Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboy Baseball Continues Long Homestand
March 11, 2013 | Cowboy Baseball
March 11, 2013
#24 Oklahoma State (12-3)
vs. Pacific (5-9)
Tuesday, March 12, 6:30 p.m.
Stillwater, Okla. • Allie P. Reynolds Stadium (4,000)
Oklahoma State
A dozen games into a 26-game homestand, Oklahoma State brings a 12-3 record into a Tuesday midweek contest against Pacific at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. The Cowboys entered the national rankings for the first time in 2013 last week, and this week they're ranked as high as No. 24 in the USA Today and NCBWA polls.
OSU, which entered the 2013 season as the eighth winningest program in NCAA history with a .664 winning percentage, in its 102nd season of baseball and the program's first under head coach Josh Holliday, a former star at OSU in the 1990s.
OSU is coming off a 2012 season in which the Cowboys finished 32-25 overall, which included coming in fifth in the Big 12 Conference standings with a 13-11 mark.
A pair of All-Big 12 performers in Robbie Rea and Randy McCurry lead a group of 15 returning letterwinners from 2012, while 19 newcomers round out the OSU roster.
The Cowboys were picked by league coaches to finish fifth in the Big 12 race. Oklahoma was tabbed as the favorite.
About Pacific
Pacific is 5-9 on the season, which includes a 1-4 mark in road games, but the Tigers have three 1-run losses and two 2-run losses. Led by Erik Lockwood and Jason Taasaas, the Tigers are hitting .258, while they sport a team ERA of 4.52.
Expected to start on the mound for the Tigers is right-hander Patrick Weigel, who is 0-0 with an 11.81 ERA in five appearances this season
Tuesday's game will mark the first-ever meeting between OSU and Pacific on the diamond.
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 31st 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 via okstate.com (a fee is involved with this service). Video/audio/live stats links are all available on the OSU baseball page under Schedule.
Winning
The goal of college baseball coaches and players is to make it to the College World Series in Omaha, and the OSU coaching staff has plenty of experience in that regard.
The Cowboys' staff of Josh Holliday, Rob Walton and Marty Lees has combined to make 12 CWS appearances as either a player or coach.
Holliday played on a pair of CWS teams at OSU (1996 & 1999) and has coached in the CWS as an assistant at Georgia Tech (2006), Arizona State (2009) and Vanderbilt (2011).
Walton spent four seasons as a pitcher at OSU from 1983-86, and each of those Cowboy teams appeared in the CWS.
As an assistant coach at Oregon State, Lees helped lead the Beavers to Omaha three-straight years from 2005-07, with two of those trips resulting in national championships (2006 & 2007).
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
In January, despite his having not yet coached a game, Baseball America named OSU's Josh Holliday the nation's top college head coach under the age of 40. The top 10 list was compiled based on the voting of coaches and scouts.
In addition, Marty Lees came in at No. 6 on Baseball America's list of the nation's top 10 college assistant coaches. That list was compiled from the votes of 70 Division I head coaches across the country, as well as the input of more than a dozen scouts. Coaches with prior D-I head coaching experience, such as OSU pitching coach Rob Walton, were excluded from the list.
Home Sweet Home
Allie P. Reynolds Stadium has been home to Oklahoma State baseball since 1981, and in those 32 seasons the Cowboys have been nearly unbeatable on their home field.
OSU is 822-185 (.816) all time at Reynolds Stadium and has lost more than two consecutive games on their home turf only three times (six in a row in 2007; three straight in 2010 and 2012).
The Cowboys are 10-2 at home in 2013.
Grab A Snickers
After opening the season at New Mexico, the Cowboys won't be going anywhere for a while. On Feb. 19, OSU opened a 26-game homestand at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium as the Cowboys will not return to the road until an April 2 game at Oklahoma.
In April and May, OSU will play just seven games on its home field.
Comeback Cowboys & A Little Bit Of Irony
In the second game of the New Mexico series, OSU faced an eight-run deficit after seven innings. Trailing 14-6, the Cowboys rallied for four runs in the eighth and ninth to force extra innings and then won the game with a run in the 13th.
The eight-run deficit marked the largest OSU had overcome to win a game since April 6, 1997, when the Cowboys trailed Texas, 11-0, after 4 1/2 innings in Stillwater before rallying for, ironically, a 15-14 win. Josh Holliday was also a part of that game, playing catcher and third base for the Cowboys and going 1-for-4.
Coming from behind has continued to be a trend for the Cowboys -- seven of OSU's wins this season have come in games in which it has trailed.
It's A Walk Off
The Cowboys have picked up three walk-off wins in their last four games -- all within a six-day span. Two of the wins came in the 10th inning.
The first came against Missouri State when Randy McCurry drew a bases-loaded walk to bring home the winning run. In its series win over Loyola Marymount, OSU had two walk-off wins. In the opener, Tanner Krietemeier delivered a walk-off home run, and in the series finale, it was a single by Zach Fish that plated the deciding run.
Hot Hitters
After leading OSU to a series win at No. 21 New Mexico on opening weekend, junior Tanner Krietemeier was named the Big 12 Conference Newcomer of the Week. The switch-hitter was 6-for-11 with three clutch RBIs against the Lobos and was the only Cowboy to hit safely in all three games -- and he hasn't slowed down since.
Krietemeier's .386 batting average leads the Cowboys and ranks 10th in the Big 12, and he's also among the top 10 in the conference in hits (22), runs (15), homers (3), RBIs (14), total bases (36) and slugging percentage (.632).
However, Krietemeier is not the only one swinging a hot bat for the Cowboys, who lead the Big 12 with 14 home runs and 29 doubles.
• Senior catcher Victor Romero is tied for the team lead in homers (3) and RBIs (14).
• Sophomore utility player Gage Green is hitting .357 on the strength of a recent eight-game hitting streak, which is tied for the longest by a Cowboy this season.
• Randy McCurry leads the Big 12 with seven doubles and ranks eighth with 13 RBIs.
• Outfielder Zach Fish is hitting .322 with a three homers and 13 RBIs, and the sophomore sports a .587 slugging percentage. He has collected four RBIs in a game twice.
Strong-Armed
OSU has also been impressive on the mound in 2013, led by veterans Randy McCurry and Vince Wheeland along with newcomers Tyler Nurdin, Brendan McCurry and Kyle Gehrs.
• OSU's 3.33 ERA ranks fourth in the Big 12, and seven Cowboy hurlers with at least three appearances have an ERA of 2.82 or lower.
• Opponents are hitting just .246 against the Cowboys.
• Nurdin (1.80) and Jason Hursh (2.00) both rank in the top 10 in the conference in ERA.
• Brendan McCurry is 3-0 with a save and has yet to allow an earned run in five appearances (9.1 innings). His three wins are tied for the second most in the Big 12.
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