Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboy Baseball Closes Out Regular Season At Kansas
May 19, 2005 | Cowboy Baseball
Oklahoma State (32-21, 11-13 Big 12)
at Kansas (34-25, 9-14 Big 12)
Friday, May 20 • 7 p.m.
Saturday, May 21 • 6 p.m.
Sunday, May 22 • 1 p.m.
Hoglund Ballpark (2,500)
All-Time Series:
Oklahoma State leads the series 123-44 dating back to 1921.
Last Year
April 16 Oklahoma State 5, Kansas 4 Stillwater
April 17 Oklahoma State 14, Kansas 4 Stillwater
April 18 Oklahoma State 10, Kansas 8 (14) Stillwater
Polls:
Neither team is ranked this week.
The Coaches:
OSU’s is 70-45 in his second season as head coach and 3-0 against Kansas. KU’s Ritch Price is 101-84-1 in his third season in Lawrence and 252-253 in nine seasons as a head coach. He is 1-6 all-time against Oklahoma State (0-1 at Cal-Poly).
Radio:
93.7 FM Rex Holt (Play-by-Play) is in his 23rd season.
What’s On Tap
Oklahoma State heads to Lawrence to close out the regular season with a three-game series against Kansas this weekend. The Cowboys and Jayhawks will open the series Friday night at 7 p.m. and will continue on Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
About Kansas
Kansas is 34-25 overall and 9-14 in the Big 12 after dropping two of three to rival Missouri over the weekend. KU is in contention for a spot in the conference tournament, which would be the second for the team in the last three years.
First baseman Jared Schweitzer leads the team with a .359 batting average to go along with seven homers and 28 RBIs, while outfielder A.J. Van Slyke is the top run producer with 12 homers and 55 RBIs. Kansas is hitting .290 as a team with 58 homers and 426 runs scored in 59 games this season (7.2 runs per game).
The Jayhawk pitching staff is led by Stanford transfer Kodiak Quick who is 9-5 on the year with a 3.72 ERA. Southpaws Mike Zagurski (7-4, 4.41 ERA) and Sean Land (5-5, 4.63 ERA) are the other two hurlers that will probably start this weekend. KU sports a 4.65 team ERA overall that ranks ninth in the conference and has a 5.42 ERA in 23 Big 12 games that ranks eighth.
Series Notes: Oklahoma State has won every season series dating back to the 1993 season ... OSU is 19-5 against the Jayhawks since the formation of the Big 12 ... The Cowboys hold a 48-26 advantage over KU in Lawrence ... This weekend is the first time the teams have closed out the regular season against each other since 1984 and the first time in Lawrence since 1972.
Team Pitching Making Huge Strides
was known as one of the top pitching coaches in the country when he was hired as Oklahoma State’s head coach two years ago and he has made his mark on the Cowboy pitching staff over the last two years. Heading into the weekend, Oklahoma State’s 3.58 ERA is the lowest since 1973’s 1.93 mark in 36 games. The Pokes recorded a 3.60 ERA in 41 games in 1974 and that was the last time a Cowboy pitching staff had a sub 4.00 ERA. The 2005 squad’s earned run average is the lowest among OSU teams that played 50 or more games in a season with the next closest the 1980 team that sported a 4.08 mark in 53 games.
Things Still Up For In The Air In The Big 12
Every spot in the Big 12 conference standings is still up in the air heading into the final weekend of the regular season. Baylor (18-6) and Nebraska (16-8) are the two teams vying for the regular season title while Texas (14-9) and Missouri (14-10) are in a fight for the third and fourth spots. The rest of the conference standings is up in the air with the remaining six teams fighting for four spots in the Big 12 tournament next week in Oklahoma City.
Oklahoma could finish anywhere from fifth through eighth, while Oklahoma State could finish as high as fourth and as low as ninth. Texas Tech, Kansas, Kansas State and Texas A&M are also battling for a spot, with Tech and Kansas having one more conference win than the Wildcats and Aggies.
The final conference seedings for the tournament most likely won’t be decided until Sunday.
On Deck: Big 12 Tournament
Oklahoma State’s magic number is two to qualify for the Big 12 tournament heading into this weekend. The Cowboys need to win just one game, or have Texas A&M lose one to qualify.
If OSU stays in the sixth spot, the team would most likely face Texas in the 3 vs. 6 contest at 10 a.m. next Wednesday. The other games and possibilities are the 4 vs. 5 seed game at 5 p.m., the 2 vs. 7 at 1 p.m. or the 1 vs. 8 game at 8 p.m.
Plenty of tickets are still available for the tournament and can be purchased through the Oklahoma City All Sports Association at (405) 236-5000 or through the web at www.okcallsports.org.
Cowboy Notes
Oklahoma State leads the Big 12 with 78 homers, a .519 slugging percentage and 24 triples ... The Cowboys closed out its home schedule with a 25-8 mark at Reynolds Stadium ... , and are tied for the conference lead with five triples ... is fifth in the Big 12 in runs scored with 52 and seventh in walks with 36 ... is fifth in the conference in home runs (12) and seventh in RBIs (46) ... is fourth in the conference with 100.2 innings pitched and tied for first in wins with nine ... is fourth in the league with 86 strikeouts ... Richmond is sixth in the Big 12 in opponents batting average at .189 ... OSU is fourth in the league with a .972 fielding percentage ... OSU has hit 19 homers in its last 15 Big 12 games after hitting just one in its first nine conference tilts ... matched his win total of last year in his win over Missouri on April 16 ... Nine of the Cowboys 21 losses have been by one run, including six of the last nine defeats ... OSU is 8-16 when scoring five runs or less and 24-5 when scoring six runs or more ... the current three game losing streak ties the season long set on April 9-10 against Texas Tech and April 12 against Wichita State.
Brown’s Big Bat
Freshman has become the best outfielder in the Big 12 and showed a flair for the dramatic with a walk-off double in last Tuesday’s win over ORU. He has become the driving force in the Oklahoma State lineup in the second half of the season.
Brown is not only making a push for the Big 12’s Freshman of the Year award, he should also be considered for All-America honors as well.
The Tampa, Fla., product has gained respect from around the league over the last month and has walked 16 times in the last 11 games. He now has 40 for the season, fourth best in the Big 12 heading into the weekend
He leads OSU and is fifth in the conference with a .379 batting average to go with 12 homers and 43 RBI. Both his batting average and homer totals are tops among freshman and outfielders in the conference. Brown also leads the Cowboys and is third in the league with a .403 average in 24 conference games to go along with five homers and 17 RBI. His 20 walks in league play are second only to Nebraska’s Alex Gordon’s 27.
Oklahoma State Listed In Several NCAA Statistical Rankings
Oklahoma State is listed among the top clubs in the country in several statistical categories released by the NCAA every Tuesday. Heading into the KU series, OSU is fifth in the nation in home runs per game (1.5) and seventh in slugging percentage (.524). The Cowboys are also tenth in triples per game (0.46) and 19th in scoring (7.9 runs per game).
Two Pokes are among the nation’s leaders in individual categories led by who was sixth in the nation in RBIs per game (1.4) and 18th in homers per game (0.33). ’s .728 slugging percentage is 17th in the country heading into the weekend.
Wichita State Recap
Oklahoma State dropped its third consecutive game as Wichita State used a four run third inning to propel it to a 6-1 victory in front of 5,039 fans at Eck Stadium in Wichita Tuesday night.
OSU cracked the scoreboard first in the top of the third when Keanon Simon lined a double to right center to score from first.
WSU answered in the bottom half of the inning with four runs of its own. After a leadoff single by Nick McCoola, an error and a hard hit ground ball that got by Ryal at third scored the first run. Matt Brown then cleared the bases with a three-run homerun to left field.
The Shockers added two insurance runs in the eighth inning when McCoola grounded a single up the middle against a drawn infield that plated two runs.
Gutierrez Getting Hot
Junior shortstop has been one of the hottest Cowboys at the plate over the last 10 games. Gutierrez is 17-for-37 with five doubles, a homer, seven RBIs and has scored five runs over that span.
He led OSU with six hits in the Bedlam series including a 4-for-4 day in Saturday’s loss. On the year Gutz is second on the team with a .344 batting average overall as well as a .365 average in Big 12 games that is second to Texas’ Seth Johnston who is hitting at a .441 to lead all hitters.
Consistent Cowley
Junior hurler has been the constant among the various ebbs and flows of Oklahoma State’s season.
The southpaw ace of the staff is 9-4 on the year with a 2.41 ERA in 100.2 innings pitched. The nine wins ties him with UT’s Clayton Stewart and KU’s Kodiak Quick for the conference lead. Cowley has gone six innings or more in 12 of his 14 starts this season with one of the other starts a five inning two-hit shutout against Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the season opener on Feb. 4.
The Fenton, Mo., product snapped a two game losing streak against Oklahoma last Friday, allowing just a run on six hits in 7.1 innings of work. He struck out three and didn’t walk anyone and had a shutout for seven innings before giving up the run in the eighth.
His previous two losses were of the tough luck variety as he pitched complete games against Texas and Texas A&M, but did not get enough offensive support. He allowed three runs on eight hits in eight innings against the Aggies on April 29 and allowed four runs, two earned, on six hits in nine innings against Texas on April 22. He is 5-3 in league action with a 2.93 ERA heading into this weekend game against Kansas.
Carr and Wright Named To Wallace Award Watch List
First baseman and leftfielder Ty Wright were named to the Wallace Award Watch List recently by the College Baseball Foundation.
The Wallace Watch list of 2005 nominees will be trimmed to 12 semi-finalists by Tuesday, May 22nd. The list will then be narrowed to the three finalists following the NCAA Super Regionals, at a press conference in Omaha on Thursday, June 16, 2005.
Dedicated to the memory of former Texas Tech shortstop and assistant coach, Wallace was a slick-fielding shortstop at Texas Tech from 1977 to 1980. After playing two years in the Texas Rangers organization, he returned to Texas Tech and served as a graduate assistant and later as an assistant coach. In the summer of 1984 he was diagnosed with cancer and fought the disease courageously until his death on March 24, 1985, at age 27.
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.
You can listen to the rest of the Cowboys’ baseball games this season on 93.7 KSPI FM in Stillwater or via the internet at www.okstate.com.
Coach Anderson Radio/TV Show
Fans can listen to coach 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 began on April 2 and will be shown on Saturday’s at 7:30 a.m. on Fox 23 in Tulsa and at 4 p.m. on Fox 25 in Oklahoma City. The show, co-hosted by Tom Dirato and Fox 23 sports director Ron Terrell, features highlights, analysis and feature stories with the Cowboy baseball team.
