Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Head To Missouri State For Midweek Contest
April 07, 2009 | Cowboy Baseball
#17 Oklahoma State (21-10)
at Missouri State (15-12)
April 8 • 6:30 p.m.
Springfield, Mo. • Hammons Field (8,000)
• • •
Oklahoma State
The Cowboys are 21-10 overall and return to midweek action Wednesday with a trip to Springfield, Mo., to take on Missouri State. OSU is 4-3 in road games this season.
Following the game against MSU, the Cowboys return to Big 12 Conference weekend action with a trip to Lawrence, Kan., to battle Kansas. OSU is 4-5 in league play and tied with the Jayhawks for seventh in the league standings.
With six regulars in the starting lineup hitting .308 or better, OSU sports a .314 team batting average on the season and ranks among the Big 12 leaders in several offensive categories.
OSU's pitching staff has a collective 4.75 ERA and leads the Big 12 with 10 saves. The Cowboys' staff has also racked up 274 strikeouts, which ranks second in the league.
Missouri State
The Bears are 15-12 overall entering a Tuesday night contest against Arkansas-Little Rock. MSU has won 11 of its last 13 games and is 9-5 on its home field this season.
Keith Guttin is in his 27th season as the head coach at MSU and has compiled over 900 career wins while taking the Bears to seven NCAA Tournaments.
MSU is hitting a collective .290, while its pitching staff sports a 4.18 ERA.
In The Polls
Oklahoma State's highest ranking is No. 17 in the NCBWA poll. The Cowboys are ranked 18th in the USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll, and 20th by Collegiate Baseball and Baseball America.
Missouri State 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 27th 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 Audio/Video - Live Events). Those wishing to follow OSU's games via live stats can also log on to www.okstate.com (link is available under Audio/Video - Live Stats).
About Missouri State
The Bears were 15-12 entering Tuesday night's game against Arkansas-Little Rock. MSU is 2-3 against ranked teams in 2009, with its wins coming vs. Oregon State.
OSU is 4-0 all-time vs. Missouri State. Last season, the Cowboys defeated the Bears by a 19-10 margin in Stillwater.
Players To Watch
• 3B Brayden Drake (.443, 4 HR, 23 RBI)
• OF Ben Carlson (.349, 7 HR, 25 RBI)
• C Dallas Hord (.374, 5 HR, 16 RBI)
Probable Starting Pitcher
RHP J.C. Casey
1-2, save, 4.96 ERA in six appearances
Home Sweet Home
Allie P. Reynolds Stadium has been home to Oklahoma State baseball since 1981, and in those 28-plus seasons the Cowboys have been nearly unbeatable on their home field.
The Cowboys are 734-156 (.825) all-time at Reynolds Stadium and have lost more than two consecutive games on their home turf only once (six in a row in May 2007).
OSU is 13-6 at Reynolds Stadium in 2009.
200 Club
With the Cowboys' season-opening win over BYU, Frank Anderson became the fifth head coach in OSU history to reach 200 career victories. He is the third-fastest coach to reach the milestone in Stillwater behind Gary Ward and Tom Holliday.
Anderson is in his sixth season at OSU and owns an overall career record of 220-118. The Cowboys are 83-60 in Big 12 Conference play under Anderson.
Aluminum Assault
Over the last several seasons, OSU has established itself among the top hitting teams not only in the Big 12 Conference but on a national scale.
Through the first six weeks of the 2009 season, the Cowboys rank among the Big 12's best in batting average (.314), runs (263), hits (337), triples (15), home runs (46), RBI (246), slugging percentage (.535) and on-base percentage (.406).
Last season, OSU led the Big 12 in three offensive categories — batting average (.326), slugging percentage (.531) and home runs (89). The Cowboys finished second in the league in runs, hits, triples and RBIs.
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.
Kings Of The Hill
OSU also had one of the top pitching staffs in college baseball in 2008, and the '09 version has been solid as well.
Each of the Cowboys' weekend starters has at least four wins in 2009, and the pitching staff leads the Big 12 in saves (10) while ranking second in strikeouts (274).
Last season, the Cowboys led the Big 12 with a 3.98 team ERA and also topped the league with 21 saves. The staff returned seven pitchers who made at least eight appearances and worked 15 or more innings in '08.
OSU's 3.98 ERA in '08 marked the first time since 2005 the Cowboys' finished the season with a team ERA under 4.00. The '05 and '08 seasons are the only two since 1974 that OSU has had an ERA of less than 4.00.
Awards Watch
Several Cowboys have been named to preseason awards lists by various publications, including:
• Baseball America Preseason All-America
Andrew Oliver (second team)
• Louisville Slugger Preseason All-America
Andrew Oliver (second team)
Tyler Lyons (third team)
• Rivals.com Preseason All-America
Andrew Oliver
• Golden Spikes Award Watch List
Tyler Lyons, Andrew Oliver
• Wallace Award Watch List
Tom Belza, Tyler Lyons, Andrew Oliver, Neil Medchill
Short Hops
• The Cowboys are 4-4 against ranked teams in 2009, including two wins over Top 10 teams (#6 Cal State Fullerton & #9 Texas).
• OSU pitchers Tyler Blandford, Andrew Oliver and Thomas Keeling rank third, fifth in and eighth, respectively, in the Big 12 in strikeouts.
• An OSU player has led the Big 12 in batting average each of the last two seasons — Ty Wright in 2007 and Tom Belza in 2008 — and the Cowboys have three of the league's top 20 hitters in 2009 in Neil Medchill (10th at .374), Micheal Dabbs (13th at .367) and Tyrone Hambly (17th at .348).
• The Cowboys entered the week (games as of 4/5) ranked among the Top 10 in the NCAA statistics in several categories, including:
* OSU ranked seventh nationally with 15 triples.
* The Cowboys were eighth nationally in fielding percentage at .978.
* Tyler Blandford ranked sixth in the nation in hits allowed per nine innings at 4.76.
* Blandford also ranked seventh nationally with six wins.
* Micheal Dabbs ranked eighth in the nation with five triples.
