Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboy Baseball Set For NCAA Regional Play
June 07, 2004 | Cowboy Baseball
No. 2 Seed Oklahoma State
(37-22)
NCAA Tallahassee Regional
June 4-6
Dick Howser Stadium (6,000)
First Round Matchup:
vs. (3) UCF (44-16)
Friday, June 4 at 3 p.m. ET
Second Round Matchup:
vs. (1) Florida State (42-20) or (4) Bethune-Cookman (27-26)
Saturday, June 5 at 3 p.m. (With Win)/ 11 a.m. (With Loss)
NCAA Tournament History:
This is Oklahoma State's 34th NCAA appearance and first since 2001. The Cowboys are 123-71 (.634) all-time in the tourney and have advanced to the College World Series 19 times. OSU's last CWS appearance came in 1999.
Last NCAA Appearance (2001 New Orleans Regional/Tulane Host):
May 25, 2001 Oklahoma State 5, Mississippi 4 New Orleans
May 26, 2001 Tulane 13, Oklahoma State 10 New Orleans
May 27, 2001 Oklahoma State 16, Mississippi 7 New Orleans
May 28, 2001 Tulane 9, Oklahoma State 8 New Orleans
Polls:
Oklahoma State is ranked No. 24 by Baseball America and No. 27 in Collegiate Baseball.
UCF is ranked No. 20 by CB, while Florida State is ranked No. 16 by Baseball America and No. 17 by CB and Baseball Weekly. Bethune-Cookman is not ranked.
The Coach:
OSU's Frank Anderson is 37-22 in his first season as a head coach.
Radio:
KSPI 93.7 FM
Rex Holt (Play-by-Play) is in his 22nd season.
What's On Tap
Oklahoma State is back in the NCAA tournament for the first time in three years and will travel to Tallahassee, Fla., for regional play this weekend. The No. 2 seeded Cowboys will take on No. 3 seed Central Florida on Friday at 3 p.m. ET. Host Florida State is the No. 1 seed and will take on No. 4 Bethune-Cookman on Friday at 7 p.m. ET.
About Florida State
Florida State is 42-20 on the year and have won 11 of its last 12 games to end the year, and captured the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament last weekend. The Seminoles finished third in the ACC during the regular season with a 16-8 record.
Sophomore Eddie Martinez-Esteve is the top offensive performer, batting at a .401 clip with 19 homers and 78 RBIs. Stephen Drew, brother of Atlanta Braves outfielder J.D. Drew, is hitting .353 with 14 homers and 52 RBIs as the starting shortstop. Florida State as a team is batting .306 with 72 homers in 62 contests.
Senior righthander Brett James is the ace of the staff, sporting a 9-2 record with a 3.31 ERA. Reliever Kevin Lynch is 4-4 with a 2.29 ERA and a team best five saves. The Seminoles have a 4.34 team ERA and has three shutouts this season.
All-Time Results: Oklahoma State and Florida State have met just once on the baseball diamond, with the Seminoles coming away with a 6-5 win on June 5, 1986, at the College World Series.
About Central Florida
Central Florida is 44-16 overall and captured the Atlantic Sun regular season crown with a 24-6 league mark.
Junior outfielder Clay Timpner is the offensive catalyst for UCF, batting .381 with five homers and 31 RBIs, while also stealing 42 bases in 47 attempts. Junior Dee Brown is the top RBI guy with 63 to go along with four homers, while hitting at a .360 clip. The Golden Knights are hitting .306 as a team with 22 homers and 380 runs scored in 60 games.
The strength of the squad is the pitching staff with two starters with sub 2.00 ERAs. Junior righthander Matt Fox is 13-2 with a 1.99 ERA, while sophomore righty Kyle Bono is 8-1 with a 1.79 ERA. As a team, UCF has a 3.19 ERA with 13 shutouts and 440 strikeouts in 496 innings pitched.
All-Time Results: Oklahoma State is 1-1 against Central Florida all-time. The teams met in the Olive Garden Classic in 1997, with OSU winning the first game 13-12 on Feb. 8, and UCF took the second 8-7 on Feb. 9.
About Bethune-Cookman
Bethune-Cookman is 27-26 overall and won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference with a 14-4 mark. Senior first baseman Juan Figueroa is the top offensive threat, hitting .387 with seven homers and 57 RBIs. Junior outfielder Sebastien Boucher is the top base threat with 36 stolen bases in 45 attempts, while also batting .364 on the year. The Wildcats are hitting .303 as a team with 32 homers and 350 runs scored in 53 games.
Sophomore righthander Francisco Gomez is the staff ace with a 7-1 record and 2.96 ERA in 11 appearances. BCC has a 5.24 team ERA with 322 strikeouts in 439 innings pitched.
All-Time Results: The Cowboys and Wildcats have never met on the baseball diamond.
Broadcast Info
Every Oklahoma State game during the tournament will be broadcast on one of the KSPI network of stations. Rex Holt, host of the “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.
Cowboy Notes
OSU fourth place finish is the highest conference showing since a fourth place showing in 1999 ... ... Josh Fields is third in the Big 12 in batting average (.370) ... Scott Kirby is tied for the Big lead in triples with five ... The Cowboys are second to Kansas (.316) in the conference with a .315 batting average ... Spencer Grogan leads the Big 12 in innings pitched (125.2), complete games (7) and is tied for first in wins (12) ... the Cowboys .969 fielding percentage is the highest since a .974 mark in 1973 ... OSU's 46 homers is the lowest team total since producing 41 in 53 games back in 1980 ... OSU's 11 complete games is the most since 1991 (13) ... OSU's .451 slugging percentage is the lowest since a .429 mark back in 1979 ... The Cowboys have three players from the state of Florida: Spencer Grogan (Cantonement), Chris Gutierrez (Orlando) and DeWayne Carver (Newberry) ... OSU has won at least one NCAA tournament game in its last 21 appearances.
Cowboys Defeat Missouri To Win Big 12 Tourney
Oklahoma State capped off an improbable 4-0 run through the Big 12 tournament with an exciting 10-9 win over Missouri in 13 innings on championship Sunday.
The Cowboys avenged a sweep at the hands of the Tigers just a week earlier in Columbia. OSU rallied from a 9-2 deficit with five runs in the eighth and two more in the ninth to tie the game. Keanon Simon's bases loaded sacrifice fly plated the go ahead run in the 13th to give the Pokes their first conference tourney crown in the Big 12.
The two preseason All-Americans led the way for OSU offfensively during the tournament. Catcher Jason Jaramillo went 8-for-15 with two doubles and five runs scored, while third baseman Josh Fields was the catalyst for the Cowboys comeback wins over Missouri and Texas. Fields went 7-for-17 with three doubles and two homers, while scoring five runs. His two-run homer tied the game against Texas in the sixth inning as OSU went on to score eight total runs in the frame to win 8-2.
Sophomore southpaw Thomas Cowley was clutch on the mound in two appearances in the tourney. He threw his third complete game of the year in a 6-5 win over Texas A&M in the opening game of the tournament and followed that performance with 4.1 innings of scoreless relief against Missouri on Sunday. He went 2-0 with a 3.38 ERA while striking out eight in 13.1 innings pitched.
Scott Richmond had a solid outing on the mound against Texas, allowing two runs on seven hits in 8.1 innings of work. He was two outs from a complete game, which would have been the Pokes third consecutive of the tournament.
Five Cowboys were named to the all-tournament team, led by Jaramillo and Fields. Also named were shortstop Chris Gutierrez, second baseman Rusty Ryal and pitcher Spencer Grogan.
Incaviglia Makes Most Of Opportunity
Freshman first baseman Thomas Incaviglia moved into the starting lineup on May 18 and has cemented his role there with solid play over the last two weeks. Incaviglia, nephew of OSU legend Pete Incaviglia, shined during the Big 12 tournament with nine hits in 20 at bats. He scored three times with four RBIs, while also playing a perfect first with no errors in 50 chances. He tied a Big 12 single game tourney record with 17 putouts against Nebraska on May 28.
Since moving into the starting lineup nine games ago, he leads the team with a .472 batting average (17-for-36) with seven runs scored, while also playing error free at first in 81 chances.
Grogan Named Dick Howser Award Semifinalist
Junior lefthander Spencer Grogan was named one of 30 semifinalists for the Dick Howser Award, which honors the top collegiate player in the country.
Grogan is second in the Big 12 in wins with a 12-2 mark and 2.72 ERA on the year.
The Cantonment, Fla., native threw his seventh complete game and probably his best game of the year in a 7-1 win over Nebraska on May 28. Grogan allowed just one unearned run in the ninth, on three hits while striking out three. He was named a first team All-Big 12 choice by the Dallas Morning News and was a second team pick by the league's coaches.
Grogan lost for the first time in nine decisions to Texas Tech on May 15. He allowed four runs on 12 hits in seven innings of work to drop to 6-1 in league games.
Grogan pitched his sixth complete game of the year against Nebraska on May 9, 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 eight of his last 10 starts and has gone at least seven innings in each of the contests. The 12 wins places him in a tie for eighth on the all-time list, three behind the school leader Dennis Livingston who had 15 wins in 1983.
Grogan's 125.2 innings pitched is good for fifth place on the single season list, 19.1 innings behind Jason Bell's 145 set back in 1995.
Interesting statistical tidbits on Grogan is that he has walked only 15 base runners on the year. He is 6-1 in eight league starts with five complete games. He was one out away from a complete game in two of the three other contests (Texas- 9.2, Oklahoma- 8.2) and was an out away from being 7-0 in seven league starts.
Four Cowboys Named To Coaches All-Big 12 Team
Catcher Jason Jaramillo led a contingent of four Cowboys named to the All-Big 12 team released by the conference office on Monday afternoon.
Jaramillo was named a first-teamer for the second straight year while shortstop Chris Gutierrez, leftfielder Scott Kirby and pitcher Spencer Grogan picked up second team plaudits.
Garnerning honorable mention honors for the Pokes were third baseman Josh Fields and freshman designated hitter Ty Wright.
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.
Fields currently leads the team with a .370 average to go along with 10 homers, 20 doubles and 47 RBIs. He has been on a tear in his last nine games, batting .471 (16-for-34) with six doubles, four homers, 11 RBIs and 11 runs scored. His slugging percentage is 1.000 and his on base percentage is .581.
In an April 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 17th best prospect entering the draft, 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.
Jaramillo Named To Golden Spikes Award List
Junior catcher Jason Jaramillo was named a Johnny Bench Award semifinalist last week, marking the second straight year he has been in contention for the award. The award recognizes the top catcher in the country in a ceremony after the baseball season in Wichita, Kan. He has been on the initial list in all three years at OSU.
The Franksville, Wisc., native is currently batting .360 to go along with six homers and 50 RBIs, with a .346 batting average in 26 league games. Defensively, Jaramillo has picked off five runners while throwing out 19 of 51 base runners in 58 games. Recently Baseball America tabbed him as the 50th best prospect in the upcoming draft. The magazine also said he had the best arm in college and was the best defensive player in college as well.
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.
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.
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 and the Big 12 tournament.
