Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboy Baseball Opens Big 12 Play At No. 1 Texas
March 24, 2004 | Cowboy Baseball
Oklahoma State (16-7, 0-0 Big 12) vs.
No. 1/2/3 Texas (26-3, 2-1 Big 12)
March 26-28 • 2:30 p.m., 2 p.m., 1 p.m.
Disch-Falk Field (6,649) • Austin, Texas
The Matchups:
Friday, March 26 at 2:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 27 at 2 p.m.
Sunday, March 28 at 1 p.m.
All-Time Series:
Texas leads 33-17. The teams split four games last season.
Last Two Years:
May 21, 2003 Texas 10, Oklahoma State 7 Oklahoma City
March 24, 2003 Oklahoma State 9, Texas 5 Stillwater
March 23, 2003 Texas 15, Oklahoma State 5 Stillwater
March 22, 2003 Oklahoma State 4, Texas 3 Stillwater
May 23, 2002 Texas 8, Oklahoma State 6 Arlington, Texas
April 28, 2002 Texas 7, Oklahoma State 4 Austin
April 27, 2002 Texas 2, Oklahoma State 1 Austin
April 26, 2002 Texas 3, Oklahoma State 2 Austin
Polls:
Oklahoma State is ranked No. 34 in the NCBWA.
Texas is ranked No. 1 by ESPN/Sports Weekly, No. 2 by BA and NCBWA and No. 3 by CB.
The Coaches:
OSU's Frank Anderson is 16-7 in his first season as head coach.
Augie Garrido is 303-165-1 in seven seasons at UT and 1456-689-8 in 36 years overall.
Radio:
KSPI 93.7 FM
Rex Holt (Play-by-Play) is in his 22nd season.
What's On Tap
Oklahoma State rides a four-game winning streak into its Big 12 opener this weekend against Texas in Austin. The Cowboys and Longhorns will hook up for a 2:30 p.m. tilt on Friday, followed by a 2 p.m. start on Saturday and a 1 p.m. first pitch in the series finale on Sunday.
Please note the Friday game time was moved up in order to accomodate Texas fans wanting to watch the men's basketball team in action at the NCAA tournament that night.
About Texas
Texas (26-3) is ranked No. 1 in the ESPN/Sports Weekly Coaches Poll, No. 2 in Baseball America and No. 3 in Collegiate Baseball. The Longhorns took two of three from Oklahoma in both teams' conference opener last weekend in Norman.
Infielder Curtis Thigpen leads the team with a .381 batting average through 28 games, while Seth Johnston is the top power hitter with four homers. UT is hitting .286 as a team with 177 runs scored and 63 stolen bases in 29 games.
The Longhorn pitching staff boasts a 2.44 ERA, tops in the Big 12, to go along with seven shutouts this year. Junior southpaw J.P. Howell (5-1) is the ace of the staff with a 1.69 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 42.2 innings.
Series Notes: Texas has won six of the last eight meetings between the clubs, including two at the Big 12 tourney ... UT is 16-1 against Oklahoma State in Austin all-time ... OSU's lone win at Disch-Falk was a 4-2 win on April 3, 1998 ... The Cowboys record against the Longhorns since the inception of the Big 12 is 9-14.
Broadcast Info
Every Oklahoma State game will be broadcast this season on the KSPI network of stations. Rex Holt, host of the extremely popular “The Game” talk radio show, will once again call all of the action for the Cowboys.
All three games are scheduled to be heard on 93.7 FM .
This season, fans can also catch the audio action for free on the internet through www.okstate.com. All of the Cowboy home games and select road games will also have a live video feed through the Cowboy MVP subscription service through www.okstate.com.
Trading Places
This weekend not only marks the beginning of Big 12 play, it also showcases two opposing coaches familiar with each others responsibilities.
Oklahoma State head coach Frank Anderson was a successful assistant coach at Texas, from 2000-03. During that span, UT went to three College World Series and won the national championship in 2002. Anderson was the pitching coach and his staffs' were ranked among the top five in the nation three times during his four years in Austin.
Texas assistant coach Tom Holliday was associated with Oklahoma State baseball for 26 years, 19 years as an assistant and seven years as the head coach. During his time in Stillwater (1977-2003), OSU made 11 College World Series appearances and won 16 consecutive Big Eight championships.
Cowboy Notes
This weekend's games will be the first on artificial turf for OSU this season ... The Cowboys have three active players from the state of Texas ... Oklahoma State batted .348 as a team in five games last week, boosting the season average to a high of .339 ... The Cowboys have outscored their opponents 45-17 in the eight and ninth innings this year ... The combination of Daniel Rew and Spencer Grogan have gone 9-2 with a 2.59 ERA ... The pitching staff has two complete games, tying the mark set in 58 games last year ... Thomas Cowley pitched in three games last week, including his first career start, and struck out seven batters in 7.2 innings of work ... OSU has won six of its last seven home games ... eight of the Cowboys next 10 games are against teams from Texas ... Including this weekend, the Pokes have opened league play against the Longhorns in three of the last four years ... Texas and Oklahoma State lead the Big 12 schools in College World Series appearances with 30 and 19 respectively ... Oklahoma State is 5-2 in Big 12 conference openers.
Texas-Arlington Recap
Oklahoma State rallied from a five-run deficit with a five-run fourth inning and took advantage of costly errors by Texas-Arlington to come away with a 7-6 victory.
John Forrest pitched the final five innings in relief to pick up the win and move to 2-1. Rusty Ryal, Scott Kirby and Ty Wright all had two hits for OSU.
The Mavericks took advantage of a two-run double by Daniel Lenihan to build a three run lead after the first inning. Lenihan hurt the Cowboys again in the fourth with a two-run homerun that cleared the scoreboard in right center to make it 5-0.
The Cowboys responded with RBI doubles by Jason Jaramillo and Kirby to make it a 5-2 game. UTA shortstop kept the inning alive after botching a ground ball off the bat of Felix Peguero. Chris Gutierrez made him pay with a three-run homer to tie the game.
Wright led off the home half of the sixth inning with a triple to right center. Maverick pitcher Michael Garza got Scott Kirby to strike out on a ball in the dirt but catcher Dane Ryan's throw got in the sun and Darrell Preston could not handle it allowing Wright to score giving the Pokes a 6-5 lead.
Mario Matulich gave the Pokes an insurance run in the eighth with a sacrifice fly to center.
Lenihan cut the lead in half with his second homerun of the game in the ninth. UTA mounted a rally with a couple of baserunners, but Forrest pitched his way out of it to earn the victory.
Carver Carves Up Opponents
Another newcomer who is having success is junior righthander DeWayne Carver. The Dayton Beach Community College product had his most productive outing of the season in relief against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi last Friday. Carver pitched 6.1 innings of scoreless relief and picked up his second win of the year. He struck out three and gave up four hits and lowered his ERA to 1.02 in the process. Going into the weekend, he has 14 strikeouts and seven walks in 17.2 innings of work.
Allen Sets The Tone
Senior outfielder Rod Allen has proven to be a key piece of the offensive attack as the Cowboys leadoff man this year. Allen was a torrid 10-for-16 against Louisiana Tech and went 5-for-14 against Texas A&M Corpus Christi last weekend. The senior is hitting .344 on the year and carried a 12-game hitting streak into the Texas-Arlington game, before going 0-for-5 in the contest.
The Culver City, Calif., product has also shown a knack for the clutch base hit and is tied for second on the team with 23 RBIs. Through the first third of the year, he has proven to be a power source and base stealing threat, as he is tied for the team lead in both categories, while also displaying fine defensive abilities in the outfield.
Allen has proven to be one of the top all-around performers for the Cowboys this year and should be a significant contributor once Big 12 play begins this weekend.
Newcomers Making Offensive Contributions
Rod Allen is not the only Cowboy newcomer making significant contributions to this year's team. Junior Rusty Ryal and freshman Ty Wright have proven through the first part of the season that they are offensive performers who deserve to play every day.
Ryal currently leads the team with a .394 batting average, while Wright is fourth with a .372 mark. Ryal shared time at second base earlier in the season, but has since claimed the spot and has started in 17 of 21 games played to date. He has played a solid second, with just one error in 79 chances.
Wright has started all 23 games this season and made his debut in centerfield last weekend. The Tyler, Texas, native opened the year as the starting first baseman after playing shortstop and in the outfield in high school. He is one of the Pokes top base stealing threats with five swipes this season and is a definite player to watch as he develops during his career.
Jaramillo Named To Bench Award List
Junior catcher Jason Jaramillo was named to the Johnny Bench Award Watch List recently, marking the third time in his career he has made the list. The award recognizes the top catcher in the country in a ceremony after the baseball season in Wichita, Kan.
Jaramillo was a semifinalist last season after leading the Cowboys with a .385 batting average. He was invited to the Team USA trials and spent the summer helping lead the Orleans Cardinals to the Cape Cod League championship with current teammate Rod Allen.
The Franksville, Wisc., product has battled through a sore ankle and had his best week of the year to date in five games last week. He went 10-for-20 with two homers, two doubles and 11 RBIs against Arizona State and Texas A&M Corpus Christi. The junior nearly doubled his RBI total as he entered the week with 12.
Currently Jaramillo is second on the team with a .386 batting average to go along with four homers and 24 RBIs.
Defensively, Jaramillo has picked off one runner while throwing out seven of 21 base runners in 21 games.
Baseball America Tidbits
The Cowboys had several mentions in Baseball America's College Preview in January. Oklahoma State is picked to finish fifth in the Big 12 and make the NCAA tournament in 2003. Catcher Jason Jaramillo, third baseman Josh Fields and shortstop Chris Gutierrez were listed as All-Big 12 picks. Jaramillo is listed as the third best professional prospect in the Big 12 for the 2004 draft, with Fields in fifth. Both are among the top 30 junior prospects in the nation, with seniors Rod Allen and Travis Ingle also garnering attention in the senior class. Jaramillo is also regarded to have the best arm among the catchers in the conference.
Coach Anderson Radio Show
Fans can listen to coach Frank Anderson on his weekly radio show every Monday from 5:30-6:30 p.m. on 93.7 KSPI FM. The show will be hosted by Rex Holt and will take place at Freddie Paul's Steakhouse in Stillwater.
Coach Anderson will also have a weekly television show that will debut later in the season.
Big 12 Coaches Poll
The Big 12 coaches conducted their preseason coaches poll and 2003 College World Series participant and Big 12 tournament champion Texas was the near unanimous choice to finish first in 2004. Oklahoma State garnered 49 points and is picked to finish fifth.
