Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Head To Louisville For 39th NCAA Regional
May 29, 2013 | Cowboy Baseball
May 29, 2013
OSU Game Notes - NCAA Louisville Regional 
| OSU NCAA Central
#3-seed Oklahoma State (39-17)
at the NCAA Louisville Regional
May 31-June 3 • Louisville, Ky.
Jim Patterson Stadium (4,000)
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State returns to the NCAA Baseball Championship for the first time since 2011 as the Cowboys earned an at-large bid on the strength of a 39-17 record and will be a No. 3 seed at the NCAA Louisville Regional. OSU's 39 wins are the program's highest total since the 2008 Cowboys finished with 44. OSU, which finished in second place in the Big 12 Conference standings with a 13-10 mark, will open NCAA play Friday at 1 p.m. (CST) against No. 2-seed Miami. Host and top-seeded Louisville and No. 4-seed Bowling Green round out the Louisville Regional field.
The Cowboys enter the NCAA tourney with a .285 batting average, while their pitching staff sports a 2.93 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.
Cowboys In The NCAA Baseball Championship
Oklahoma State is making its 39th appearance in the NCAA Baseball Championship, which ranks fourth all time, and owns a 134-83 (.618) record in the tourney. The 134 wins is tied for seventh all time. The Cowboys have also made 19 College World Series appearances, which is tied for sixth all time.
The Louisville Regional Field
Host Louisville is the regional's top-seeded team and brings a 46-12 record into the tourney. The Cardinals are making their sixth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last seven years and eighth overall. OSU is 1-2 all time against UL, with all three meetings coming in the 2007 NCAA Super Regional in Louisville.
Miami is 36-23 this season and will be making its 42nd all-time NCAA appearance, which ranks third all time. OSU is 3-4 all time against the Hurricanes, the last meeting an OSU win in 2001 at Miami.
Bowling Green earned an NCAA berth, its first since 1999, thanks to its Mid-American Conference championship. The Falcons are 24-29 on the season. OSU is 4-0 all time against BGSU, with the last meeting coming in a three-game series in 2012 in Stillwater that the Cowboys swept.
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.
Additionally, every game of the 2013 NCAA Baseball Championship will be broadcast by the ESPN family of networks. The NCAA Louisville Regional will be broadcast online on ESPN3 and/or on ESPNU/ESPN2 with Mike Morgan and Danny Kannell on the call.
Links to 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.
Baseball In Their Blood
Baseball -- and Oklahoma State -- is definitely a family affair for Josh Holliday.
Josh's father, Tom, served as an OSU assistant coach for 19 years then took over as the Cowboys' head coach from 1997-2003, leading the program to its last College World Series appearance in 1999. Tom is currently in his seventh season as the associate head coach at North Carolina State
Josh's younger brother, Matt, is an outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals. In nine major league seasons, Matt has been named to six All-Star teams.
Josh's uncle, Dave Holliday, was an OSU assistant coach from 1981-88 and has since held a variety of roles in Major League Baseball, including his current spot as a professional scout for the Atlanta Braves. Dave's son, Heath, is a senior catcher for the Cowboys this season.
NCAA Regional Rookies
Only one player on OSU's 27-man NCAA roster, fifth-year senior Randy McCurry, has ever played in an NCAA Tournament game. As a freshman, McCurry pitched in three games in relief at the 2009 NCAA Clemson Regional.
Home Sweet Home
Allie P. Reynolds Stadium has been home to Oklahoma State baseball since April 4, 1981, and in those 32 seasons the Cowboys have been nearly unbeatable on their home field.
OSU is 836-190 (.815) all time at Reynolds Stadium and has lost more than two consecutive games on their home turf only four times (six in a row in 2007; three straight in 2010, 2012 and 2013).
The Cowboys were 24-7 at home in 2013.
Grab A Snickers
After opening the season at New Mexico, the Cowboys didn't go anywhere for a while. On Feb. 19, OSU opened a 26-game homestand -- which finished at 24 after two cancellations -- at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium, and the Cowboys did not return to the road until the April 5 contest at Kansas.
In April and May, OSU played just seven games on its home field.
I Feel A Draft
OSU has six players on its 2013 roster who have been Major League Baseball Draft picks: Zach Fish (2011, Texas, 24th rd.), Jarrett Higgins (2009, Colorado, 36th), Heath Holliday (2009, Colorado, 45th), Jason Hursh (2011, Pittsburgh, 6th), Tyler Nurdin (2011, Cleveland, 28) and Donnie Walton (2012, NY Mets, 36th).
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 both 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 -- 17 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 four walk-off wins this season, three of those coming within the same week. Three of the victories were of the extra-inning variety.
The first came on March 5 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. The Cowboys also walked off against Wichita State, with Fish's 12th-inning, RBI double giving them the victory.
Awards Watch
Several Cowboys are or have been on watch lists for national awards in 2013, including:
• Pitcher Jason Hursh was one of 60 players on the midseason watch list for the Golden Spikes Award, which is given to the nation's top amateur player.
• Vince Wheeland was one of 41 players on the College Baseball Hall of Fame's 2013 Pitcher of the Year Award Watch List.
• Shortstop/pitcher Randy McCurry was one of 25 players on the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award Watch List.
• Victor Romero is one of 15 semifinalists for the Johnny Bench Award given to the top collegiate catcher.
Two-Way Talent
Randy McCurry has proven to be valuable with his arm and his bat during his OSU career and earned All-Big 12 Second Team honors as a utility player in both 2012 and 2013. Now a fifth-year senior, McCurry was also named to the initial 2013 John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award Watch List.
Used mostly as a reliever during the first three years of his career, McCurry's 70 appearances are tied for fifth on OSU's all-time list, and he is 12-9 with 12 saves and a 2.84 ERA, with his 12 saves ranking fourth in program history.
His career offensive numbers include 25 doubles, 61 RBIs and a .291 batting average in 98 games. This season as the Cowboys' starting shortstop, he is hitting .311 with a Big 12-best 20 doubles while also sporting a .451 slugging percentage.
McCurry is three years removed from Tommy John surgery after he suffered a season-ending elbow injury in OSU's 2010 season opener. As a freshman in 2009, he tied OSU's single-season record with 10 saves.
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 the 46th-best prospect for the 2013 Major League Baseball Draft and came in at No. 22 on MLB.com's list of top draft prospects for this June's draft.
Named to the midseason Golden Spikes Award watch list, Hursh is 6-4 with a 2.65 ERA and three complete games in 15 starts this season, and he has 84 strikeouts in 102.0 innings to rank third in the Big 12. During a four-game stretch earlier this season, he tossed 17.2 scoreless innings.
Wheeland And Dealin'
Cowboy junior Vince Wheeland was one of 41 players on the College Baseball Hall of Fame's 2013 Pitcher of the Year Award Watch List.
A right-hander, Wheeland is 8-2 with a save in 28 appearances, a total that is tied for fifth on OSU's single-season list. His eight wins are tied for fourth among Big 12 pitchers, and he is seventh in the league with a 2.09 ERA.
In 69.0 innings of work, Wheeland has recorded 62 strikeouts, and he ranks fifth in the league in opponent batting average at .221.
Big 12 Elite
OSU had 11 players garner All-Big 12 accolades in 2013, the program's highest total since 2008. Relief pitcher Vince Wheeland and outfielder Zach Fish were named to the first team, marking the first time the Cowboys had multiple first teamers since 2008, while catcher Victor Romero, infielder Tanner Krietemeier, pitcher Jason Hursh and utility player Randy McCurry earned second-team honors.
Selected as honorable mention performers were pitchers Tyler Nurdin and Mark Robinette, outfielder Saulyer Saxon, utility player Brendan McCurry and infielder Donnie Walton, who was also named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team.
Making A Sacrifice
Freshman Donnie Walton's 17 sacrifice bunts this season are an OSU single-season record. Walton broke the previous record of Fred Ocasio, who had 16 in 1993.
Clutch When It Counts
Over its last 18 games, OSU is hitting .314 (61-for-194) with runners in scoring position, with 43 of the Cowboys' 81 RBIs during that span coming with two outs. On the season, OSU is hitting .302 with runners in scoring position (their opponents are at .233) and have 121 two-out RBIs. With 21 two-out RBIs (of his 41 total), Zach Fish leads a group of six Cowboys who have double-digit two-out RBI totals.
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 All-Big 12 performers Tanner Krietemeier and Zach Fish.
• Krietemeier's .321 batting average leads OSU, and the junior first baseman ranks among the top 10 in the Big 12 in hits (69), runs (39), walks (29), doubles (14), RBIs (43) and total bases (99).
• Fish ranks in the top 10 in the Big 12 in home runs (7), doubles (17), RBIs (41), total bases (103) and slugging percentage (.464).
• Krietemeier had an 18-game hitting streak snapped in the second game of the Texas series, a streak that marked the longest by an OSU player since 2008 (Rebel Ridling, 20). During the streak, he hit .361 (26-for-72) with three homers, five doubles, 16 RBIs and a .583 slugging percentage.
• Krietemeier has 19 multi-hit games to lead the Cowboys, while Fish's 18 are tied for second.
• Krietemeier is hitting .378 (31-for-82) with runners in scoring position, while Fish is at .342 (26-for-76).
• Fish leads the Cowboys with 11 multi-RBI games and has collected four RBIs in a game twice.
Strong-Armed
OSU has also been impressive on the mound in 2013.
• OSU sports a 2.93 team ERA. The last time a Cowboy pitching staff recorded an ERA under 3.00 came in 1973 when that staff finished at 1.93.
• Eight Cowboy hurlers with at least 12 appearances have an ERA of 3.92 or lower.
• The Cowboys have recorded seven shutouts this season. Weekend starters Jason Hursh, Tyler Nurdin and Mark Robinette each have at least one, while eight different pitchers have been a part of a shutout performance.
• Nurdin's 1.83 ERA ranks fifth in the Big 12, and he is second with a pair of shutouts.
• Brendan McCurry is 6-3 with a 2.28 ERA, and his eight saves rank fourth in the Big 12. He allowed only one earned run in his 14 first outings (22.2 IP) before giving up three in the ninth in a loss at TCU.
Thievery
A year ago, OSU's opponents stole over twice as many bases (77) as the Cowboys (38). Things are quite different in 2013 as the Cowboys have racked up 78 steals and their opponents just 38. Gage Green leads the Cowboys with 13 stolen bases, while Aaron Cornell has swiped 12.
In The Polls
OSU has been ranked in at least one national poll for 13-straight weeks. The Cowboys peaked at No. 12 in last week's NCBWA poll, which marked the program's highest ranking since it was No. 11 in the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll on March 16, 2009.
