Oklahoma State University Athletics
Top-Seeded Cowboys Headed To Fayetteville Regional
June 01, 2006 | Cowboy Baseball
at the
Fayetteville NCAA Regional
(#2 Arkansas, #3 Oral Roberts, #4 Princeton)
June 2-5 • Fayetteville, Ark.
Baum Stadium (9,133)
Oklahoma State
The Cowboys are 39-18 on the season and are making the program's 35th NCAA Tournament appearance. OSU will open the double-elimination tourney Friday at 2 p.m. against No. 4-seed Princeton. OSU's No. 1 seed marks the first time since 1994 that the Cowboys have been the top seed in a regional. With one more win, the Cowboys would claim their first 40-win season since 2001. OSU finished 18-9 in Big 12 Conference play during the regular season, good enough for a second-place finish in the standings. That finish also marks OSU's highest ever in the Big 12 Conference. The Cowboys won 21 of their last 25 regular-season games, including a 15-3 mark against league opponents during that span.
Cowboys vs. The Fayetteville Regional Field
OSU is 0-3 in 2006 against the teams in the Fayetteville Regional. The Cowboys were no-hit by a trio of hurlers in a 3-0 loss in Mobile, Ala. on Feb. 11, dropping them to 41-19 all-time against the Razorbacks. OSU is 0-2 against Oral Roberts, losing 5-2 in Tulsa on April 4 and 13-2 in Stillwater on May 16. OSU is 32-26 all-time against the Golden Eagles. OSU is 4-0 all-time against Princeton and last met the Tigers on the diamond in 2001.
OSU In The NCAA Tournament
OSU is 127-76 (.626) all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The Cowboys' last appearance came in 2004, Frank Anderson's first season as OSU's head coach, as they finished 1-2 at the Tallahassee Regional.
On The Air
All OSU baseball games will be carried live by Stillwater Radio on KSPI 93.7 FM and 780 AM. Rex Holt, who is in his 24th season as the play-by-play voice of Cowboy baseball, will call the action, with Matt Davis providing color commentary. The radio broadcast can also be accessed via the internet at www.okstate.com (link is available under Audio Webcast). Those wishing to follow the game via live stats can also log in to www.okstate.com.
About Arkansas
The Razorbacks are the No. 2 seed with a 38-19 record. They finished fourth in the Southeastern Conference's regular-season standings.
Players To Watch: OF Jake Dugger (.323, 12 HR, 43 RBI), 1B Danny Hamblin (.296, 16 HR, 67 RBI), OF Craig Gentry (.329, 16 SB), LHP Nick Schmidt (9- 3, 2.98 ERA, 135 K), LHP Devin Collis (7-3, 9 saves, 2.98 ERA), RHP Daryl Maday (2-2, 5 saves, 2.51 ERA)
About Oral Roberts
The Golden Eagles were the Mid-Continent Conference champions and are the No. 3 seed with a 38-14 record.
Players To Watch: 1B Chad Rothford (.333, 10 HR, 51 RBI), C Andy Bouchie (.375, 12 HR, 51 RBI), SS Tim Torres (.316, 10 HR, 38 RBI, 11 SB), RHP Chris Ashman (10-1, save, 1.77 ERA), RHP Sean Jarrett (6-1, 6 saves, 2.21 ERA)
About Princeton
The Tigers were the Ivy League champions and are seeded No. 4 with a 19-24-1 record.
Players To Watch: C Zach Wendkos (.348, 8 HR 39 RBI), OF Andrew Salini (.329, 6 HR, 37 RBI, 10 SB), RHP Christian Staehely (5-1, 2.30 ERA)
Probable Starting Pitcher vs. OSU
Erik Stiller, RHP - Stiller is 4-3 with two shutouts, five complete games and a 3.46 ERA in 10 appearances.
Aluminum Assault
Frank Anderson has called his 2006 squad the best offensive team he's had since arriving in Stillwater, and the Cowboys are proving their head coach prophetic.
OSU ranks second in the Big 12 Conference with a .320 batting average and has four players — Tyler Mach, Deik Scram, Corey Brown and Keanon Simon — among the top 18 in the league in batting average. Seven Cowboy regulars are hitting .300 or better, and Mach and Scram rank second and fifth in the Big 12 in batting average.
The Cowboys have scored a Big 12-best 427 runs in 57 games and have collected 645 hits — averages of 7.5 runs and 11.3 hits per game. The Cowboys have scored 10 or more runs 17 times and have had 16 games where they racked up at least 15 hits, including six contests in which they topped the 20-hit mark.
OSU leads the Big 12 with 233 extra-base hits, and the Cowboys top the conference in home runs (78), triples (31) and slugging percentage (.529).
