Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboy Baseball Takes On Texas In Big 12 Tournament Opener
May 20, 2003 | Cowboy Baseball
Oklahoma State (34-22, 14-13 Big 12)
Sixth Seed
Big 12 Baseball Tournament
Wednesday, May 21-Sunday, May 25
SBC Bricktown Ballpark (13,066) • Oklahoma City, Okla.
The Matchup:
vs. No. 3 Texas (38-16, 19-8 Big 12) • Wed., May 21 at 10 a.m.
All-Time Series:
Texas leads 32-17. The teams met for the first time in the Big 12 tournament last season, with the Longhorns taking an 8-6 win. OSU took the regular season series (March 22-24) 2-1 in Stillwater.
2nd Round Matchup:
vs. No. 2 Texas A&M (41-15, 19-8 Big 12) • Thur., May 22 at 5 p.m.
OR vs. No. 7 Oklahoma (22-29, 10-17 Big 12) • Thur., May 22 at 10 a.m.
All-Time Series vs Texas A&M:
Oklahoma State leads the all-time series 22-17. The teams have met three times in the Big 12 tournament with the Aggies holding a 2-1 advantage. A&M took the season series (April 18-20) 2-1 in College Station.
All-Time Series vs Oklahoma:
Oklahoma State leads 134-131. The teams have met four times in the Big 12 tournament with the Sooners winning all four games, including an 11-3 decision last year in Arlington, Texas. OU took the Bedlam series (April 25-27) for the second straight year.
Polls:
Texas is ranked No. 9 in both Baseball America and the Sports Weekly/ESPN Poll and No. 10 in Collegiate Baseball. Texas A&M is ranked No. 8 by BA and the Coaches Poll and No. 9 by CB. Oklahoma State and Oklahoma are unranked.
The Coach:
OSU’s Tom Holliday is 281-148 in his seventh season in Stillwater. He is 9-13 vs. Texas; 11-13 vs. Texas A&M and 10-16 vs. Oklahoma.
Radio:
KSPI 93.7 FM
Rex Holt (Play-by-Play) is in his 21st season.
What’s On Tap
Oklahoma State makes its 24th straight conference tournament appearance this week, as the No. 6 seed Cowboys take on No. 3 seed Texas in the opening game of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament on Wednesday at 10 a.m. If the Pokes win they will face the winner of the Texas A&M/Oklahoma contest on Thursday at 5 p.m. If they fall to the Longhorns, OSU will face the loser of the above contest on Thursday at 10 a.m. in the elimination game. Oklahoma State is 5-12 all-time in Big 12 tourney games.
Vs Texas
Texas is 38-16 on the year and 19-8 in conference play after dropping two to Texas A&M over the weekend. The Longhorns, the defending NCAA and Big 12 tourney champions, dropped two games to the Cowboys earlier this season in Stillwater.
UT hits .307 as a team with 45 homers and 377 runs scored, while the pitching staff leads the league with a 3.37 ERA. The Longhorn starter for Wednesday’s game was yet to be determined as of Monday night.
Senior outfielder Dustin Majewski is the main man for UT, batting at a .383 clip with nine homers and 66 RBIs. The infield combination of Omar Quintanilla and Tim Moss are batting .347 and .341 respectively with 27 stolen bases between the two.
Southpaw J.P. Howell is the top starter on the staff with a 7-1 record and 2.15 ERA. He has 77 strikeouts in 83.2 innings and defeated the Cowboys with five innings of eight strikeout work on March 23.
Vs Texas A&M
Texas A&M is 41-15 on the season and 19-8 in league play after taking two from the Longhorns. The Aggies took two of three from the Cowboys in College Station last month in a closely contested series.
A&M is batting .305 as a team with 48 homers and 358 runs scored in 56 games, while the staff has posted a 3.88 team ERA, third best in the league.
Second baseman Eric Schindewolf leads the team with a .354 batting average while right fielder Cory Patton is the top power source with 12 homers and 53 RBIs to go along with a .341 batting average.
Outfielder/pitcher Scott Beerer is the most versatile player in the Big 12 with a .333 average with 10 homers and 51 RBIs on offense while posting a 6-0 record on the mound with a 1.04 ERA and 11 saves.
Vs Oklahoma
Oklahoma has the worst overall record of any team in the tournament with a 22-29 mark, including a 10-17 record in Big 12 play. The Sooners dropped two of three to Missouri over the weekend in Columbia. OU took two of three from OSU in the annual Bedlam Series, and won eight of its last 12 conference games to end the year.
OU’s .276 batting average is last in the Big 12, while the pitching staff sports a 5.17 ERA. Second baseman Eddie Cornejo leads the offense with a .394 average while Reggie Willits is the top base threat in the conference with 36 swipes.
Offensive Fire Power
The Cowboys heads into the conference tournament as one of the top offensive clubs in the nation
OSU leads the conference in homers (76) and is in second place in batting average (.321), slugging percentage (.508) and fourth in on base percentage (404).
The average is No. 21 in the country and the highest the Pokes have averaged since the 1999 season (.324). The team’s 7.6 runs per game average is No. 3 in the conference and No. 26 in the nation.
Eight of the nine Cowboy starters are hitting over .300, with six of them hitting over .340. The power numbers have been evenly distributed with six players with eight or more homers, led by first baseman John Urick’s 13 round-trippers.
Jaramillo Rounding Out Stellar Sophomore Year
Catcher Jason Jaramillo’s has shown no sophomore slump at the plate and is in second place on the team and tenth in the Big 12 conference with a .382 batting average this season. The clear favorite for first-team All-Big 12 performer behind the dish, Jaramillo has built upon a solid freshman season in which he was an honorable mention Freshman All-American.
This season he is a semifinalist for the Johnny Bench Award, given to the top collegiate catcher in the country and has also been invited to the USA Baseball Trials in June.
He is second on the team with 18 doubles while also pounding seven of his eight homers in league play. Defensively, the Franksville, Wisc., product has thrown out 16 runners in 63 attempts while also picking off a team-best five
.
Virgil Steps Up
.301 and .283. Those were the batting averages of senior center fielder José Virgil in his first two seasons at Oklahoma State. The coaching staff raved about his athletic ability and believed that he would one day excel at all phases of the game.
This season, the Phoenix, Ariz., native has put all of the pieces of the puzzle together and is vying for All-American and All-Big 12 honors.
Virgil leads or is tied for the team lead in seven different offensive categories. He leads the team in batting average (.387), runs (63), hits (89), doubles (23), RBIs (54) and stolen bases (15). He is averaging .40 doubles per game, which is first in the Big 12 and No. 11 in the nation.
He has hit safely in 52 of 56 games played this season, including a 15-game hitting streak and a 17-game hitting streak. He carries a current 19-game streak, a career-high, heading into Wednesday’s contest.
Virgil’s .414 mark in conference games is third in the Big 12.
Five Cowboys Receive Academic Honors
Oklahoma State had five members of its baseball team named to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team the conference office announced on May 13.
Seniors Kenny Hansley, Brian Kraft and Mike Miller along with juniors Daniel Rew and Joe Weaver all made the first team for the Cowboys.
Weaver, a secondary education major, made the first team for the second straight year, while Miller, a general business major, made the list for the second time in three years.
Kraft, Hansley and Rew all received the award for the first time in their careers.
OSU and Baylor both had five first-teamers, which was second best in the conference behind Nebraska.
Brian’s Baseball Diaries
Senior infielder 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 wild weekend series against Missouri and Senior Day.
Cowboy Notes
The Pokes .321 team batting average is second in the Big 12 and 4.60 ERA is fifth ... The Cowboys have four players among the Top 20 batters in the conference, led by José Virgil who is fifth with a .387 mark ... OSU is hitting at a .323 clip in league play (second in Big 12) with 47 of its 76 homers in the 27 games ... John Urick is tied for second in in the conference with eight homers in 27 Big 12 games ... Jason Jaramillo is third in the conference with seven homers in 27 Big 12 contests ... The Cowboys have a .500 or better conference mark for the 26th consecutive season ... OSU’s win over Missouri on May 4 gave the Pokes 30 wins in a season for the 26th straight year ... Daniel Rew’s five saves is tied for seventh best in a single season at OSU ... José Virgil’s 23 doubles is tied for 10th best in school history ... With his win over Texas Tech, Scott Baker became the first Cowboy since Ryan Graves in 1996 to win 10 games in a season ... Baker is first in the conference in wins (10) and fifth in the conference with a 3.20 ERA ... The Cowboys are 3-8 in conference tourney games at the Bricktown Ballpark ... Oklahoma State is No. 40 in the most recent Pseudo-RPIs (www.boydsworld.com) ... OSU have/will have played 23 regular season contests against teams in the Top 50 of the RPIs ... Scott Baker is listed as the No. 26 prospect in Baseball America’s 2003 Top 100 College Prospects; southpaw Shane Hawk is also listed at No. 83.
Baker Top Starter In The Big 12
Junior pitcher Scott Baker has put together a stellar campaign and is a strong candidate for Big 12 Pitcher of the Year.
Baker picked up his conference best tenth win of the year with a seven-inning performance against Texas Tech on May 16. He allowed three unearned runs on nine hits while walking two and striking out eight to move to 6-1 in league games. He is now 10-4 on the year with a 3.20 ERA overall and 6-1 in league with a 3.21 ERA.
The Shreveport, La., product threw his second complete game of the year in the Pokes 7-4 win over Missouri on May 2. He scattered eight hits and allowed four runs, one earned, while striking out seven to pick up his ninth win of the year. Baker pitched the Cowboys first complete game of the season in an 8-3 win over Oklahoma on April 25. He allowed three runs, two earned, on four hits while striking out nine and walking two.
He did not factor in the decision in his start against Texas A&M on April 18. He gave up four runs on 11 hits in 5.1 innings of work and left with the game tied at 4-4.
Baker had a four-game win streak snapped against Baylor on April 11. He was named Big 12 Pitcher of the Week with his career-high 11 strikeout performance against Kansas State on April 4. He pitched eight innings and allowed just three hits in picking up his seventh win, a new single season high. It was the second time this season he has won the award.
Baker went seven innings in his last outing against Kansas on March 29 and gave up four runs on seven hits while whiffing nine.
He allowed only one run in 7.1 innings of work in the Cowboys 4-3 win over Texas on March 23. The right hander then made his first career relief appearance against Texas-Arlington on March 25 and pitched 1.2 innings of scoreless relief to pick up the win.
The Shreveport, La., native recorded nine strikeouts in a 4-3 loss to North Carolina State on March 14. He allowed four runs, three earned, in seven innings of work.
Baker went seven innings against Miami (Ohio) on March 7 and allowed just four hits with five strikeouts and no walks to improve to 3-2 on the year. Against Nicholls State on March 1, Baker allowed one run on six hits over seven innings of work with three strikeouts and two walks in the 17-1 win.
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.
