Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboy Baseball Hosts Nebraska In Pivotal Big 12 Series
May 07, 2004 | Cowboy Baseball
No. 21/23/25 Oklahoma State (29-15, 12-5 Big 12) vs.
No. 22/31 Nebraska (30-14, 9-9 Big 12)
May 8-10 • 7 p.m., 2 p.m., 1 p.m.
Reynolds Stadium (4,000) • Stillwater, Okla.
All-Time Series:
Oklahoma State leads 104-64 dating back to the 1919 season.
Nebraska has won 11 of the last 12 meetings since the 2000 campaign.
Last Two Years:
May 12, 2003 Nebraska 9, Oklahoma State 1 Lincoln
May 11, 2003 Nebraska 5, Oklahoma State 2 Lincoln
May 11, 2003 Nebraska 8, Oklahoma State 7 Lincoln
April 21, 2002 Nebraska 10, Oklahoma State 3 Stillwater
April 20, 2002 Oklahoma State 8, Nebraska 4 Stillwater
April 19, 2002 Nebraska 5, Oklahoma State 2 Stillwater
Polls:
Oklahoma State is ranked No. 21 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers, No. 23 by Baseball America and No. 25 by Collegiate Baseball. Nebraska is ranked No. 22 in the ESPN/Sports Weekly Coaches Poll and No. 31 by the NCBWA
The Coaches:
OSU's Frank Anderson is 29-15 in his first season as a head coach.
NU's Mike Anderson is 77-32 in his second season as a head coach.
Radio:
KSPI 93.7 FM
Rex Holt (Play-by-Play) is in his 22nd season.
What's On Tap
Big 12 leader Oklahoma State will open an eight-game homestand this Saturday as Big 12 foe Nebraska heads to town. Due to student-athlete final exams, the series is starting on Saturday at 7 p.m., instead of the usual Friday opener. The teams will play at 2 p.m. on Sunday and will close out the series on Monday at 1 p.m.
About Nebraska
Nebraska is 30-14 overall and 9-9 in league action after dropping two of three to Texas A&M in Lincoln over the weekend. The Huskers won the Big 12 regular season title last season, but have lost their last four conference series after starting the year at 5-1.
Sophomore third baseman Alex Gordon leads the Nebraska offensive attack in several categories including batting average (.373), homers (15), RBI (62) and stolen bases (9). The Huskers are hitting .292 overall, with a .269 average in 18 conference matchups.
Zach Kroenke (7-1, 2.37 ERA) is the ace of the staff and is expected to get the start on Saturday. The rest of the rotation is still to be determined. NU sports a 3.79 team ERA overall, with a 4.84 mark in Big 12 play.
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 nine of its last 10 conference matchups ... This is the first season that Oklahoma State has been in first place in the month of May in Big 12 history (1997-) ... After dropping the conference series opener to Texas, OSU has won or tied in its last five Big 12 series ... The Cowboys are 5-1 in conference games at home entering the weekend ... Oklahoma State is 5-3 in Big 12 play against Nebraska in Stillwater ... The Cowboys recorded its first back-to-back conference series sweeps (KU, KSU) since defeating Iowa State and Kansas State in 1999 ... OSU will play its next eight games at home ... The Pokes only have two more midweek games on the schedule (vs. Western Illinois 5/18-19) ... 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 20 in the conference in batting average ... Oklahoma State is ranked No. 27 in Boyd's World Pseudo RPIs: other Big 12 teams ahead of OSU: Texas (2), Texas A&M (17), Nebraska (21) and Texas Tech (23).
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.
Bedlam Recap
Oklahoma State took two of three from rival Oklahoma last weekend in the annual Bedlam Series and captured the Bedlam Cup for the first time in three seasons.
The Cowboys scored six runs in the first inning of game one in Tulsa and held on for an 8-5 win. Rod Allen was the offensive star of the game with a three-run homer and two-run single that keyed the way to victory. Reliever Scott Richmond pitched 4.1 innings of scoreless relief to pick up his first win of the year.
The series then moved to Oklahoma City, where rain forced the postponement of Friday night's contest. The team's played a doubleheader on Saturday, with the Cowboys using 13 innings to put away the Sooners by a 6-5 score. OSU twice had two-run leads heading into OU's last at-bat, but could not close it out until the 13th. Richmond again allowed no earned runs in 4.1 innings of relief work to pick up his second win of the series.
OU claimed the game three victory, 4-1, behind a strong pitching performance by Mike Swindell. The win snapped the Cowboys nine-game conference winning streak. First baseman Mario Matulich led OSU with six hits in 13 at-bats, easily his best series of the season.
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 .356 batting average, which is also the best mark by any freshman in the conference. In addition he has eight stolen bases in 10 attempts and is third on the team with six sacrifice bunts.
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 was the pitcher of record in both Oklahoma State wins over Oklahoma last weekend, his first wins of the year.
Richmond struck out the two batters he faced in relief against Texas-Arlington on April 13th and 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 last weekend, where he recorded his first save of the year. He did not allow an earned run in 8.2 innings of work against the Sooners and is now 2-0 with a conference best 0.39 ERA in six appearances. He has allowed just one earned run in his last six outings (23.1 innings) with 23 strikeouts and one save.
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.
He 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 Nebraska series, he is third on the team with a .347 batting average, while walking a team best 33 times.
Grogan Named To Clemens Award List
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 10-1 with a 2.77 ERA entering this weekend's series against Nebraska. The 10 wins is third best in the nation, one behind second and two behind Jered Weaver of Long Beach State (12-0).
The Cantonment, Fla., native was one out away from pitching his fifth consecutive complete game last Saturday against OU. 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.
Grogan has won in six of his last seven starts and has gone at least 8.2 innings in each of the contests.
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.
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 .353 to go along with four homers and 36 RBIs. Defensively, Jaramillo has picked off two runners while throwing out 15 of 36 base runners in 43 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.
On Deck
The Cowboys will have the week off before hosting Texas Tech in a pivotal conference series on May 14-16. The Red Raiders have won 14 of their last 16 contests and are hosting Missouri this weekend. Tech opened the conference season at 1-5, but have stormed back with a 10-1 record entering this weekend's action. TTU will play Dallas Baptist on May 12 before heading to Stillwater, with the series against the Cowboys scheduled for 7 p.m. starts on Friday and Saturday and a 2 p.m. start slated for Sunday.
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.
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.
New To Allie P.
Fans may notice some cosmetic changes that have happened since the 2003 season ended. During the offseason, all of the field level brick was painted green and black padding was added to the right and left field line brick walls. The infield was also leveled, with grass added to the baselines.
A new state of the art scoreboard made its debut against this season, with a video board to be added in the future. Next season, the Cowboys will move over to the third base dugout where new locker rooms will be built with much more room available.
