Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Begin Big 12 Title Defense At TCU
March 19, 2015 | Cowboy Baseball
#19 Oklahoma State (13-6, 0-0) at #1 TCU (16-2, 3-0)
Sat., March 21 • 6:30 p.m.
Sun., March 22 • 2 p.m.
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State begins defense of its Big 12 Conference championship this weekend when it opens league play at TCU, and the 19th-ranked Cowboys enter the series with a 14-6 record and riding a six-game winning streak.
Led by Gage Green, OSU owns a .291 team batting average, while the pitching staff sports a 2.56 ERA and has nine hurlers sporting an ERA of 3.00 or less; the Cowboys rank second in the Big 12 Conference in both batting average and ERA.
The Cowboys are in their third season under head coach Josh Holliday, and the defending Big 12 Conference champions are coming off a year in which they went 48-18, advanced to an NCAA Super Regional and finished 10th in the national rankings. Five position players who made at least 29 starts last season return in 2015, as do 12 members of the pitching staff. Among that group are All-Big 12 performers Gage Green, Donnie Walton, Jon Perrin and Tim Arakawa.
About TCU
TCU is 16-2 and brings an eight-game winning streak into the weekend, and the Horned Frogs also sit atop the Big 12 standings after opening league play with series sweep of Baylor last weekend. TCU is hitting .290 on the year, while its pitching staff owns a 1.71 ERA, which ranks third nationally.
Expected to start on the mound for TCU are:
Friday - RHP Mitchell Traver (3-0, 0.94)
Saturday - RHP Preston Morrison (4-0, 1.15)
Sunday - LHP Alex Young (4-0, 1.33)
OSU is 17-16 all time against TCU. Last season, the two teams split four games, with the Cowboys winning two-of-three games in the regular season series in Stillwater and the Horned Frogs defeating OSU in the Big 12 Championship title game in Oklahoma City.
Watch, Listen, Follow
All OSU baseball games are carried live by Stillwater Radio, and Bill Van Ness will call the action this weekend. The first two games of the series opener will air on KGFY 105.5 FM, with Sunday's finale on either KSPI 93.7 FM or 780 AM. Radio broadcasts are also available to online for a fee at www.okstate.com, with links available under the Schedule tab on the baseball home page.
Live stats for all games can be found at www.okstate.com, with links available under the Schedule tab on the baseball home page. Additionally, fans can follow the official OSU Baseball twitter page, @OSUBaseball, for in-game updates.
Sunday's series finale will air live nationally on Fox Sports 1 with Dave Barnett and Pat Combs on the call.
In The Polls
OSU is nationally ranked in a pair of polls this week, earning a No. 19 ranking from Collegiate Baseball and coming in at No. 23 by the NCBWA.
OSU has been ranked in at least one national poll for 38 consecutive weeks dating back to 2013, when the Cowboys were in the polls for the final 14 weeks of the season, and on March 6, they had an 11-week streak of being in the top 10 snapped. They were ranked as high as No. 3 (NCBWA) in 2014 and finished the season ranked 10th in each of the final polls, marking the 19th time in program history OSU ended the season in the top 10 in the national polls.
Countdown to 2,500
Oklahoma State is just 11 wins shy of becoming only the 16th program in Division I history to reach 2,500 victories. Of the 15 who have achieved that feat, only one has played fewer season's than OSU's 104 (Florida State with 68).
OSU entered the 2015 season ranked sixth all time in NCAA history with a .665 winning percentage.
The Century Mark
In his third season as head coach at his alma mater, Josh Holliday became the sixth skipper to record 100 career wins at Oklahoma State. Holliday's 100th win came against Grand Canyon in his 143rd game, making him the second-fastest Cowboy boss to reach 100 victories.
Comeback Cowboys
Come-from-behind victories have become a trend for the Cowboys under Josh Holliday. OSU overcame deficits to win 46 games over the last two seasons, notching 28 comeback wins a year ago and 18 such triumphs in 2013, and the Pokes have three comeback wins this season.
Winning Ways
Oklahoma State's 48 wins in 2014 marked its highest total since the 1994 Cowboys had 49. The program's last 50-win season came in 1990 (56).
The Cowboys' 48 wins tied for the fifth most in the NCAA in 2014, and at 48-16, their .727 winning percentage ranked eighth nationally.
I Feel A Draft
OSU has 10 players on its 2015 roster who have been Major League Baseball Draft picks: Kevin Bradley (2012, Colorado, 36th round), Conor Costello (2011, Cincinnati, 16th), Thomas Hatch (2013, Colorado, 32nd), Jon Littell (2014, Washington, 39th), Tyler Nurdin (2011, Cleveland, 28th), Jon Perrin (2014, Detroit, 33rd), David Petrino (2014, Chicago Cubs, 39th), Andrew Rosa (2013, Boston, 30th), Donnie Walton (2012, NY Mets, 36th) and Garrett Williams (2013, San Diego, 33rd).
Big 12's Best
Oklahoma State's 89 wins over the 2013-14 seasons were the most in the Big 12 Conference during that span, 12 more than the next highest team (TCU). The 89 wins also ranked 12th nationally.
Big 12's Best, Part II
Oklahoma State captured the 31st conference championship in program history in 2014, winning the Big 12 Conference regular season title for the first time in history (the Cowboys won a Big 12 tourney title in 2004).
Josh Holliday became the first-ever Cowboy boss to earn Big 12 Coach of the Year honors, while junior Zach Fish became OSU's second Big 12 Player of the Year and was one of 11 Cowboys to earn All-Big 12 accolades. Four players named All-Big 12 last season return in 2015 -- catcher Gage Green, infielder Donnie Walton and pitcher Jon Perrin, who were each first-team honorees, and infielder Tim Arakawa, who was a second-team selection.
The Cowboys also return a pair of pitchers -- Blake Battenfield and Tyler Buffett -- who were named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team in 2014.
Close Calls
OSU went 1-3 in its first four games of the season, but those four games were decided by a combined total of six runs. The Cowboys played a pair of one-run contests against Arizona State, with OSU going 1-1 in those, while the Sun Devils also claimed a two-run victory. OSU also lost a 5-3 contest to Oregon State in the opener of the Big 12/Pac-12 Challenge.
OSU was 11-1 in one-run ball games last season and 11-3 in contests decided by two runs. In 2015, the Cowboys are 3-1 in one-run games and 1-3 in two-run contests.
Coming Up Clutch
OSU is hitting .316 (81-for-256) with runners in scoring position this season, and of the Cowboys' 124 RBIs, 44 of those have come with two outs.
Small Ball
OSU has smashed program records for sacrifice bunts each of the last two years. A year ago, the Cowboys were third nationally with 88 sacrifice bunts, which trumped the 2013 team's 74 sac bunts to set a program record. Donnie Walton ranked fourth in the NCAA in 2014 with 22 sac bunts, while Gage Green tallied 11.
The Cowboys have 19 sac bunts this season, with Jacob Chappell's five leading the way.
Ball Four, Take Your Base
OSU ranked seventh out of nine Big 12 teams in batting average (.275) last season, but the Cowboys led the league with a .385 on-base percentage. The reason? OSU topped the conference and ranked second nationally with 324 walks, 36 more than the next-highest Big 12 team.
The Cowboys sport a Big 12-best .398 on-base percentage this season and rank 11th nationally with 106 walks.
The Pen Is Mighty
OSU's bullpen was the strength of its pitching staff in 2014 as Cowboy relievers combined to go 31-2 with 21 saves in 187 relief appearances. The bullpen racked up 286 strikeouts in 322.0 innings of relief and allowed only 87 earned runs (for a 2.43 ERA).
That trend has continued in 2015 as 12 relievers have combined for 57 appearances, and the OSU bullpen is 6-2 with five saves, a 2.09 ERA and 84 strikeouts in 86.0 innings.
Strong-Armed
In two seasons under the direction of coach Rob Walton, OSU's pitching staff has turned in some impressive numbers.
In 2013, the Cowboys' 3.04 team ERA was the lowest by an OSU pitching staff since 1973. They followed that last season by ranking second in the Big 12 in strikeouts (479) and saves (21), and in the Cowboys' 24 conference games, the staff recorded a league-best 2.43 ERA with Big 12 opponents only hitting .232 against them.
OSU recorded seven shutouts in both 2013 and 2014, marking just the fourth and fifth times in program history the Cowboys had reached that mark. In the 26 seasons prior to 2013, the program had reached seven shutouts only once.
Over the last two seasons, OSU has also had a pitcher drafted in the first round of the Major League Baseball Draft (Jason Hursh in 2013) and a hurler earn consensus All-America honors (Brendan McCurry).
The Cowboys return eight pitchers in 2015 who combined for 30 of OSU's 48 wins a year ago. Of those eight, four turned in an ERA of 3.00 or less.
Through 20 games in 2015, OSU owns a 2.56 team ERA, has recorded four shutouts to rank seventh nationally and ranks third in the Big 12 with an average of 8.25 strikeouts per nine innings.
Thievery
Oklahoma State leads the Big 12 with 34 stolen bases. Four Cowboys rank in the top 10 in the league in steals, with Gage Green's 10 atop the list.
Versatile, Dependable, Productive
All those adjectives can be used to describe Cowboy senior Gage Green. A year ago, the Texan led OSU with a .310 batting average and 20 stolen bases while turning in a .392 on-base percentage and recording 24 multi-hit games. He also ranked in the top 10 in the Big 12 with 74 hits.
And it's a safe bet that Green is one of a very few collegiate players -- and likely the only one -- splitting time between catcher and the outfield. Of his 62 starts during his junior season, 25 were behind the plate, 23 were in center field and 14 came in left field. He was named to the All-Big 12 First Team as a catcher.
Green has continued his musical chairs of positions in 2015, starting 12 games at catcher, four in left field, three in center and one in right field, and he is hitting a team-high .347 with two homers and 10 stolen bases. He ranks in the top 10 in the Big 12 in six offensive categories: batting average, stolen bases, hits (26), triples (3), walks (13) and runs (17).
Friday Night Lights
Jon Perrin returns to the Cowboy pitching rotation for his senior season despite being a 33rd-round pick of the Detroit Tigers last June, and his return helps bolster the OSU staff.
Perrin started his junior season in the Cowboy bullpen, but in mid-March he made his first start against UTPA. The right-hander started every Friday the rest of the way, and the move to the weekend paid big dividends.
After a no-decision against UTPA, Perrin took losses against Baylor and TCU despite solid outings. However, in his next three starts, he went 3-0 and allowed just one run in 21.1 innings.
A native of Olathe, Kan., Perrin dominated both Big 12 teams from his home state, recording his first-career shutout in a nine-strikeout performance vs. Kansas and topping that with a 10-strikeout shutout of Kansas State.
On the season, Perrin, who was named to the All-Big 12 First Team, was 8-5 with a 2.38 ERA, which ranked as the fourth lowest in the Big 12. He also ranked in the top 10 in the conference in six other categories: wins, shutouts (2), complete games (2), innings pitched (102.0), strikeouts (81) and opponent batting average (.249).
In five starts this season, Perrin is 2-2 with a 4.35 ERA, and opponents are hitting just .221 against him.
Hawaiian Punch
Tim Arakawa proved to be quite a clutch hitter in his first season in a Cowboy uniform in 2014, and that ability resulted in 13 multi-RBI games and 44 RBIs overall for the Honolulu native, helping him earn All-Big 12 Second Team honors.
Arakawa put the Cowboys ahead on the scoreboard with RBIs 16 times last year, and on eight of those occasions, he either drove in what proved to be the winning runs or were walk-off runs. On three other occasions, he collected game-tying RBIs in contests that OSU went on to win.
Arakawa also finished the season ranked second in the Big 12 and 11th nationally in walks (47).
In 2015, Arakawa has continued his production at the plate. Batting anywhere from 2nd-5th in the Cowboys' batting order, he hit safely in OSU's first 13 games and is hitting .311 and leads the team in RBIs (21) and runs (19).
Big Mike
Mike Freeman had a career day in a win over Western Illinois on March 1, racking up career highs with 10 strikeouts and eight innings of work. The 6-foot-8 Freeman was dominant throughout and nearly unhittable as he retired 23-straight hitters after WIU reached on an error to lead off the game and did not give up a hit through 7 2/3 innings.
Named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week for his performance, Freeman did not issue a walk, faced just two hitters over the minimum and recorded 78 strikes on 113 pitches.
In five starts this season, Freeman is 3-0 with a 1.82 ERA. He ranks in the top 10 in the Big 12 in ERA, strikeouts (28), opponent batting average (.206) and innings pitched (29.2) and has allowed just one earned run in 20.0 innings over his last three starts.
