Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Open Big 12 Play Against Baylor
March 21, 2013 | Cowboy Baseball
March 21, 2013
#20 Oklahoma State (17-3)
vs. Baylor (10-12)
Friday, March 22, 3 p.m.
Saturday, March 23, 3 p.m.
Sunday, March 24, 1 p.m.
Stillwater, Okla. • Allie P. Reynolds Stadium (4,000)
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State opens Big 12 Conference play this weekend when the 20th-ranked Cowboys host Baylor at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium. Winners of seven-straight games, OSU owns an 18-3 record and has lost just twice in 18 home games this season. Friday's series opener is scheduled for a 3 p.m. start, as is Saturday's contest, while Sunday's finale is set for 1 p.m.
The Cowboys are the Big 12's top hitting team with a .311 average, while their pitching staff ranks second in the league with a 2.78 ERA.
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 for the Cowboys in the 1990s.
The Cowboys are coming off a 2012 season in which they 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.
OSU was picked by league coaches to finish fifth in the Big 12 race. Oklahoma was tabbed as the favorite.
About Baylor
Baylor brings a 10-12 record to Stillwater and will also be opening Big 12 play this weekend. Led by Nathan Orf (.380, 12 RBIs), the Bears are hitting .257, while the pitching staff sports a 3.80 ERA.
Expected to start on the mound for the Bears this weekend are:
Friday - RHP Dillon Newman (3-0, 1.42) Saturday - RHP Max Garner (1-3, 3.18)
Sunday - TBA
OSU is 35-34 all time against Baylor. The Bears swept last season's series in Waco, winning both of the final two games by one run.
Watch, Listen, Follow
All OSU baseball games are carried live by Stillwater Radio. The first two games of the Baylor series are scheduled to air on KSPI 780 AM with Phil Turney (Fri.) and Bill Van Ness (Sat.) calling the action. Rex Holt, who is in his 31st season with Cowboy baseball, returns to the booth Sunday, with that game airing on KSPI 93.7 FM. Matt "Chief" Davis will provide 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.
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 828-185 (.817) 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 16-2 at home in 2013.
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 -- nine 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 this season, all coming within the same week. Two of the victories came 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.
Back On The Bump
Two years ago, Jason Hursh was a highly touted freshman for the Cowboys, coming to Stillwater after a standout prep career that culminated with him being a sixth-round pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft.
In his first collegiate season, the hard-throwing right-hander made 10 appearances, including four starts, and was 1-1 with a 2.73 ERA. But the native Texan was forced to miss the 2012 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Following the successful procedure, Hursh is back for his redshirt sophomore season in 2013 and proving to be one of the aces of the Cowboys' staff. With a fastball in the mid- to upper 90s in his repertoire, Hursh is listed by Baseball America as fourth-best prospect in the Big 12 for the 2013 Major League Baseball Draft.
In five starts this season, Hursh is 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA and two complete games, and he has 28 strikeouts in 36 innings.
Aluminum Assault
OSU leads the Big 12 Conference with a .311 team batting average, and the Cowboys' offense also tops the league in on-base percentage (.408), slugging percentage (.465), runs (150), doubles (48), home runs (17) and RBIs (137).
Nationally, OSU entered the week ranked fifth in the NCAA in doubles, seventh in slugging percentage, 10th in batting average, 13th in hits and 15th in home runs.
Dynamic Duo
A big reason for the Cowboys' huge offensive numbers is the production of a two-headed monster in the middle of the lineup in the form of Tanner Krietemeier and Zach Fish.
Krietemeier's .400 batting average leads the Cowboys and ranks fifth in the Big 12, and the junior first baseman also ranks among the top 10 in the conference in hits (32), runs (21), homers (3), RBIs (21), total bases (48) and slugging percentage (.600).
Fish, a sophomore, is hitting .378 and leads the Big 12 with nine doubles while ranking second in RBIs (22), total bases (54) and slugging percentage (.659). He has collected four RBIs in a game twice.
Want more superlatives from this duo?
• Krietemeier has hit safely in 14-straight games, the longest streak by an OSU player this season. During the streak, he is is 21-for-55 (.382) with three homers, 13 RBIs and five doubles. Fish had a 13-game streak snapped Wednesday vs. Southeastern. He hit .434 (23-for-53) with two homers, 15 RBIs and seven doubles during his streak.
• Krietemeier has reached base safely in 15-straight games.
• Both players have nine multi-hit games this season, the most by any Cowboy.
• Fish is the reigning Big 12 Player of the Week and NCBWA National Hitter of the Week after hitting .600 (12-for-20) with eight RBIs in five games last week.
• Krietemeier is hitting .429 (15-for-35) with runners in scoring position; Fish is 14-for-37 (.378).
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, Alex Hackerott and Kyle Gehrs.
• OSU sports a 2.78 team ERA, and seven Cowboy hurlers with at least four appearances have an ERA of 2.32 or lower.
• Vince Wheeland is 5-0 in 11 appearances, with his five wins tied for the most in the Big 12.
• Jason Hursh's 1.50 ERA ranks sixth in the league.
• Brendan McCurry is 3-0 with two saves and has yet to allow an earned run in eight appearances (14.0 innings).
Seven And Counting
OSU is on a seven-game winning streak and has outscored its opponents 63-10 during that span. The Cowboys are hitting .375 and sport a 1.53 ERA during the streak, and they are 21-of-24 on stolen base attempts, have not commited an error in the field and are 43-for-97 (.443) with runners in scoring position.
