Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Headed To Clemson For NCAA Regional
May 27, 2009 | Cowboy Baseball
OSU NCAA Clemson Regional Game Notes in PDF Format 
May 27, 2009
Oklahoma State (32-22)
at The 2009 NCAA Clemson Regional
May 29-June 1 • Clemson, S.C.
Doug Kingsmore Stadium (6,217)
Oklahoma State
The Cowboys enter the 2009 NCAA Baseball Championship with a 32-22 record. OSU, the No. 3 seed at the Clemson Regional, opens play in the double-elimination tourney Friday against Alabama at 2:06 p.m. (CST) at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in Clemson, S.C. The winner of the Clemson Regional advances to face the Tempe (Ariz.) Regional champion in a Super Regional.
OSU is making its fourth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance and fifth in six seasons under head coach Frank Anderson, who has led the Cowboys to a 9-8 record in NCAA tourney play.
The Cowboys sport a .304 team batting average on the season and rank among the Big 12 Conference leaders in several offensive categories.
OSU's pitching staff has a collective 4.60 ERA and ranks among the Big 12's best with 14 saves and 486 strikeouts.
OSU In The NCAA Tournament
Oklahoma State is making its 37th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, which ranks fourth on the NCAA's all-time list. The Cowboys are 132-79 (.626) all time in the NCAA tourney, and the 132 wins ranks sixth all time. OSU's 19 College World Series appearances are the fifth-most in NCAA history.
The Clemson Regional Field
Top-seeded and host Clemson brings a 40-19 record into the postseason. OSU is 1-2 all time against the Tigers, with the last meeting coming in the 1996 College World Series.
Second-seeded Alabama is 37-19 on the year. The Cowboys are 0-2 all time vs. the Crimson Tide, with the last meeting coming in the 1999 College World Series.
Rounding out the field is Ohio Valley Conference champion and No. 4-seed Tennessee Tech, which is 30-22-1. OSU has never faced the Golden Eagles on the diamond.
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 and live stats can also be accessed via www.okstate.com (links are available under Multimedia).
The Clemson Regional games are also being televised by Comcast Sports Southeast.
About Clemson
The Tigers are 40-19 on the season. This is their 34th NCAA Tournament appearance.
Players To Watch
• 1B Ben Paulsen (.368, 11 HR, 55 RBI)
• LHP Casey Harman (7-3, save, 3.86 ERA)
About Alabama
The Crimson Tide bring a 37-19 mark into the postseason, and 2009 marks their 17th NCAA tourney berth.
Players To Watch
• RF Kent Matthes (.365, 28 HR, 81 RBI)
• RHP Austin Hyatt (8-2, 3.14 ERA, 2 CG)
About Tennessee Tech
The Golden Eagles are 30-22-1 and are making their fourth-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.
Players To Watch
• DH A.J. Kirby-Jones (.344, 20 HR, 66 RBI)
• RHP Lee Henry (9-2, 2 saves, 2.96 ERA, 5 CG)
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 740-159 (.823) 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 19-9 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 231-130, which includes an 88-71 mark in Big 12 play.
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.
In 2009, the Cowboys rank among the Big 12's best in batting average (.304), triples (21), home runs (73) and slugging percentage (.506).
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.
Four different Cowboy hurlers have at least five wins in 2009, and the pitching staff ranks among the Big 12 Conference leaders in saves (14) and strikeouts (486).
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.
Short Hops
• The Cowboys are 8-11 against ranked teams in 2009, including three wins over Top 10 teams (#6 Cal State Fullerton, #7 Baylor & #9 Texas).
• The last time OSU earned a No. 3 seed at the NCAA Tournament came in 2007. That season, the Cowboys won the Fayetteville Regional and advanced to the second Super Regional in school history.
• In the latest official NCAA RPI rankings, OSU came in at No. 26. The Big 12 Conference had seven teams among the top 31 in the RPI.
• Two Cowboy pitchers had career-best strikeout performances against Oklahoma. Tyler Lyons racked up 13 strikeouts, the most by an OSU pitcher this season and three more than his previous career high, and Tyler Blandford bested his previous high with a 12-strikeout effort.
• Sophomore Tom Belza hit safely in the final 12 Big 12 Conference games, hitting .500 (23-for-46) with 10 RBIs during the streak.
• Tyler Blandford (95) and Andrew Oliver (91) are both on the verge of reaching the century mark in strikeouts this season. OSU has not had a pitcher collect 100 strikeouts in a season since Matt Smith had 114 in 2000.
