Oklahoma State University Athletics
Four-Game Set Up Next For Cowboys
March 14, 2013 | Cowboy Baseball
March 14, 2013
#24 Oklahoma State (13-3)
vs. Iona (2-13)
Friday, March 15, 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 16, 1 p.m. (DH)
Sunday, March 17, 1 p.m.
Stillwater, Okla. • Allie P. Reynolds Stadium (4,000)
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State continues its 26-game homestand this weekend with a four-game series against Iona. The 24th-ranked Cowboys bring a 13-3 record into the series at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium, where they have won 11 times this season. Friday's opener is set for 6:30 p.m. with a Saturday doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. First pitch for Sunday's finale is scheduled for 1 p.m.
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 Iona
Iona is 2-13 on the season and enters this weekend's series on a seven-game losing streak. The Gaels are hitting .229, while they sport a team ERA of 6.33.
Expected to start on the mound Iona this weekend are:
Friday - LHP Eddie Macaluso (0-3, 2.70)
Saturday - RHP Max Bruckner (2-2, 6.75) & RHP Matt Marley (0-0, 4.85)
Sunday - TBA
OSU is 1-1 all time against Iona, with both meetings coming in 1990 at the Rainbow Classic in Honolulu.
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).
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 823-185 (.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 11-2 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 -- eight 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 five games, with two of the victories coming in the 10th inning.
The first came against Missouri State when Randy McCurry drew a bases-loaded walk in the 10th 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 10th-inning, walk-off home run, and in the series finale, it was a single by Zach Fish that plated the deciding run with two outs in the ninth.
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 .371 batting average leads the Cowboys and ranks 10th in the Big 12, and he's also among the top 10 in the conference in runs (16), homers (3), RBIs (14), total bases (37) and slugging percentage (.597).
However, Krietemeier is not the only one swinging a hot bat for the Cowboys, who lead the Big 12 with 15 home runs - a total that also ranks in the top 10 nationally - and 33 doubles.
• Senior catcher Victor Romero is tied for the team lead in homers (3) and is second in RBIs (14).
• Sophomore utility player Gage Green is hitting .362 thanks to a recent eight-game hitting streak.
• Randy McCurry ranks second in the Big 12 with seven doubles.
• Outfielder Zach Fish is hitting .333 with three homers and a team-high 15 RBIs, and he also has a current nine-game hitting streak, which is tied with Krietemeier for the longest by a Cowboy this season. 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 sports a 3.31 team ERA, and eight Cowboy hurlers with at least three appearances have an ERA of 2.81 or lower.
• Opponents are hitting just .245 against the Cowboys.
• Jason Hursh ranks eighth in the conference with a 2.00 ERA.
• Brendan McCurry is 3-0 with a save and has yet to allow an earned run in six appearances (11.1 innings). His three wins are tied for the second most in the Big 12.
Players Mentioned
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Friday, May 29
Wednesday, May 27
Monday, May 18
