Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Set For NCAA Regional In Stillwater
May 28, 2008 | Cowboy Baseball
#1-Seed Oklahoma State (42-16)
at the
2008 NCAA Stillwater Regional
May 30 - June 2 • Stillwater, Okla.
Allie P. Reynolds Stadium (4,000)
Oklahoma State
The Cowboys enter the NCAA Baseball Championship with a 42-16 record and No. 5 national ranking. OSU won its final six Big 12 Conference series to finish 18-9 and in second place in the league standings, tying the Cowboys' highest-ever Big 12 finish.
The Cowboys are the No. 1 seed at an NCAA Regional for the second time in the last three seasons (2006 Fayetteville). OSU is making its fourth NCAA appearance in five seasons under head coach Frank Anderson, who has led the Cowboys to a 7-6 record in NCAA tourney play.
The Cowboys are 14-7 against ranked teams this season, with nine 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 six other offensive categories. The pitching staff sports a collective 3.80 ERA, the lowest mark in the league, and tops the conference with 20 saves.
The Stillwater Regional Field
Wichita State (44-15) is the No. 2-seed in the Stillwater Regional, while third-seeded TCU (43-17) and fourth-seeded Western Kentucky (32-25) round out the field. OSU is 50-26 all-time against Wichita State, including a win this season, while the Cowboys are 11-6 all-time against TCU and 1-0 all-time against WKU.
OSU In The NCAA Tournament
OSU is making its 36th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, which is tied for fourth on the NCAA's all-time list. The Cowboys are 130-77 (.628) all-time in the NCAA tourney, and the 130 wins ranks sixth all-time. OSU's 19 College World Series appearances are the fifth-most in NCAA history.
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.ncaa.com.
About Wichita State
The Shockers are 44-15 and won the Missouri Valley Conference championship. WSU is hitting .316 as a team, and its pitching staff sports a collective 3.56 ERA.
Players To Watch
• 3B Conor Gillaspie (.421, 10 HR, 77 RBI)
• LHP Rob Musgrave (10-1, 1.96 ERA, 5 CG)
About TCU
The Horned Frogs are 43-17 and captured the Mountain West Conference title. TCU is hitting .302 as a team, and its pitching staff sports a collective 3.45 ERA.
Players To Watch
• OF Chris Ellington (.335, 5 HR, 52 RBI)
• RHP Andrew Cashner (8-3, 9 saves, 1.80 ERA)
About Western Kentucky
The Hilltoppers are 33-25 overall and won the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. WKU is hitting .322 as a team, and its pitching staff sports a collective 5.31 ERA.
Players To Watch
• DH Chad Cregar (.355, 20 HR, 78 RBI)
• RHP Matt Ridings (10-2, 3.63 ERA, 93 Ks)
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.
NCAA At Allie P.
The '08 Stillwater Regional marks the 10th hosted at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium and first since 1997. OSU is one of just six schools to have hosted 10 or more regionals since the NCAA went to the regional format in 1975.
OSU is 31-9 all-time in regional play at Reynolds Stadium, and the Cowboys have won six regional championships on their home field. Their last title in Stillwater came in 1993.
Top 10
OSU is 9-5 this season against opponents ranked in the Top 10.
The Cowboys are ranked No. 5 in this week's NCBWA poll, No. 6 by Baseball America and in the USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll and 10th by Collegiate Baseball. The No. 5 ranking is their highest of the season and their highest in more than a decade.
OSU has been ranked in the Top 10 in the national polls for five 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 11 hitters — Tom Belza, Donnie Webb, Neil Medchill and Matt Hague — and OSU leads the league in batting average (.330), hits (676), home runs (81), RBIs (447), triples (28), slugging percentage (.534) and runs (477).
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).
