Oklahoma State University Athletics
Streaking Cowboys Host Houston
March 15, 2012 | Cowboy Baseball
March 15, 2012
Oklahoma State (9-7) vs. Houston (7-9)
Friday, March 16, 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 17, 2 p.m.
Sunday, March 18, 1 p.m.
Allie P. Reynolds Stadium (4,000) • Stillwater, Okla.
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State looks to continue its winning streak during its nine-game homestand when the Cowboys host a three-game series with Houston beginning Friday at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium. OSU is 11-7 on the season, including a 10-1 mark on its home field, and the Cowboys have won five-straight games heading into the weekend. Led by Robbie Rea and his .356 average, OSU is hitting .273 as a team, while the pitching staff sports a 2.97 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 308 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 Houston
Houston is 7-9 on the season, including an 0-4 mark on the road, but five of those losses have come to teams ranked in the top 25. The Cougars are hitting .265, while their pitching staff sports a 4.01 ERA.
Expected to start on the mound this weekend for the Houston are:
Fri. - RHP Jared Ray, 1-1, 4.05 Sat. - LHP Jordan Lewis, 2-2, 4.74 Sun. - TBA
OSU is 43-39-1 all time against Houston. The two teams last met in 2005 at the Minute Maid Classic in Houston, with the Cougars earning a 3-2 win.
Watch, Listen, Follow
All OSU baseball games are carried live by Stillwater Radio. This weekend's games will be called by Phil Turney and will air on KVRO 101.1 FM (Fri.), KSPI 780 AM (Sat.) and KSPI 93.7 FM.
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 798-176 (.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 10-1 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 308-190, 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.
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.
A month into the 2012 season, the Cowboys lead the Big 12 in homers with 17, rank second in doubles (31) and are third in slugging percentage (.418).
Strong Armed
OSU's pitching staff ranks third in the Big 12 with a .297 ERA, and the Cowboys lead the league with 171 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 led the NCAA with 44 strikeouts, while Chase Stevens ranked 10th with 35.
Stevens was also second nationally in strikeouts per nine innings (14.79), while Heaney was 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 170 career games, Ginther is hitting .306 with 30 home runs and 116 RBIs. With 43 doubles, he needs just four 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 15-9 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 Cowboys with a .356 batting average and tops the Big 12 with 20 RBIs and 44 total bases. He also ranks in the top three in the league in hits (26) and home runs (4).
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 2.60 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 seven appearances, Stevens is 3-0 with a 1.32 ERA and has racked up 42 strikeouts in 27.1 innings. A right-hander who came to Stillwater after two years at Seminole State JC, he is among the national leaders in strikeouts and hits allowed per nine innings (3.62). Opponents are hitting just .128 against him, which leads the Big 12.
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 (.328), home runs (3), RBIs (18), total bases (38) and slugging percentage (.594).
A fixture in right field, Field recently had a 14-game hitting streak, the longest in the Big 12 this season. He ranks in the top five in the Big 12 in homers, doubles, RBIs and total bases.
Fellow freshman Wes Jones has started OSU's last 17 games at first base and is hitting .281 while ranking third on the Pokes with 12 RBIs.
