Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboy Baseball Hosts Kansas State In Big 12 Opener
March 17, 2005 | Cowboy Baseball
Oklahoma State (15-6)
vs. Kansas State (12-5)
Friday, March 18 • 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 19 • 2 p.m.
Sunday, March 20 • 1 p.m.
Reynolds Stadium (4,000)
All-Time Series:
OSU leads 140-46 and has won the last six meetings.
Last Year
April 23, 2004 Oklahoma State 12, Kansas State 4 Manhattan
April 25, 2004 Oklahoma State 4, Kansas State 2 (Game 1) Manhattan
April 25, 2004 Oklahoma State 16, Kansas State 2 (8) (Game 2) Manhattan
Polls:
OSU is ranked No. 29 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association this week. Kansas State is not ranked.
The Coaches:
OSU’s Frank Anderson is 53-30 in his second season as head coach and 3-0 against Kansas State. KSU’s Brad Hill is 38-35 in his second season in Manhattan and 0-3 against Oklahoma State.
Radio:
105.5 FM Friday/ 780 AM on Saturday and Sunday
Rex Holt (Play-by-Play) is in his 23rd season.
What’s On Tap
Oklahoma State opens its Big 12 slate against Kansas State in Stillwater this weekend. It will be a battle of streaks, as OSU comes into the series with a four-game winning skein, while KSU has won seven in a row. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. on Friday, with the teams facing off again on Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
About Kansas State
Kansas State is 12-5 on the year after sweeping a Monday-Tuesday series against winless North Dakota State. Second-year coach Brad Hill has the Wildcats hitting a torrid .364 as a team with 171 runs scored in 17 games.
Outfielder Brandon Farr leads the team with a .434 batting average, while Joe Roundy and Steve Murphy are the top power sources with four homers and 21 RBIs respectively.
The Wildcat pitching staff has also had early season success, sporting a 3.23 team ERA heading into the weekend. KSU will throw righthander Chase Mitchell (3-0, 4.56 ERA) on Friday, southpaw Mitch Walter (2-1, 2.54 ERA) on Saturday and righthander Adam Cowart (4-0, 1.53 ERA) on Sunday.
Series Notes: The Cowboys have won the last four series dating back to the 2000 campaign ... OSU is 80-10 all-time in games in Stillwater ... The last loss to the Wildcats at home was a 13-8 decision on April 7, 2001 ... KSU last won a series in Stillwater back in 1971.
Big 12 Openers/Notables
Since the inaugural season of Big 12 baseball in 1997, Oklahoma State has gone 5-3 in conference opening games. The Cowboys have won four of the eight opening series, with their best opening start a three-game sweep of Missouri in the 2002 season. OSU has produced an overall conference record of 126-94 (.572), with a season best 22-9 record in 1997 and season worst of 13-13 in 2002. This weekend’s series will be the first time the Pokes have faced Kansas State in the conference opener dating back to the 1995 campaign (Big Eight).
Pokes Corral Leathernecks
Junior first baseman Adam Carr went 4-for-5 with two triples, two homers and seven RBIs to lead Oklahoma State past Western Illinois 13-5 in baseball action Wednesday afternoon at Reynolds Stadium.
Carr’s two triples tied an OSU single game individual mark, while the squad tied a team best of four triples in a game. Both records had been reached several times previously.
Cowboy starter Nate Melek (2-1) picked up the win, allowing three runs, one earned, on eight hits in six innings of work with four strikeouts. Reliever Rick Rivas pitched three innings of relief to qualify for his first save of the year.
An RBI triple by Carr and a RBI double by catcher Jeff Parrish staked the Pokes to a 2-0 first inning lead. Carr hit another run scoring triple in the third and scored on a sacrifice fly by Parrish to extend the advantage to 4-0.
OSU added another run in the fourth, before Western Illinois got back into the game with a three-run sixth inning. Leftfielder Kyle Malan had a two-run single and catcher Jake Gloude had a RBI single to account for the Leatherneck scoring in the inning.
The Cowboys broke open the game with a four-run sixth, highlighted by a three-run homer by Carr, his eighth of the year.
Malan added a two-run single in the seventh to cut the lead to 9-5, but OSU responded with two more runs of its own in the bottom half on a RBI single by Ty Wright and a RBI triple by Chris Gutierrez.
Carr accounted for the final score of the game, with a two-run blast over the leftfield wall to make it 13-5.
Justin Colbert, Wright and Gutierrez had two hits each in the Pokes 14 hit attack
Cowboy Bats Come Alive
Oklahoma State’s offense has come alive in March, and have played big part in the Cowboys recent success. The Pokes are 8-2 this month and go into the weekend with seven straight games with 10 or more hits. OSU is averaging 8.9 runs per game and are hitting at a .342 clip with 15 homers, 29 doubles and seven triples in the last 10 games. Every Cowboy starter is hitting over .300 with three of them hitting .400 or better. The increased offensive output could not come at a better time as the Cowboys head into the conference slate tomorrow night.
Gutierrez Celebrates Birthday In Style
Junior shortstop Chris Gutierrez celebrated his 21st birthday last weekend in grand fashion and has gone on an offensive tear at the plate over the last four games. He is 8-for-11 (.727) with two doubles, two triples, three runs batted in and six runs scored in that span and has seen his batting average increase to a lofty .362 entering the weekend. Gutierrez has done this despite not having an official at-bat during his start in the series finale against Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Sunday. He was hit in the head by a pitch in his first plate appearance and sat out the rest of the contest. The Orlando, Fla., native had to have stitches, but he showed no ill affects in Wednesday’s win over Western Illinois, going 2-for-3 with a RBI and run scored.
Hot-Hitting Hernandez
Junior college transfer Mike Hernandez got off to a slow start with the bat through the first month of the season, but he has heated up at the plate in March.
Hernandez was hitting .208 at the end of February, but has gone 17-for-37 (.459) with seven doubles, a homer and 11 RBIs in nine games this month. He enters the weekend with a team high 11-game hitting streak and is coming off a 7-for-14 weekend showing against Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
The Brooklyn, N.Y., product has also showcased a strong throwing arm in rightfield with four assists this month as well.
Consistent Cowley
Junior hurler Thomas Cowley continued his strong start to the season with eight innings of three-hit shutout baseball against Wisconsin-Milwaukee last Friday. Cowley did not walk a batter while striking out nine to improve to 4-1 on the year. He has not allowed an earned run in his last 18 innings pitched dating back to the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi game on Feb. 25. He pitched his first complete game of the season against Louisiana Tech on March 4, allowing just two unearned runs on six hits in the contest. His 1.60 ERA is best among the starters on the team and he has struck out 33 to just six walks in 39.1 innings to date. Cowley has also proven to be a durable pitcher with five of his six starts lasting five innings or more.
Reliable Richmond
Senior righthander Scott Richmond has developed into one of the Cowboys more reliable performers in his final collegiate campaign.
Richmond, who currently serves as a long relief specialist, opened the 2004 season as the Cowboys No. 1 starter and closed it as their relief ace. He pitched two innings of one-hit relief against Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Sunday and has not allowed an earned run in his last five outings.
This season he has been virtually unhittable, allowing just nine hits in 27.2 innings (.101), while striking out 31. Against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Feb. 25, he pitched 8.2 innings of relief, which surprisingly, isn’t his longest career relief outing. Richmond pitched 10 innings in relief last year in the Cowboys 10-8 win over Kansas in 14 innings.
On Deck
The Cowboys take the week off before hosting Baylor next weekend in Big 12 play. The Bears are 12-7 overall and open conference play against No. 1 Texas this weekend. They will face Texas State on Tuesday before heading to Stillwater for next Friday’s 7 p.m. opener.
Cowboy Notes
The Cowboys lead the Big 12 in homers with 35 ... Scott Richmond leads the Big 12 in opponents batting average (.101) and is second in ERA (0.65) ... Oklahoma State is third in in the conference in team hitting (.336) and fifth in team ERA (2.80) ... The weekend trio of Thomas Cowley, Brae Wright and Adam Daniels have combined to go 12-3 entering the K-State series ... OSU has swept all four of its three-game series entering league play ... Adam Carr leads the conference with nine homers and 38 RBIs, while Jeff Parrish is third in longballs with five ... Justin Colbert leads the Big 12 in runs scored with 30 ... Frank Anderson is 6-0 against the Kansas schools in the Big 12 ... OSU is 13-0 when leading after six innings ... The Pokes have scored first in 19 of their 21 games played ... The team is 12-0 when out hitting their opponents ... Six Cowboys have hitting streaks of four games or more led by Mike Hernandez’ 11 game stretch and Adam Carr’s eight ... The Cowboys have not lost a weekend (9-1) contest since falling to Tennessee on Feb. 13.
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 from time to time this season. The 2004 Cowboy Baseball Hall of Fame inductee is spearheading the schools effort in raising money for the renovation of Reynolds Stadium.
This weekend’s contests can be heard on the KSPI family of stations with Friday’s game set for 105.5 KGFY, while both Saturday and Sunday games are scheduled for 780 AM.
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 started on Feb. 14 and is co-hosted by Rex Holt at the new Rib Crib restaurant on Perkins Road.
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.
