Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys To Face Texas Tech This Weekend
May 13, 2004 | Cowboy Baseball
No. 20/22 Oklahoma State (31-16, 14-6 Big 12) vs.
No. 29 Texas Tech (32-16, 12-8 Big 12)
May 14-16 • 7 p.m., 7 p.m., 2 p.m.
Reynolds Stadium (4,000) • Stillwater, Okla.
All-Time Series:
Oklahoma State leads 16-15.
Texas Tech leads series 12-10 in Big 12 play.
Last Two Years:
May 18, 2003 Oklahoma State 4, Texas Tech 3 Lubbock May 17, 2003 Texas Tech 8, Oklahoma State 2 Lubbock May 16, 2003 Oklahoma State 11, Texas Tech 7 Lubbock March 17, 2002 Oklahoma State 7, Texas Tech 3 Stillwater March 16, 2002 Texas Tech 8, Oklahoma State 3 Stillwater March 15, 2002 Texas Tech 9, Oklahoma State 7 Stillwater
Polls:
Oklahoma State is ranked No. 20 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers and No. 22 by Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball. Texas Tech is ranked 29th in the NCBWA poll.
The Coaches:
OSU's Frank Anderson is 31-16 in his first season as a head coach. Larry Hays is 687-366-2 in 18 years at Texas Tech. He is 1,382-747-3 in 34 years overall
Radio:
KSPI 93.7 FM Rex Holt (Play-by-Play) is in his 22nd season.
What's On Tap
Oklahoma State hosts Texas Tech in its final conference homestand of the season this weekend. The Cowboys and Red Raiders will open the series on Friday night at 7 p.m., with a 7 p.m. start on Saturday and 2 p.m. first pitch on Sunday.
About Texas Tech
Texas Tech is 32-16 overall and 12-8 in the Big 12 after dropping two of three to Missouri over the weekend in Lubbock. The Red Raiders were one of the hottest teams in the league prior to last weekend, having won 10 of 11 conference games after opening the year at 1-5. Tech carries a three-game losing streak into the weekend after dropping a 4-3 10-inning decision to Dallas Baptist on Wednesday.
Third baseman Josh Haney leads the team with a .364 batting average to go along with nine homers and 48 RBIs. First baseman Josh Brady is among the top sluggers in the conference with 16 homers (second in the Big 12) and a league high 70 runs batted in. Texas Tech leads the league in batting average, home runs and stolen bases, including 49 stolen bases in 57 attempts in Big 12 games.
The Red Raiders will throw senior righthander Steven Thomas (3-5, 4.52 ERA) on Friday with southpaw Dallas Braden (4-3, 4.50 ERA) slated to take the hill on Saturday. Righthander Michael McGowan (2-1, 4.08 ERA) will close out the series on the mound on Sunday. TTU sports a 4.37 team ERA that is eighth overall in the league with a 4.40 mark in 20 conference games.
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 the games for the rest of the season can be heard on KSPI 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.
Cowboy Notes
Oklahoma State has won 11 of its last 13 conference matchups ... After dropping the conference series opener to Texas, OSU has won or tied in its last six Big 12 series ... The Cowboys are 7-2 in conference games at home entering the weekend ... Oklahoma State is 4-5 against Texas Tech in league games in Stillwater ... With the final game of the Baylor series rained out, OSU is currently scheduled to finish one game under the NCAA maximum of 56 games ... Five of the Cowboys nine offensive starters are in the top 25 in the conference in batting average ... Oklahoma State is ranked No. 24 in Boyd's World Pseudo RPIs: only two other Big 12 teams are ahead of them, Texas at No. 2 and Texas A&M at No. 17 ... Future opponents RPI: Texas Tech is No. 29, Western Illinois No. 243 and Missouri No. 64.
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's weekly television show made its debut recently on stations throughout the state. The show, co-hosted by Tom Dirato, features highlights, analysis and feature stories with the Cowboy baseball team. The show can be seen in Stillwater on KWEM on Friday's at 8 p.m. and Saturday's at 6:30 p.m. Fans in Oklahoma City can tune in to the show on KSBI on Sunday at 8 p.m., while KSWO in Lawton will show it on Friday's at 8 p.m.
Nebraska Recap
Oklahoma State captured its fourth straight conference series after winning two of three from Nebraska last weekend. The Cowboys have won five of its last six conference series and have lost only one conference series this year (Texas in the Big 12 opener).
OSU used solid starting performances by Thomas Cowley and Spencer Grogan to take the first two games of the series before faltering in the final contest on Monday afternoon.
Cowley moved to 4-2 on the year after allowing just two runs on four hits with 10 strikeouts in 7.1 innings in the Pokes 7-4 win Saturday night. Ty Wright had a pair of two-run homers in the contest and led the team over the weekend with a 6-for-14 showing with six RBIs.
Grogan continued his magnificent run with yet another complete game, his sixth of the season in OSU's 6-3 win on Sunday. Chris Gutierrez had a big day at the plate with a 3-for-4 showing as the Cowboys rallied from a 3-2 deficit with four runs in the bottom of the seventh.
The Pokes could not close out the sweep on Monday, as five unearned runs were scored in the sixth that broke open a 1-1 game. Daniel Bruce capped off the inning with a grand slam off of Daniel Rew (5-6) that allowed Nebraska to salvage the final game.
Grogan Continues Dream Season
Junior lefthander Spencer Grogan has not only put together one of the top seasons on the mound, in the Big 12, but also in the nation. He was recently added to the Clemens Award Watch List, an award that honors the top collegiate pitcher in the country. Grogan is 11-1 with a 2.79 ERA entering this weekend's series against Texas Tech. The 10 wins is second best in the nation, two behind Jered Weaver of Long Beach State (13-0). The Cantonment, Fla., native pitched his sixth complete game of the year against Nebraska on Sunday, allowing three runs on eight hits with four strikeouts.
He was one out away from pitching his fifth consecutive complete game against OU on May 1. He went 8.2 innings and did not factor in the decision as OSU had to go to extra innings to defeat the Sooners 6-5 in 13. He allowed three runs on nine hits with six strikeouts, while going over the 100 innings pitched mark for the year (100.2).
He threw his fourth straight complete game in the Cowboys 4-2 win over Kansas State last Sunday.
He allowed four runs, two earned, on nine hits with a walk and five strikeouts in the complete game win over Kansas on April 17. He struck out a career high 11 batters against Baylor on April 11, while scattering 13 hits over nine innings of work.
Grogan pitched his second complete game of the year in the Cowboys 7-2 win over A&M on April 3. He allowed two runs, via a homer, on 10 hits with a walk and three strikeouts against the Aggies.
Grogan helped the Cowboys snap Texas' 17-game home winning streak on March 27 by nearly pitching a complete game in OSU's 3-2 win in 10 innings on Saturday. He went 9.2 innings and was a strike away from pitching his second consecutive complete game (nine innings, one earned run vs. Texas A&M-CC on 3/21). He scattered 11 hits in the contest and allowed just two runs (one earned) with two walks and four strikeouts.
Grogan's Run
Grogan's stellar season has him within reach of several Oklahoma State single season pitching records. He has won in seven of his last eight starts and has gone at least 8.2 innings in each of the contests. The 11 wins places him in a tie for 13th on the all-time list, four behind the school leader Dennis Livingston who had 15 wins in 1983.
Grogan's 109.2 innings pitched is good for 17th place on the single season list, 35.1 innings behind Jason Bell's 145 set back in 1995.
Interesting statistical tidbits from Grogan's last eight starts is that he has not walked anyone in his last 26.2 innings and has only 13 free passes all season. That mark equals out to just 1.07 base on balls per nine innings pitched. He is 6-0 in seven league starts with five complete games. He was one out away from a complete game in the other two contests (Texas- 9.2, Oklahoma- 8.2) and was an out away from being 7-0 in seven league starts.
If he continues at this pace, he will also crack the Cowboy single season list for starts in a season and complete games.
The Price Is Wright
Freshman designated hitter Ty Wright has put his hat in the ring for Big 12 Freshman of the Year honors with his stellar season at the plate.
He leads the team with a .361 batting average, which is also the best mark by any freshman in the conference. In addition he has nine stolen bases in 11 attempts and leads the team with 69 hits on the year. Wright went 6-for-14 (.429) with two homers and six RBIs against Nebraska last weekend and is batting .354 in 20 league games.
He was named the Big 12 Player of the Week on April 20 after he went 6-for-10 in the three game series against Kansas. It included a 4-for-6 performance in the Cowboys 10-8 extra inning victory in the series finale on April 18, with the game-winning two-run homer in the bottom of the 14th inning.
Richmond's Riches
Junior righthander Scott Richmond opened the season as the Cowboys No. 1 starter. He had the most impressive fall season of any Cowboy pitcher and looked to be a solid contributor to this year's team. After a few shaky starts, he was moved to the bullpen where he has come on strong in recent weeks.
He has allowed just one earned run in his last seven outings (25.0 innings) with 24 strikeouts and one save. Richmond's has a league best 0.36 ERA in seven conference outings and has limited opponents to just a .215 batting average.
He was the pitcher of record in both Oklahoma State wins over Oklahoma which were his first wins of the year. The Canadian did not allow an earned run in 8.2 innings of work against the Sooners.
The recent run of success started against Texas-Arlington on April 13 when he struck out the two batters he faced in relief. He followed that up with a 10 inning relief outing against Kansas in the Pokes 10-8 win in 14 innings on April 18. He gave up one run in that strong performance while striking out eight and walking four. Richmond followed that outing with two relief appearances against Kansas State, where he recorded his first save of the year. .
Fields Garnering Recognition Nationally
Junior third baseman Josh Fields has been garnering national recognition by Baseball America as one of its Player of the Year candidates. In April he was added to the Golden Spikes Award Watch list as well.
In a recent issue of Baseball America, Fields was listed as a player to watch for their annual award among six other position players.
has also seen his professional baseball stock rise among the scouts, as he is listed as 19th best collegiate prospect at the mid-point of the season, after starting the year at 32. He is fifth among position players on the list and the top third baseman according to the magazine.
Fields was listed as a first-round lock by ESPN's Peter Gammons in a recent edition of Diamond Notes.
Entering the Texas Tech series, he is third on the team with a .348 batting average, while walking a team best 35 times.
Jaramillo Named To Golden Spikes Award List
Junior catcher Jason Jaramillo was named to the Golden Spikes Award List recently by USA baseball. The honor recognizes the top amateur baseball player in the country, and Jaramillo is one of just 30 players from around the country to be on the initial list.
The Franksville, Wisc., native is currently batting .350 to go along with four homers and 37 RBIs, with a .359 batting average in 20 league games. Defensively, Jaramillo has picked off two runners while throwing out 17 of 39 base runners in 46 games. Recently Baseball America tabbed him as the 29th best draft-eligible prospect in college.
In addition, he was named to the Johnny Bench Award Watch List in March, 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.
Rew's Rankings
This season, senior hurler Daniel Rew, will share his thoughts through a baseball diary that can be viewed on the baseball home page at www.okstate.com. In this week's edition Rew talks about graduation.
Oklahoma State and USA Baseball
USA Baseball ranked Oklahoma State No. 21 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 20-year span which is the third most among Big 12 schools, behind Texas A&M and Texas.
