Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Ready For Bedlam Baseball Showdown
May 06, 2009 | Cowboy Baseball
May 6, 2009
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Oklahoma State (29-19, 6-13) vs. #17 Oklahoma (35-15, 12-9)
May 8-10 • Fri. - 7:35 p.m. Tulsa, Okla. • Drillers Stadium
Sat. - 7:07 p.m. • Sun. - 4:04 p.m. Oklahoma City •
AT&T Bricktown Ballpark
Oklahoma State
The Cowboys are 29-19 overall and return to Big 12 Conference action this weekend in the Bedlam Series against rival Oklahoma, squaring off against the Sooners Friday night in Tulsa before playing the final two games of the series in Oklahoma City. The Cowboys are ninth in the conference standings with a 6-13 league mark. OSU is 1-5-1 in its Big 12 series in 2009.
OSU has won the last three Bedlam Series matchups and four of five series against the Sooners under head coach Frank Anderson. The Cowboys have not lost a Bedlam game in Tulsa since 2000.
With seven regulars in the starting lineup hitting .305 or better, OSU sports a .301 team batting average on the season and ranks among the Big 12 leaders in several offensive categories.
OSU's pitching staff has a collective 4.55 ERA and leads the Big 12 with 14 saves. The Cowboys' staff has also racked up 432 strikeouts, which ranks second in the league.
Oklahoma
The Sooners are 35-15 overall and tied for fifth place in the Big 12 Conference standings with a 12-9 mark. OU has won five of its seven league series this season.
OU leads the Big 12 with a .327 batting average and sports a 4.92 team ERA. The Sooners have hit a conference-high 81 home runs.
In The Polls
Oklahoma State is not ranked.
Oklahoma's highest ranking is 17th in the USA Today/ESPN coaches and NCBWA polls. The Sooners are ranked 18th by Baseball America and 21st by Collegiate Baseball.
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).
Friday night's game will be televised by the Cowboy Sports Network and will air on The CW in Oklahoma City and Fox Sports Southwest throughout the rest of the state. Chad McKee will provide play-by-play with Dave Garrett adding color.
Saturday's contest is set to air statewide on Cox Sports, with Brian Brinkley (play-by-play) and Kenny Mossman (color) calling the action.
About Oklahoma
The Sooners are 35-15 on the season, including a 12-9 mark in Big 12 play.
OSU is 145-138 all time against Oklahoma. Last season, the Cowboys won the first two games of the series before dropping the finale.
Players To Watch
• SS Bryant Hernandez (.369, 9 HR, 53 RBI)
• 1B Aaron Baker (.281, 13 HR, 48 RBI)
• SS J.T. Wise (.389, 15 HR, 48 RBI)
Probable Starting Pitchers
Friday: RHP Andrew Doyle
6-4, 4.19 ERA in 11 starts
Saturday: TBA
Sunday: TBA
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 228-127, which includes an 85-68 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.
Thus far in 2009, the Cowboys rank among the Big 12's best in batting average (.301), doubles (104), triples (18), RBI (325) and slugging percentage (.494).
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 leads the Big 12 in saves (14) while ranking second in strikeouts (432).
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.
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