at the Coca-Cola Spring Training Classic in Surprise, Ariz. Oklahoma State was shutout 4-0 against Oregon State in the first game of the tournament on Feb. 14. The Pokes then held a 1-0 lead going into the bottom of the fifth against No. 5 Arizona State, before surrendering six runs in the inning and eventually losing 7-3. OSU rebounded in the tournament finale against Gonzaga on Feb. 16, breaking open a scoreless game in the seventh with three runs that proved to be enough in a 3-1 win over the Zags.
Baker Named To Rotary Award Watch List
Junior pitcher Scott Baker is on the initial watch list of the Rotary Award, given to the top player in college baseball.
Last week he was tabbed as the first Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Baseball Pitcher of the Week
after he pitched the first seven innings of OSU's 9-0 shutout of 18th-ranked Stetson 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.
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.
Cowboy Notes
Oklahoma State will complete its stretch of traveling 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 1.64 team ERA is the best in the Big 12 ... Cowboy relievers sport a 0.93 ERA in 10 total appearances ... With the cancelled Florida A&M game, OSU now has 57 games on the slate, one more than the NCAA maximum of 56 ... The last time Oklahoma State opened the season with five games without a home run was 1982, when the Cowboys went the first 11 games without a round-tripper. Ironically it was current assistant coach Robbie Wine who hit the first homer of the season against Baylor on March 9.
Looking Ahead
After arriving back from Arizona at around 1:30 a.m. next Tuesday, the Cowboys will stay at home the next two weekends and take on Cal and Miami (OH). The Pokes' home opener is on Friday, Feb. 28 at 3 p.m. The visiting Bears are 9-3 on the year and ranked 25th in the ESPN/Sports Weekly Coaches Poll. Cal will travel to Long Beach State for a three-game series this weekend and will play Santa Clara on Monday before traveling to Stillwater.
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 last weekend in Surprise and his adventures off of the field.
