Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Put Win Streak On Line Wednesday
February 28, 2012 | Cowboy Baseball
Feb. 28, 2012
Oklahoma State (5-3) vs. Missouri State (5-3)
Wednesday, Feb. 29, 4 p.m.
Allie P. Reynolds Stadium (4,000) • Stillwater, Okla.
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State has won five-straight games and puts that winning streak on the line Wednesday at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium against Missouri State. Both teams bring 5-3 records into the contest, and OSU is coming off a three-game series sweep of Bowling Green State and midweek wins over Dallas Baptist and St. Gregory's. The Cowboys, who travel to Fort Worth to take on No. 18 TCU this weekend, are hitting .278 as a team, while the pitching staff sports a 3.52 ERA. With a host of newcomers on their roster, 16 different players have made their Cowboy baseball debuts in 2012.
The Cowboys are coming off a 2011 season in which they were 35-25, including finishing fourth in the Big 12 Conference standings at 14-12, and earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament Nashville Regional.
OSU head coach Frank Anderson is entering his ninth season at the helm of the Cowboys and has led the club to 302 wins and six NCAA Tournament appearances in his career.
The Cowboys are led by a senior class that includes All-Big 12 performers Jared Womack and Gabe Weidenaar, along with three-year starter Mark Ginther.
About Missouri State
Missouri State is 5-3 on the season after winning three of its four games at the UT-Arlington Invitational last weekend. The Bears are hitting .249 and have a 4.37 team ERA.
Expected to start on the mound for MSU is right-hander Clay Murphy, who is 0-0 with a save in three appearances this season. The junior has three career starts against the Cowboys and is 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 20 innings of work.
OSU is 6-4 all time against Missouri State and will be looking to snap a three-game losing streak against the Bears dating back to a 2010 win in Stillwater.
Watch, Listen, Follow
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 30th season with Cowboy baseball (17th as the play-by-play voice), will call the action, with Matt "Chief" Davis providing color commentary.
Live online video and audio for all home games not televised can be accessed at www.okstate.com (there is a fee involved with this service). GameTracker live stats can also be found www.okstate.com. Video/audio/live stats links are available on the OSU baseball page under Schedule.
Home Sweet Home
Allie P. Reynolds Stadium has been home to Oklahoma State baseball since 1981, and in those 31-plus seasons the Cowboys have been nearly unbeatable on their home field.
OSU is 793-175 (.819) 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 5-0 at home in 2012.
300 Club
With the Cowboys' series opening win over Bowling Green State, OSU head coach Frank Anderson become just 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.
In his ninth season at OSU, Anderson owns a career record of 302-186, which includes a 110-102 Big 12 mark.
New Faces
OSU's 35-man 2012 roster includes 24 newcomers -- 16 junior college transfers, seven high school players and a Division I transfer.
The group includes JUCO All-Americans Victor Romero and Robbie Rea, as well as Jarrett Higgins, who had a record 64 stolen bases in two seasons at San Jacinto JC.
A talented freshman class includes high school All-American Zach Fish, a 24th-round pick in last year's MLB Draft after hitting 47 home runs as a prep, and Gage Green, a versatile player who can play multiple positions and who hit nearly .500 during his senior season at Rider HS in Wichita Falls, Texas.
Arizona State transfer Kyle Ottoson is a four-time MLB Draft pick and will battle for a spot in the weekend starting pitching rotation.
High Marks
A pair of Cowboys have been ranked among college baseball's best by Baseball America.
Andrew Heaney is listed as the 45th-best overall prospect for the 2012 MLB Draft and the third best-prospect in the Big 12. The southpaw is also rated as the 20th-best player in this year's college baseball junior class.
Third baseman Mark Ginther is considered the 16th-best player in this season's senior class and the 13th-best overall prospect in the conference.
Sophomore right-hander Jason Hursh, who will miss the 2012 season with an injury, is considered the Big 12's sixth-best prospect for the 2013 MLB Draft.
Seniority
Despite the influx of newcomers and youth, OSU has a strong senior class of six proven players.
• Third baseman Mark Ginther is a career .300 hitter who started 148 games for the Cowboys in his first three seasons.
• Shortstop Hunter Bailey started 59 games at year ago and was one of the Cowboys' top hitters down the stretch.
• Catcher Jared Womack and utility player/relief pitcher Gabe Weidenaar were both 2011 All-Big 12 Second Team selections.
• Blake Barnes' 23 relief appearances were second-most on the team last season.
• Transfer Kyle Ottoson was 3-1 in 15 appearances with Arizona State in 2011.
Fixture At The Hot Corner
Mark Ginther has started all 115 of OSU's games the last two seasons at third base and returns for his senior season after spurning a professional contract with the Chicago White Sox, who drafted him in the 14th round last June.
In 160 career games, Ginther is hitting .307 with 28 home runs and 113 RBIs. With 41 doubles, he needs just six to crack OSU's all-time top 10 in that statistic.
Ginther entered the 2012 season as the Big 12's active career leader in games played (152), at-bats (583), hits (178), triples (7), homers (27), RBIs (110) and total bases (313).
As a junior, Ginther was an honorable mention All-Big 12 performer after hitting .292 and ranking second on the Cowboys with 10 home runs.
Slinging Southpaw
Junior lefty Andrew Heaney highlights OSU's starting pitching rotation in 2012, and he's off to an impressive start.
In his two Friday starts this season, Heaney is 1-1 with a 1.26 ERA and has racked up 22 strikeouts in 14.1 innings. He set career highs in strikeouts in each of the two games, fanning 10 at Cal Poly then besting that with 12 Ks vs. Bowling Green State.
Heaney has compiled a 13-8 record in 37 career appearances for the Cowboys, including 20 starts. In 2010, he became the first freshman to lead OSU in wins (with 5) since 2001, and a year ago he was 7-4 on the hill.
Over the summer, Heaney was pegged as a top pro prospect in the Cape Cod League after going 4-3 with a 3.38 ERA and racking up 46 strikeouts in 45 innings.
Mr. Versatility
Senior Gabe Weidenaar did a little bit of everything for the Cowboys in 2011, and his versatility should pay dividends again this year.
A native of Montana, Weidenaar was named to the 2011 All-Big 12 Second Team as a utility player. The switch hitter started 54 games in the outfield and one at first base and hit .280, and he also allowed just one earned run in 15 relief appearances on the mound. As a hurler, he ranked second on the team with three saves while compiling a 0.42 ERA and striking out 18 in 21.2 innings.
This season, Weidenaar returns to OSU's outfield, and he could also be pegged as the Cowboys' closer.
Second Time A Charm
Jared Womack played in 12 games as an OSU freshman in 2009 before spending 2010 at Ranger Junior College.
He returned to Stillwater for his junior year and had a breakout season for the Cowboys as he earned All-Big 12 Second Team honors as a catcher.
Womack started 48 games at catcher in 2011 -- he also had eight starts at DH and three in the outfield -- and hit .282 while ranking second on the club with 46 RBIs.
In Big 12 play, Womack led OSU in homers (5), RBIs (22) and doubles (10) and was second with a .321 batting average.
Randy In The Rotation
Randy McCurry is just six saves away from reaching OSU's career record, but he may never get there.
In his first two seasons, the junior righty made 46 career appearances, 42 of those in relief, but he is a prime candidate for a spot in the Cowboys' starting rotation in 2012.
McCurry is now almost two years removed from Tommy John surgery that was required after he suffered a season-ending elbow injury while throwing his warm-up pitches in OSU's 2010 season opener vs. USC.
A Tupelo, Okla. native, McCurry sports career numbers of 7-6 with 11 saves and a 2.68 ERA.
As a freshman in 2009, McCurry tied OSU's single-season record with 10 saves. In a team-high 28 appearances, he was also 4-1 with a team-best 2.16 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 41.2 innings of work.
Rea Of Light
JUCO transfer Robbie Rea has been OSU's most consistent hitter this season.
A second baseman, Rea has hit safely in six of OSU's eight games and is tied for the team lead in multi-hit and multi-RBI games.
Rea leads OSU with 12 hits and 18 total bases and is second in batting average (.343), RBIs (8) and slugging percentage (.545).
Shot In The Arms
OSU's pitching rotation got a boost this season with the addition of left-hander Kyle Ottoson. The senior transferred from Arizona State and can play for the Cowboys in 2012 due to the Sun Devils being ineligible for NCAA postseason play.
Ottoson has been drafted in each of the last four MLB Drafts and is coming off a season at ASU in which he was 3-1 with a 3.38 ERA and had 48 strikeouts in 53.1 innings. He had eight-strikeout performances in three of his 15 appearances on the mound.
NewKomer Of The WeeK
To say Chase Stevens has been dominant on the mound is his first season for the Cowboys would be an understatement.
In three appearances, Stevens is 2-0 with a 0.61 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 14.2 innings.
A right-hander who came to Stillwater after two years at Seminole State JC, Stevens leads the Big 12 in strikeouts and ranks in the top five in wins, opponent batting average and innings pitched.
In his first career start, which came against Dallas Baptist, he struck out 10 in seven innings for the win and followed that by racking up 13 strikeouts in five innings of relief against Bowling Green State, including a stretch in which he struck out 10-straight Falcons. Those performances earned him Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors.
Fab Frosh
A trio of freshman have established themselves as regulars in OSU's starting lineup, and each is putting up impressive numbers.
• Zach Fish's first hit as a Cowboy was a grand slam vs. Dallas Baptist, and he leads OSU in home runs (2), RBIs (9) and slugging percentage (.552).
• Wes Jones leads OSU with a .346 batting average and has started seven-straight games at first base.
• Gage Green leads the Pokes with a pair of stolen bases.
