Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Return To Midweek Action
March 15, 2010 | Cowboy Baseball
March 15, 2010
Oklahoma State (8-2)
vs. Western Illinois (4-6)
March 16-17 • Stillwater, Okla.
Allie P. Reynolds Stadium
Tue. 6:30 p.m./Wed. 4 p.m.
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State is 8-2 on the season after a four-game sweep of UMass last weekend in which the Cowboys outscored the Minutemen by a 46-5 margin.
The Cowboys return to action Tuesday with the first of a pair of midweek games against Western Illinois at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium. Tuesday's opener is set for 6:30 p.m., while the series finale will begin Wednesday at 4 p.m. OSU is 21-2 all-time against the Leathernecks, and the two teams split a doubleheader last season in Stillwater.
OSU head coach Frank Anderson is in his seventh season at the helm of the Cowboys and has led the club to 241 wins in his career. The Pokes are coming off a season in which they finished 34-24 and advanced to the finals of the NCAA Clemson Regional. With that showing, OSU became the only Big 12 Conference team to advance to a Regional championship round each of the last four seasons.
OSU ranks second in the Big 12 with a .337 team batting average, and eight of the Cowboy regulars in the starting lineup are hitting .300 or better. The Cowboys' pitching staff sports a 3.33 ERA, which ranks fourth in the conference.
About Western Illinois
The Leathernecks are 4-6 on the season and have lost three-straight games heading into the OSU series.
Mike Villano is in his first season as head coach at WIU.
Up Next For The Cowboys
The Western Illinois series continues a stretch of 12 home games in 13 days for OSU. Following the midweek series against WIU, the Cowboys will host Missouri State and Wright State for two games apiece this weekend. The homestand concludes with two midweek outings against Alabama A&M next week.
Following the homestand, OSU will open Big 12 Conference play at Kansas State on March 26.
On The Air & The Web
All OSU baseball games are carried live by Stillwater Radio and will air on KSPI 93.7 FM, KGFY 105.5 FM or 780 AM. Rex Holt, who is in his 28th season with Cowboy baseball (15th as the play-by-play voice), will call the action, with Matt "Chief" Davis providing color commentary.
Radio broadcasts and live stats can also be accessed via www.okstate.com (links are available under Schedule/Results).
About Western Illinois
Western Illinois is 4-6 on the season, including a 3-4 road record.
Tom Lilja leads WIU with a .424 batting average and eight RBIs. RHP Randon Lingle (1-1) and LHP Chris Macek (1-1) are expected to start on the mound against the Cowboys.
Home Sweet Home
Allie P. Reynolds Stadium has been home to Oklahoma State baseball since 1981, and in those 29 seasons the Cowboys have been nearly unbeatable on their home field.
The Cowboys are 745-159 (.824) 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 5-0 at home in 2010.
200 Club
With the Cowboys' 2009 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 seventh season at OSU and owns an overall career record of 241-134, which includes an 88-71 mark in Big 12 play.
New Faces
OSU's 2010 roster includes 17 newcomers, with eight freshmen and eight junior college transfers and one player who is starting his collegiate baseball career as a junior.
Four of the Cowboy newcomers were selected in last June's Major League Baseball Draft: Kevin Chambers (47th round by Detroit), Andrew Heaney (24th round by Tampa Bay), Dane Phillips (49th round by Seattle) and Nico Rosthenhausler (50th round by Detroit).
Among the highlights in the freshman class are Heaney, a southpaw hurler who is in the starting weekend rotation, and Chambers, a versatile player who could see time at first base, in the outfield and on the mound.
The group of JUCO newcomers includes Rosthenhausler, an offensive star at South Mountain Community College, and Devin Shines, the son of former major leaguer and current assistant coach for the New York Mets Razor Shines.
No Thanks
A trio of Cowboys from last season's club was selected in the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft but spurned pro ball to return to Stillwater.
Tyler Lyons was a 10th-round pick of the New York Yankees, Thomas Keeling was a 20th-round choice of the Yankees and Kevin David was selected in the 35th round by the Chicago Cubs.
Eleven players on the OSU roster have been Major League Baseball Draft picks. That marks the second-highest total in the Big 12, trailing only Texas' 13.
Season Over For The Closer
Oklahoma State's record-setting closer saw his 2010 season come to an end before it even began.
After coming out of the bullpen in OSU's season opener at USC, sophomore Randy McCurry suffered a season-ending elbow injury while throwing his warm-up pitches. McCurry is scheduled to undergo Tommy John surgery later this month.
OSU has a long tradition of players from small-town Oklahoma blossoming into collegiate stars, and McCurry continued that trend.
A native of Tupelo, Okla., which has a population of approximately 360, McCurry blossomed into one of the nation's top closers in his first collegiate season.
With 10 saves in 2009, McCurry tied OSU's single-season record, which had been reached only twice previously (in 1982 and 1997). The 10-save total ranks fifth on OSU's career list.
In a team-high 28 appearances a year ago, McCurry was 4-1 with a team-best 2.16 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 41.2 innings of work.
Strong Armed
Pitching depth appears to be one of OSU's biggest strengths this season, and several Cowboy veterans have bolstered the rotation thus far in 2010.
• Thomas Keeling - Keeling is 1-2 on the season but has allowed just two earned runs and racked up 21 strikeouts in 12.1 innings in his last two starts.
Keeling was 5-1 in 16 appearances as a redshirt sophomore last season, and the southpaw racked up 73 strikeouts in just 51.0 innings. His 12.88 strikeouts per nine innings would have ranked fourth nationally had he had three more innings of work to qualify for the NCAA minimum.
• Brad Propst - In his first-career start last Sunday vs. UMass, Propst tossed a complete game shutout. In three appearances in 2010, the junior right-hander is 1-0 with a save and leads the Cowboys with a 0.71 ERA.
In his first season at OSU in 2009, Propst appeared in 15 games on the mound, all in relief, and was 1-1 with a 2.20 ERA. In 28.2 innings of work, he recorded 25 strikeouts.
• Matt Peck - Peck redshirted due to injury last season but appears to have returned to the form that saw him go 2-1 with five saves and a 2.83 ERA in 25 appearances in 2008.
The senior right-hander is 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA this season and has allowed just one run in five innings of work.
Triple Threat
Several Cowboys are swinging hot bats heading into the WIU series.
Sophomore third baseman Mark Ginther is hitting .410 on the season and leads OSU with three homers and 16 RBIs. He's also tops in the Big 12 with an .872 slugging percentage.
Ginther was named to the Dairy Queen Classic All-Tournament team after going 5-for-11 (.455) with five RBIs and a 1.091 slugging percentage in three games.
Junior first baseman Dean Green is coming off an outstanding weekend against UMass during which he was 8-for-15 (.533) with two homers, four doubles and seven RBIs.
Freshman Dane Phillips leads OSU with a .425 batting average and was 9-of-17 at the plate against UMass.
The Thief
Junior second baseman Davis Duren leads the Big 12 with 11 stolen bases. Against Oklahoma Christian, Duren swiped four bags, the most by a Cowboy since 2004 and one shy of the school's single-game record.
Last season, Duren was 14-of-15 on stolen base attempts to lead the Cowboys.
Duren also ranks third on OSU this season in batting average (.386) and RBIs (10).
