Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Host Arkansas-Pine Bluff
March 13, 2012 | Cowboy Baseball
March 13, 2012
OSU Game Notes - Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Oklahoma State (9-7)
vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff (1-14-1)
Tuesday, March 13, 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, March 14, 4 p.m.
Allie P. Reynolds Stadium (4,000) • Stillwater, Okla.
Oklahoma State
In the midst of a nine-game homestand, Oklahoma State hosts a pair of midweek games against Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium, with the first game Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. before Wednesday's finale at 4 p.m. The Cowboys are 9-7 on the season after a three-game series sweep of Alabama A&M. Led by Robbie Rea and his .362 average, OSU is hitting .271 as a team, while the pitching staff sports a 2.96 ERA. With a host of newcomers on the roster, 17 different players have made their OSU 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 306 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 Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Arkansas-Pine Bluff is 1-14-1 on the season. The Golden Lions are hitting .208 as a team, and their pitching staff owns an 8.33 ERA.
OSU is 21-0 all time against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The two teams last met during the 2011 season with the Cowboys picking up a 19-3 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, will call the action, with Matt "Chief" Davis providing color commentary.
GameTracker live stats for all games can be found at www.okstate.com. Additionally, 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). Video/audio/live stats links are all 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 796-176 (.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 8-1 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 306-190, 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 who is currently in the Cowboys' 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.
Aluminum Assault
Over the last decade, OSU has established itself among the top hitting clubs in the Big 12.
In the last seven seasons, OSU has led the conference in home runs five times. During that same span, the Cowboys have twice topped the league in batting average and finished second on four occasions.
Nearly a month into the 2012 season, OSU leads the Big 12 in homers with 15, ranks second in slugging percentage (.410) and doubles (26) and is third in hits (150).
Flashing The Leather
OSU has recorded a fielding percentage over .970 just seven times in its history -- six of those have come in the last seven seasons.
The Cowboys made history in 2010 when they set a school record with a .978 fielding percentage, a mark that ranked fifth nationally.
From 2008-10, OSU tied or set the school record for fielding percentage every year. The Cowboys had a .974 fielding percentage in 2008 and a .976 fielding percentage in 2009. Both those fielding percentages led the Big 12.
In 2011, the Cowboys sported a .974 fielding percentage. They led the Big 12 and ranked third nationally with 73 double plays.
Strong Armed
OSU's pitching staff ranks third in the Big 12 with a .296 ERA, and the Cowboys lead the league with 151 strikeouts. They also rank third nationally with 9.7 strikeouts per nine innings.
In 2011, the Cowboys turned in a 3.79 ERA, the lowest for an OSU team since 1974. That staff also tossed seven shutouts, the most by an OSU group since 1986.
In 2012, the Cowboys return six pitchers who were part of a shutout last season, and of the five returners who made at least 10 appearances a year ago, four of them sported an ERA of 3.38 or lower.
Among the returners is junior Andrew Heaney, who has led OSU in wins in each of his first two seasons in Stillwater.
1-2 Punchout
Entering this week, Andrew Heaney leads the NCAA with 44 strikeouts, while Chase Stevens ranks 10th with 35.
Stevens is also second nationally in strikeouts per nine innings (14.79), while Heaney is ninth (13.2).
Fixture At The Hot Corner
Mark Ginther started 115 straight games for the Cowboys the last two seasons at third base and is back for his senior season after spurning a professional contract with the Chicago White Sox, who drafted him in the 14th round last June.
In 168 career games, Ginther is hitting .305 with 28 home runs and 114 RBIs. With 42 doubles, he needs just five 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 named honorable mention All-Big 12 after hitting .292 and ranking second on OSU 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 three Friday starts this season, Heaney is 3-1 with a 1.20 ERA and has racked up an NCAA-leading 44 strikeouts in 30.0 innings. He has set career highs in strikeouts in three of his four outings, fanning 10 at Cal Poly, besting that with 12 Ks vs. Bowling Green State and tallying 13 vs. Alabama A&M.
Heaney has compiled a 15-8 record in 40 career appearances for the Cowboys, including 23 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 (primarily in left) and has also served as the Cowboys' closer.
Record-Setting Rea
JUCO transfer Robbie Rea has been OSU's most consistent hitter this season, with seven multi-hit games and three multi-RBI efforts on his resumé.
Rea's brief time in Stillwater was highlighted by a record-setting performance in the first game of a March 10 doubleheader against Alabama A&M. In that contest, the Cowboy second baseman was 5-for-5 at the plate with three home runs, two doubles and nine RBIs.
With the three homers, Rea became just the 10th Cowboy in history to homer three times in a game, a feat that has been achieved just 13 times in OSU history and hadn't been done since 2009.
Rea's 16 total bases also tied a Big 12 record, and his nine RBIs in the game were one short of the OSU record and also fell one shy of the Big 12 record.
Rea leads the Pokes with a .362 batting average and tops the Big 12 with 20 RBIs and 43 total bases. He also ranks in the top three in the conference in hits (25), home runs (4), doubles (6) and slugging percentage (.623).
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 has found a home in the Cowboys' weekend starting rotation in 2012.
McCurry is now 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 8-6 with 11 saves and a 2.81 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.
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.
Mowing 'Em Down
To say Chase Stevens has been dominant on the mound is his first season for the Cowboys would be an understatement.
In a team-high six appearances, Stevens is 2-0 with a 0.84 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 21.1 innings. He is among the national leaders in strikeouts and ranks sixth in the NCAA in hits allowed per nine innings at 3.38.
A right-hander who came to Stillwater after two years at Seminole State JC, Stevens leads the NCAA in strikeouts and tops the Big 12 in opponent batting average (.118).
In his first career start, against Dallas Baptist, he struck out 10 in seven innings for the win and followed that by racking up 13 Ks in five innings of relief against Bowling Green State, including a stretch in which he struck out 10-straight Falcons.
Fab Frosh
Zach Fish's first hit as a Cowboy was a grand slam vs. Dallas Baptist, and the freshman from Michigan hasn't slowed down since.
Fish ranks second on OSU in batting average (.333), home runs (3), RBIs (17), total bases (35) and slugging percentage (.614).
A fixture in right field, Field is currently on a 13-game hitting streak and is second on the Cowboys with a .333 batting average. He ranks in the top five in the Big 12 in homers, doubles, RBIs, total bases and slugging percentage.
