Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Back In Action This Weekend
March 18, 2010 | Cowboy Baseball
March 18, 2010
Oklahoma State (10-2)
vs. Missouri State (5-11)
& Wright State (5-8)
March 19 & 21 • Stillwater, Okla.
Allie P. Reynolds Stadium
Fri. - 3 p.m. vs. MSU, 6 p.m. vs. WSU
Sun. - 3 p.m. vs. MSU, 6 p.m. vs. WSU
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State is 10-2 on the season and has won six-straight games. The Cowboys look to extend that streak this weekend with a pair of games against both Missouri State and Wright State at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium. OSU will open the weekend with two games Friday, battling Missouri State at 3 p.m. before facing Wright State at 6 p.m. The Cowboys will not play Saturday but will return to the diamond Sunday for games that will mirror Friday's -- OSU will face MSU at 3 p.m. and take on WSU at 6 p.m.
OSU is 5-1 all time against Missouri State, with the two teams splitting a pair of games last season. The Cowboys are 2-0 all time against Wright State, both wins coming in 1990 at the Rainbow Classic in Honolulu.
OSU head coach Frank Anderson is in his seventh season at the helm of the Cowboys and has led the club to 243 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 leads the Big 12 with a .351 team batting average, and eight of the Cowboy regulars in the starting lineup are hitting .300 or better. The pitching staff sports a 3.60 ERA, which ranks fourth in the conference.
About The Opponents
Wright State was an NCAA Regional team last season after winning the Horizon League championship. The Raiders are 5-8 this season, with five of their losses coming against teams ranked in the top 20. WSU won at No. 1 Virginia earlier this month.
Missouri State is 5-11 in 2010, which includes a 1-9 road record. The Bears enter the weekend having lost five of their last six games.
Up Next For The Cowboys
OSU concludes a stretch of 12 home games in 13 days with a two-game midweek series against Alabama A&M on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Cowboys 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. Friday's games will air on KVRO 101.1 FM, with Sunday's games being broadcast on either KSPI 93.7 FM or 780 AM. Phil Turney 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).
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 747-159 (.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 7-0 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 243-134, which includes an 88-71 mark in Big 12 play.
Cowboys In The Clutch
OSU is hitting .439 with runners in scoring position this season. The Pokes also sport a .313 average with two outs and have collected 29 two-out RBIs.
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; Chambers, a versatile player who could see time at first base, in the outfield and on the mound; and Phillips, a high school All-American who is the Cowboys' starting DH.
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.
Triple Threat
Several Cowboys are swinging hot bats heading into the weekend.
Sophomore third baseman Mark Ginther is hitting .388 on the season and leads OSU with three homers and 19 RBIs. He's second in the Big 12 with an .776 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 and ranks second in the Big 12 with a .460 batting average. He was 9-of-17 at the plate against UMass.
The Thief
Junior second baseman Davis Duren leads the Big 12 with 12 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 second on OSU in batting average (.400) and RBIs (14).
Season Over For The Closer
Oklahoma State sophomore closer Randy McCurry suffered a season-ending elbow injury while throwing his warm-up pitches in OSU's season opener vs. USC.
McCurry tied OSU's single-season record with 10 saves in 2009. In a team-high 28 appearances as a freshman, he was also 4-1 with a team-best 2.16 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 41.2 innings of work.
Vote For Cowboy Greats
To commemorate the final year of the College World Series being played in Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium in 2010, the NCAA is creating a CWS Legends Team, and six former OSU Cowboys are nominated for the team.
The Legends Team will represent those student-athletes who had the best CWS performances in the 60 years the CWS has been played at Rosenblatt Stadium. OSU's nominees for the team are third baseman Robin Ventura (1986-87), catcher Mike Day (1982-85), designated hitter Pete Incaviglia (1983-85), outfielder Wayne Weatherly (1966-68), pitcher Tom Borland (1954-55) and shortstop Danny Thompson (1968).
Fans can vote online for players they think should be selected as members of the CWS Legends team at www.ncaa.com.
Short Hops
• OSU has committed just three errors this season and sports a league-leading .994 fielding percentage. The Cowboys set a school record with a .976 fielding percentage in 2009.
• OSU's current six-game winning streak is its longest since the Cowboys won 12 in a row during the 2008 season.
