Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Host No. 21 Rice
May 10, 2010 | Cowboy Baseball
May 10, 2010
Oklahoma State (27-20)
vs. #21 Rice (30-17)
. . .
May 11 • 6:30 p.m.
Allie P. Reynolds Stadium
Stillwater, Okla.
Oklahoma State
OSU is 27-20 on the season and will look to knock off a ranked opponent for the third time this season when the Cowboys host Rice Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.
The Cowboys are 20-14 all time against Rice, with the Owls winning the last meeting by a 4-2 count in Houston during the 2008 season.
OSU head coach Frank Anderson is in his seventh season at the helm of the Cowboys and has led the club to 260 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 sports a .309 team batting average, with four of the Cowboy regulars in the starting lineup hitting .300 or better, and the pitching staff sports a collective 5.57 ERA.
About Rice
The 21st-ranked Owls have won seven of their last eight games and bring a 30-17 record to Stillwater. Led by All-American third baseman Anthony Rendon (.362, 17 HR, 56 RBI), Rice is hitting .317 as a team, while its pitching staff has a 4.41 ERA.
Up Next For The Cowboys
Following the midweek matchup against Rice, OSU will return to Big 12 Conference action Friday when the Cowboys open their final league home series of the season against Texas A&M. OSU is seventh in the Big 12 standings with an 8-13 mark, while the Aggies are just ahead of the Pokes at 9-11-1 against conference foes.
On The Air & The Web
All OSU baseball games are carried live by Stillwater Radio and will air on KSPI 93.7 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).
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 761-166 (.821) 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 21-7 at home in 2010.
Hot Hitters
Oklahoma State ranks fourth in the Big 12 in hitting with a .309 batting average. The Cowboys are second in the league in doubles (116) and are third in the league in sacrifice flies (28).
Junior Davis Duren leads OSU with a .386 batting average, which includes a .380 clip in conference play. His average also ranks fifth in the Big 12. The second baseman and leadoff hitter leads the Cowboys with 49 RBIs (T-6th in Big 12) and 78 hits (T-2nd in Big 12).
Freshman Dane Phillips ranks second on the Cowboys with a .344 batting average and has hit safely in 32 of the 46 games in which he's played, including turning in a 15-game hitting streak. He is third on the Cowboys with 16 multi-hit games.
JUCO transfer Luis Uribe was named to the Dairy Queen Classic All-Tournament Team last month and is third on the Cowboys with a .331 batting average.
Sophomore third baseman Mark Ginther is hitting .318 and ranks 10th in the league in homers (9), doubles (15) and total bases (107).
Catch Them If You Can
OSU ranks second in the Big 12 this season with 75 stolen bases, a number which long ago surpassed its total from '09 (45) and is the most for the Cowboys since 2002 (90).
Davis Duren and Dusty Harvard both rank among the top 10 in the league in steals, and four different Cowboys have reached double figures in thefts.
The Cowboys could become the first OSU team to top 100 steals since the 1999 team had 117. OSU's highest stolen base total since '99 is 90, which came in 2002.
From 1981-94, OSU topped the century mark in steals 11 times, including a school-record 190 thefts in 1985.
Lyons Climbing The Charts
Tyler Lyons is poised to finish his OSU career with his name prominent throughout the Cowboys' pitching record book.
A native of Lubbock, Texas, Lyons is 22-13 in his OSU career, with his 22 wins tied for 10th on the Cowboys' all-time list.
The southpaw ranks fourth on OSU's career innings pitched list with 302.0 and is sixth on OSU's career strikeouts list with 262. Lyons has 41 career starts, which is tied for sixth on the Cowboys' career list.
Lyons is also on the verge of cracking the top 10 on OSU's career list for appearances as his 63 are two shy of that mark.
The Thief
Junior second baseman Davis Duren leads the Big 12 with 29 stolen bases, a total which ranks among the national leaders and is the most by a Cowboy since Roberto Lopez had 33 in 1994.
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.
From his leadoff spot in the lineup, Duren leads the Cowboys with a .386 batting average and 49 RBIs.
Duren has had career-long hitting streaks of 16 and 14 games this season.
Vote For Lyons
Cowboy fans can vote for pitcher Tyler Lyons for the 2010 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award for baseball.
Lyons is one of 10 finalists for the award, which is given annually to a Division I senior student-athlete who has notable achievements in four areas of excellence -- community, classroom, character and competition.
Fan balloting is available on the award's official Web site, www.seniorCLASSaward.com, as well as through text messaging. Fans can text B7 to 74567 to vote for Tyler. Voting will end May 31, and the online and text votes will be combined with votes from coaches and media to determine the recipient of the award.
CWS Legends
Former OSU stars Pete Incaviglia and Robin Ventura were recently named to the College World Series Legends Team.
Ventura was a third baseman who led OSU to consecutive CWS appearances in 1986 and 1987, while Incaviglia slugged the Cowboys to Omaha in 1983, '84 and '85. Ventura made the CWS All-Tournament team in each of his two trips to Omaha, and Incaviglia was a CWS All-Tournament selection in 1983 and 1984 as a designated hitter.
In nine career CWS games, Ventura hit .459 (17-for-37) with seven doubles, eight RBIs and five runs. He led the 1986 Series with a .600 batting average and three doubles, and in 1987, he carried OSU to the CWS championship game and was 4-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI in the title tilt.
Incaviglia played in 11 CWS games and hit .357 (15-for-42) with four home runs, 16 RBIs, three doubles and nine runs.
