Oklahoma State University Athletics
2013 Oklahoma State Cowboy Baseball Season Superlatives
July 01, 2013 | Cowboy Baseball
July 1, 2013
• In its first season under head coach Josh Holliday, Oklahoma State finished 41-19 and advanced to the finals of the NCAA Louisville Regional.
• OSU's NCAA Regional finals appearance was its first since 2009.
• OSU's NCAA Regional berth was the 39th in the program's history, which ranks fourth all time.
• The 41 wins marked OSU's highest total since 2008.
• OSU finished in second place in the Big 12 Conference standings, its highest finish since 2008. The Cowboys were picked by the league coaches in the preseason to finish fifth.
• OSU was ranked as high as No. 19 in the final national polls. The Cowboys finished 19th in the NCBWA poll and 21st in the USA Today poll, while they were ranked 22nd by Collegiate Baseball and 24th by Baseball America.
• The Cowboys were ranked in at least one national poll for the final 13 weeks of the regular season. They peaked at No. 12 in the May 20th NCBWA poll, which marked their highest ranking since 2009.
• OSU was 4-3 against ranked teams, including winning three-game series against No. 21 New Mexico and No. 13 Oklahoma.
• The Cowboys won five of their eight Big 12 series, including four in a row to end the season.
• OSU had 18 come-from-behind wins.
• In a win over No. 21 New Mexico, OSU overcame an eight-run deficit to win in extra innings. That marked the largest deficit the Cowboys had overcome to win a game since 1997.
• 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.
• Donnie Walton was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team.
• Several Cowboys were in the mix for national awards, including:
- Victor Romero was one of 15 semifinalists for the Johnny Bench Award, given to college's top catcher.
- Jason Hursh was among 60 players on the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List.
- Randy McCurry was one of 25 players on the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award Watch List.
- Vince Wheeland earned one of 41 spots on the College Baseball Hall of Fame's 2013 Pitcher of the Year Award Watch List.
• OSU had a player honored with a Big 12 weekly award seven times, including one in each of the final five weeks of the season.
- Tanner Krietemeier, Big 12 Newcomer of the Week, Feb. 18
- Zach Fish, Big 12 Player of the Week, March 19
- Robbie Rea, Big 12 Player of the Week, April 22
- Tyler Nurdin, Big 12 Newcomer of the Week, April 29
- Mark Robinette, Big 12 Pitcher of the Week, May 6
- Gage Green, Big 12 Player of the Week, May 13
- Tyler Nurdin, Big 12 Pitcher of the Week, May 20
• The Cowboys finished with a 3.04 team ERA, the lowest by an OSU pitching staff since 1973.
• OSU led the Big 12 with 121 doubles and 245 walks.
• OSU finished second in the Big 12 in batting average (.283), on-base percentage (.375), slugging percentage (.401) and home runs (31).
• Freshman Donnie Walton set an OSU record for sacrifice hits with 18, besting a record that had stood since 1993. The 18 sac bunts ranked 13th in the NCAA in 2013, and Walton's 0.33 sac bunts per game were 10th nationally.
• Randy McCurry led the Big 12 with 21 doubles.
• OSU's 80 stolen bases marked the program's second-highest total of the last 10 years.
• OSU ranked seventh in the NCAA in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.02), and the Cowboys were 11th in walks allowed per nine innings (2.47).
• The Cowboy pitching staff allowed just 148 walks, second fewest in the Big 12.
• OSU ranked second in the Big 12 with six complete games.
• Two Cowboy pitchers finished in the top 10 in the Big 12 in ERA - Tyler Nurdin was fifth at 1.89, while Vince Wheeland was sixth at 1.97.
• Junior Vince Wheeland finished fifth in the Big 12 with eight wins.
• Sophomore Jason Hursh's 86 strikeouts tied for the second most in the Big 12.
• Junior Brendan McCurry tied for fifth in the Big 12 with eight saves.
• Both Vince Wheeland and Mark Robinette ranked in the top 10 in the Big 12 in opponent batting average. Opponents hit .219 against Wheeland and .228 against Robinette.
• Junior Tanner Krietemeier ranked in the top 10 in the Big 12 in hits (72), walks (33) and RBIs (45).
• Sophomore Zach Fish finished in the top 10 in the Big 12 in home runs (7), doubles (17), RBIs (41) and total bases (107).
• Jason Hursh became the 18th first-round draft pick in OSU history. Hursh was the 31st-overall pick by the Atlanta Braves, and his selection marked the second-straight year the Cowboys had a player drafted in MLB's opening round. It was also the third time in OSU history the program had MLB first-round draft picks in consecutive years.
• Along with Hursh, shortstop Randy McCurry was an MLB Draft pick, going in the 23rd round to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
• OSU had eight players named Academic All-Big 12, with seven of those earning first-team accolades. The eight Academic All-Big 12 honorees marked the highest total for the program since 2009, and the seven first teamers were its most since 2007.
