Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Host Bears In Midweek Contest
March 14, 2011 | Cowboy Baseball
March 14, 2011
OSU Game Notes vs. Central Arkansas in PDF Format
Oklahoma State (12-3)
vs. Central Arkansas (8-8)
. . .
March 15 • • 4 p.m. • Stillwater, Okla.
Allie P. Reynolds Stadium (4,000)
Oklahoma State
Winners of six-straight games, Oklahoma State is 12-3 on the season and is back in action Tuesday at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium against Central Arkansas in a game scheduled for 4 p.m. The Cowboys will look to extend their winning streak against the Bears before heading into Big 12 Conference play, which begins Friday with OSU traveling to Kansas.
The Cowboys rank second in the Big 12 in batting average (.322) and ERA (2.10), and their starting lineup includes three of the top 14 hitters in the league.
OSU head coach Frank Anderson is in his eighth season at the helm of the Cowboys and has led the club to 274 wins and five NCAA Tournament appearances in his career. During a four-year span from 2006-09, OSU was the only Big 12 Conference team to advance to an NCAA Regional championship round each season.
About Central Arkansas
The Bears are 8-8 under first-year head coach Allen Gum, including an 0-5 mark on the road. The team sports a .235 batting average and a 5.03 ERA.
Expected to start on the mound for the Bears Tuesday is right-hander Andy Steinmetz, who has a 6.92 ERA in five appearances this season.
OSU is 2-0 all time against Central Arkansas. The two previous meetings came in 1947 when Oklahoma A&M topped the school then known as Arkansas State Teachers College.
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 29th season with Cowboy baseball (16th 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).
Additionally, all OSU home games are available to watch online via paid subscription at okstate.tv.
Home Sweet Home
Allie P. Reynolds Stadium has been home to Oklahoma State baseball since 1981, and in those 31 seasons the Cowboys have been nearly unbeatable on their home field.
OSU is 773-170 (.820) all-time at Reynolds Stadium and has lost more than two consecutive games on their home turf only twice (six in a row in May 2007; three straight in 2010).
The Cowboys are 10-2 at home in 2011.
300 Club
OSU head coach Frank Anderson is on the verge of becoming the third coach in Cowboy history to reach 300 wins. Gary Ward (953 wins) and Toby Greene (318) are the only two previous OSU coaches to reach that mark.
Anderson is in his eighth season at OSU and owns a career record of 274-161, which includes a 96-90 Big 12 mark. He ranks fourth on OSU's all-time coaching wins list, seven wins shy of third-place Tom Holliday's 281.
Smooth Transitions
Several newcomers have had immediate impacts for the Cowboys in 2011.
JUCO transfers Gabe Weidenaar, Hunter Bailey and Zach Johnson have each earned starting spots and rank among OSU's top performers thus far.
A native of Montana, Weidenaar is second on the Cowboys and 11th in the Big 12 with a .373 batting average. In the season opening series vs. Bryant, the switch hitter was 7-for-10 at the plate. He has is second on OSU with seven multi-hit games this season and has also picked up a pair of saves on the mound.
Not to be outdone is Zach Johnson, who has started 14 games at first base for the Cowboys. He has hit safely in all 14 outings and leads the club in RBIs (16) while ranking third with a .370 batting average.
Bailey has been OSU's starting shortstop in 14 games. In a three-game stretch vs. Cal Poly, he went 4-for-10 with a pair of doubles and two RBIs, and he followed that by earning all-tournament honors at the DQ Classic.
Another newcomer, freshman Jason Hursh, has twice found himself in the weekend pitching rotation as the Cowboys' Sunday starter.
A right-hander and former sixth-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Hursh is 1-0 with a 1.69 ERA in his first two collegiate starts.
A pair of right-handed pitchers from the JUCO ranks -- Blake Barnes and Chris Marlowe -- have combined for three wins, a save and 28 strikeouts in 20 innings.
Putting Up Zeroes
OSU's opening weekend starting pitching rotation of Brad Propst, Andrew Heaney and Jason Hursh did not allow a run in 19.0 innings of work against Bryant.
The trio also combined for 13 strikeouts, and the Bulldogs' combined batting average against them was .191.
Propst and Heaney were key parts of shutout wins in the first two games of the series. In fact, Bryant did not score over the first 25.1 innings of the series and managed just one run total in three games.
Heaney continued his scoreless stretch against Cal Poly as he blanked the Mustangs for eight innings. He allowed just four hits in that game, and opponents are now hitting just .160 against him thus far in 2011.
OSU sports a 2.10 team ERA, which ranks second in the Big 12, and leads the league with five shutouts.
Short Hops
• The Cowboys are hitting .330 (61-for-185) with runners in scoring position.
• OSU sophomore Dane Phillips is fifth in the Big 12 with a .635 slugging percentage. The Cowboys rank second in the league with a .465 team slugging percentage.
• Through the first 15 games, nine different position players have made their OSU debuts while 10 different pitchers have toed the pitching rubber for the first time as Cowboys.
• Three Cowboys - Dane Phillips, Gabe Weidenaar and Zach Johnson - rank among the top 14 hitters in the Big 12.
• OSU has turned 20 double plays this season, which ranks as the second most in the conference.
