Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Conclude Regular Season With Bedlam Series
May 16, 2008 | Cowboy Baseball
#8 Oklahoma State (38-14, 16-8)
vs.Oklahoma (31-21-1, 8-15-1)
May 16 • 7:30 p.m. • Drillers Stadium (Tulsa)
May 17-18 • 7:35 p.m., 4 p.m. • AT&T Bricktown Ballpark (OKC)
Oklahoma State
The Cowboys are 38-14 and close out the regular season with a Bedlam showdown against Oklahoma. Friday's contest will be played at Drillers Stadium in Tulsa before the series shifts to Oklahoma City's AT&T Bricktown Ballpark for the final two games.
OSU is 16-8 and in third place in the Big 12 Conference standings, and the Cowboys have won five-straight Big 12 series. OSU is guaranteed to finish at least third in the league race and could still win the conference title if three things happen this weekend: a) the Cowboys sweep OU; b) Texas sweeps Texas A&M; and c) Missouri defeats Nebraska twice.
The Cowboys are 13-7 against ranked teams this season, with eight of those wins coming against Top 10-ranked opponents.
OSU is hitting a Big 12-best .330 as a team, and the Cowboys lead the league in five other offensive categories. The pitching staff sports a collective 3.82 ERA, the second-best mark in the league, and tops the conference with 19 saves.
Oklahoma
The Sooners are 31-21-1 overall and in eighth place in the Big 12 standings at 8-15-1.
In The Polls
Oklahoma State's highest ranking is No. 8 in the NCBWA poll, which marks the highest the Cowboys have been ranked since the final polls in 1999. The Cowboys are also ranked No. 9 in the USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll and 10th by Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball.
Oklahoma is not ranked.
On The Air & The Web
All OSU baseball games are carried live by Stillwater Radio on KSPI 93.7 FM and/or 780 AM. Rex Holt, who is in his 26th season as the play-by-play voice of Cowboy baseball, will call the action, with Matt Davis providing color.
Radio broadcasts can also be accessed via www.okstate.com (link is available under Cowboy MVP - Live Events). Those wishing to follow OSU's games via live stats can log on to www.okstate.com (link is available under Cowboy MVP - Live Stats).
The first two games of the series will also be televised. Friday's opener can be seen statewide on FSN Southwest, with Chad McKee (play-by-play) and Dave Garrett (color) providing the talent. Saturday's game is being aired throughout the state and in Kansas City on Cox Cable. Brian Brinkley will provide play-by-play, with Kenny Mossman doing color.
About Oklahoma
The Sooners are 31-21-1 overall and in eighth place in the Big 12 standings at 8-15-1. OU is hitting .319 as a team, and its pitching staff sports a collective 4.90 ERA.
OSU is 143-137 all-time against OU. The Cowboys have gone 3-1 against the Sooners each of the last two seasons, sweeping the regular season series and losing in the Big 12 Tournament.
Players To Watch
• DH Mike Gosse (.383, 7 HR, 45 RBI)
• CF Aljay Davis (.367, 35 RBI, 12 SB)
• RHP Jake McCarter (2-0, 9 saves)
Probable Starting Pitchers
Friday: LHP C.J. Blue
6-2, 4.50 ERA in 13 appearances
Saturday: RHP Andrew Doyle
7-3, 4.48 ERA in 13 appearances
Sunday: RHP Ryan Duke
6-4, 3.8 ERA in 19 appearances
Lots Of New Faces
The Cowboys' 2008 roster includes a large and talented group of newcomers, with a recruiting class that counts 18 players.
Eight of the newcomers are junior college transfers, while the class also includes six freshmen and four Division I transfers. Seven of OSU's recruits have been selected in the Major League Baseball Draft.
Transfers Matt Hague and Luis Flores have had a immediate impact, while freshmen Thomas Belza and Dean Green have each earned spots in the Cowboys' starting lineup.
The group of junior college newcomers that has contributed to the Cowboys' success includes JUCO All-Americans Michael Dabbs, Neil Medchill and Tyrone Hambly.
Home Sweet Home
Allie P. Reynolds Stadium has been home to Oklahoma State baseball since 1981, and in those 26-plus seasons the Cowboys have been nearly unbeatable on their home field.
OSU is 26-4 at home this season and is 719-148 (.829) all-time at Reynolds Stadium. The Cowboys have lost more than two consecutive games on their home turf only once.
Top 10
OSU is 8-5 this season against opponents ranked in the Top 10.
The Cowboys are ranked No. 8 in this week's NCBWA poll, which marks their highest ranking since they finished the 1999 season at No. 8 in the final polls.
OSU has been ranked in the Top 10 in the national polls for three consecutive weeks.
Aluminum Assault
Over the last two seasons, OSU has established itself among the top hitting teams not only in the Big 12 Conference but nationally — a trend which is continuing in 2008.
The Cowboys' lineup includes four of the Big 12's top 14 hitters — Neil Medchill, Donnie Webb, Matt Hague and Jordy Mercer — and it leads the league in batting average (.330), home runs (73), RBIs (402), triples (26), slugging percentage (.536) and runs (428).
In '06, OSU led the Big 12 in homers, triples and slugging percentage, and in 2007 the Cowboys led the Big 12 in six offensive categories and ranked second in two more.
Heavy Hitters
OSU's offensive stats received a huge boost during a record setting day against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on March 19.
In the doubleheader sweep of the Golden Lions, OSU racked up 56 runs on 54 hits.
With a 34-1 win in the nightcap, the Cowboys recorded several notable achievements, including:
• OSU set a school record for hits in a game (32);
• The Cowboys collected 33 RBIs, one shy of the school's single-game record;
• OSU also finished just one double and one triple shy of setting school marks. The Pokes racked up nine doubles and three triples;
• Freshman Thomas Belza tied school records for hits in a game (6) and runs in a game (6);
• The win marked OSU's 700th at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.
For his performance against UAPB, Belza was named the StatStud.com National StatStud of the Day.
Heavy Hitters, Pt. II
In OSU's 19-2 win over No. 6 Nebraska on April 12, the Cowboys set a school record for hits against a Big 12 Conference opponent with 24. The previous high was 22 against Kansas State on March 7, 1997.
The Cowboys' 19 runs in that game tied for their third most against a Big 12 opponent (23 vs. K-State in 1997 and 20 vs. Iowa State in 1999).
OSU's 17-run margin of victory was also its second most against a Big 12 team, just one behind the Cowboys' 18-run win (20-2) over Iowa State on May 7, 2000.
Making History
With its three-game series sweep of Texas in Austin in April, OSU became the first-ever Big 12 Conference team to sweep a league series against UT on its home field.
The sweep also marked the first time the Longhorns have been swept in a three-game series at Disch-Falk Field since 1996 (Cal State-Fullerton).
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