Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboy Baseball Heads To Houston
February 10, 2005 | Cowboy Baseball
No. 23 Oklahoma State (3-0)
at the Minute Maid Classic
vs. No. 12/14/19 Rice (1-0) • Friday, Feb. 11 • Noon
vs. Houston (0-0) • Saturday, Feb. 12 • Noon
vs. Tennessee (0-0) • Sunday, Feb. 13 • 11 a.m.
Minute Maid Park (40,950)
The Matchups:
vs. Rice (1-0) Friday, Feb. 11 at Noon
vs. Houston (0-0) Saturday, Feb. 12 at Noon
vs. Tennessee (0-0) Sunday, Feb 13 at 11 a.m.
All-Time Series:
vs. Rice Oklahoma State leads 20-12.
Rice has won the last three meetings dating back to the 1996 season.
vs. Houston Oklahoma State leads 42-39-1.
The two teams last met in 1993 with OSU winning 28-9 in Lafayette, La.
vs. Tennessee Tennessee leads 3-1.
UT has won the last three meetings, including two at the NCAA Regional in Knoxville in 1995.
Polls:
Oklahoma State is ranked No. 23 by Collegiate Baseball and Baseball America and is receiving votes in the ESPN/Baseball Weekly Coaches Poll. Rice is ranked No. 12 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers, No. 14 by Collegiate Baseball and ESPN/Sports Weekly and No. 19 by Baseball America. Houston and Tennessee are unranked this week.
The Coaches:
OSU’s Frank Anderson is 41-24 in his second season as head coach.
Rice’s Wayne Graham is 583-238 in his 14 season as the Owls skipper.
Houston’s Rayner Noble is 361-253 in 11 seasons at his alma mater.
Tennessee’s Rod Delmonico is 588-326 in his 16 seasons in Knoxville.
Radio:
KSPI 93.7 FM
Rex Holt (Play-by-Play) is in his 23rd season.
Former Cowboy coach Gary Ward is slated to provide color analysis in Houston.
What’s On Tap
Oklahoma State travels to Houston this weekend to take part in the Minute Maid Classic. The tournament showcases some of the top programs in the country and will be played in Minute Maid Park, the home of the Houston Astros. In addition to the Cowboys, Texas A&M and Baylor will also represent the Big 12, while Rice, Houston and Tennessee round out the field. Oklahoma State will open the tournament against Rice on Friday at noon and will play Houston at noon on Saturday. The Cowboys will close out their three-game slate against Tennessee on Sunday at 11 a.m.
About Rice
Rice returns six starters from last year’s team that finished 46-14 and first in the Western Athletic Conference with a 24-6 mark. Veteran head coach Wayne Graham led the Owls to the 2003 NCAA Championship and has made four College World Series appearances with the school. Rice opened the season against Division II Central Missouri State last Saturday and came away with a 5-2 win. Three Owl pitchers combined to strike out 21 batters in the win. Rice had its midweek contest against Sam Houston State postponed due to rain and the scheduled starting pitcher for that contest, lefthander Matt Ueckert, is slated to now start against OSU.
Series Notes: Oklahoma State leads the series 20-12, but Rice has captured the last three meetings, including a 7-2 win in the 1999 College World Series.
About Houston
Houston returns four starters from last year’s team which finished 30-29 overall and in fourth place in Conference USA with a 19-11 league mark. The Cougars missed out on NCAA play last season after making the NCAA Super Regionals in 2003. UH has played a tough non-conference slate under Rayner Noble and continue that this year with series against Pepperdine, LSU and Long Beach State. The Cougars will open their season this weekend, starting with Baylor on Friday at 3:30 p.m.
Series Notes: Oklahoma State leads the series 42-39-1 and won the last meeting, 28-9, in 1993. The two teams met on a yearly basis in the 1950’s when both teams were part of the Missouri Valley Conference.
About Tennessee
Tennessee returns seven starters from last year’s NCAA tournament squad that finished 38-24 and in fifth place in the Southeastern Conference with a 14-16 league mark. The Vols have one of the top pro prospects in the country in junior righthander Luke Hochevar (6-5, 4.64 ERA in 2004). Junior outfielder Josh Alley is the top returning power threat with five homers in 2004, while junior outfielder Eli Iorg is the top returning RBI man with 45. Freshman southpaw James Adkins is slated to get the start against Oklahoma State on Sunday. UT opens its season on Friday against Texas A&M at 7 p.m.
Series Notes: Tennessee leads the all-time series 3-1, with three of the meetings taking place in NCAA Regional play. The Cowboys won the last matchup on the diamond, a 6-1 decision in the Mideast Regional in Stillwater in 1997. Prior to that win, UT had defeated the Pokes 14-7 at the Olive Garden Classic that same year. The two teams first met in the 1995 Mideast Regional in Knoxville, with a Tennessee team led by future major leaguers R.A. Dickey and Todd Helton taking both contests.
Cowboys Blast 11 Homers In Series Sweep
Oklahoma State pounded 11 homers and outscored Arkansas-Pine Bluff 55-2 in a three-game series sweep to open the 2005 campaign last weekend.
Junior first baseman Adam Carr hit a homer in all three contests and finished the weekend with nine RBIs and six runs scored. He also closed out the series on the mound with an inning of perfect relief. Several Cowboys also had stellar offensive weekends as the team combined to go 47-for-103 (.456) with 20 extra base hits.
Pitching And Defense Also Deserve Notice
While the offensive side usually gets most of the mention, the pitching and defense also excelled last weekend against UAPB. In fact the Cowboys achieved a new school feat, becoming the first team in school history to ever pitch back-to-back shutouts to open the season.
Junior southpaw Thomas Cowley picked up where he left off last season, throwing five innings of two-hit ball in the season opener. Junior Dusty Barnard closed out the game one victory with two innings of scoreless relief in his Cowboy debut.
Ole Miss transfer Brae Wright continued the scoreless string with five innings of one-hit ball in game two of the series. In fact, the lone hit he gave up was a slow infield chopper to third base. Juniors Rick Rivas and Brett McDonald closed out the run-rule shortened contest with an inning of shutout relief each.
The Cowboys finally gave up a couple of runs in the series finale, but still managed to strike out 11 Golden Lions in the contest.
Finally, the OSU defense played virtually flawless in the field, with just one error in 94 chances.
Cowboy Notes
Oklahoma State was 13-of-15 in stolen base attempts against Arkansas-Pine Bluff ... The Cowboys strikeout to walk ratio last weekend was 26:4, while UAPB’s was 4:31 ... Justin Colbert stole four bases in the series finale, one off of the school record set by Doug Dascenzo against Maine in 1985 ... Both of Jeff Parrish’s hits this year are homers ... The six teams at the tourney this weekend have made a combined 34 College World Series appearances, with Oklahoma State leading the way with 19: Rice (4), Texas A&M (4), Tennessee (3), Baylor (2), Houston (2)
OSU Picked To Finish Third In Big 12
Oklahoma State was picked to finish third in the Big 12 by the league coaches in a vote released by the conference office last week.
Defending Big 12 champion Texas was picked to finish first, receiving nine of the 10 conference schools vote. Oklahoma State received the other first place vote.
Each coach ranked the conference 1-9 and was not allowed to vote for their own team.
The league vote is as follows:
School (First Place Votes) Points
1. Texas (9) 81
2. Texas A&M 70
3. Oklahoma State (1) 62
4. Baylor 55
5. Nebraska 50
6. Texas Tech 39
7. Oklahoma 37
8. Missouri 30
9. Kansas 15
10. Kansas State 11
(Points are based on nine for first place, eight for second, etc.)
Broadcast Info
Every Oklahoma State game will be broadcast this season on the KSPI network of stations. Rex Holt, will once again call all of the action for the Cowboys. Former Cowboy coaching great Gary Ward will join Rex in the booth this weekend in Houston. The 2004 Cowboy Baseball Hall of Fame inductee is spearheading the schools effort in raising money for the renovation of Reynolds Stadium.
The games can be heard on the KSPI family of stations with this weekend’s broadcasts set for 93.7 FM.
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 starts on Feb. 14 and is co-hosted by Rex Holt.
Coach Anderson’s weekly television show will begin in March on a date to be determined. The show, co-hosted by Tom Dirato, features highlights, analysis and feature stories with the Cowboy baseball team.
Baseball America Tidbits
The Cowboys had several mentions in Baseball America’s College Preview in January. Oklahoma State, ranked 23rd in their preseason poll, is picked to finish fourth in the Big 12 and make the NCAA tournament. Junior transfer pitcher Brae Wright is listed as the conference’s top newcomer and ninth best prospect for this year’s draft, while junior Chris Gutierrez is considered the best defensive shortstop in the Big 12. Junior transfer Mike Hernandez is listed as the second best newcomer in the conference after having a successful summer in the Cape Cod League.
On Deck
The Cowboys will return home to face Dallas Baptist on Tuesday, Feb. 15 at 6 p.m. OSU will then host Binghamton in a three-game weekend series. DBU will play a two-game set against Arkansas this weekend, while BU will open their season next weekend in Stillwater.
Gutz World
This season shortstop Chris Gutierrez will keep a running diary online at www.okstate.com. Chris will attempt to update his diary once a week starting next week. Check it out at the school’s athletic website.
Two Cowboys Play In Athens Olympics
Although the United States did not qualify for the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Oklahoma State baseball had two former players represent other countries participating in the games. Outfielder Jeff Guiel played for the Canadian Olympic team that made the semifinals, while pitcher David Rollandini played for Italy.
New To Allie P.
Fans may notice some cosmetic changes that have happened since the 2004 season ended. During the offseason, a new outfield fence was put in and artificial turf was added behind home plate. Also construction has begun on a new lockerroom that will eventually move the Cowboys over to the third base dugout. The targeted finish date for the project is this summer, but it could be finished in time to move into towards the end of the season.
