Around The Horn With Cowboy Baseball

Oklahoma State turned in a 2-2 record last week, picking up a midweek win over 15^th-ranked Arkansas on Tuesday night before a trip to Morgantown, W.Va., where the Cowboys dropped the first two games of the series vs. West Virginia before claiming a victory in the series finale.

Highlights & Notes

OSU's 2-2 week saw the Cowboys improve to 19-9 on the season. The Pokes are 4-2 in Big 12 Conference play, tying them with TCU for second in the league standings.
J.R. Davis was named this week's Big 12 Newcomer of the Week, while Jensen Elliott picked up Big 12 Pitcher of the Week accolades.
OSU has now had a Big 12 weekly award winner for four consecutive weeks. Tyler Buffett was named the league's pitcher of the week on March 7 and March 28, Dustin Williams was the player of the week on March 14 and Trey Cobb garnered pitcher of the week honors on March 21.
Elliott's award also marks only the second time in Big 12 history a school has captured three-straight Big 12 Pitcher of the Week honors. The first to do it was Baylor in 2014.
OSU's win over Arkansas was its fifth over a ranked opponent this season (Missouri State, Dallas Baptist, Michigan x2).
The Cowboys' 5-4 win over the Razorbacks marked OSU's ninth consecutive triumph in games decided by one run.
Sunday's 8-1 win in the series finale at West Virginia saw J.R. Davis hit for the cycle, and Jensen Elliott hurl a complete game.
Davis became the first Cowboy to hit for the cycle since 2011, and he joined Josh Fields and Zach Johnson as the only OSU players to achieve the feat during the Big 12 era (since 1997). He is also one of just 18 Big 12 players to ever hit for the cycle.
Elliott tossed the first complete game by an OSU pitcher this season, allowing just one run on four hits in a 133-pitch effort, the most by a Cowboy this season.
Elliott became the first OSU freshman to record a complete game since Matt Smith in 1998.
Shortstop Donnie Walton was limited to pinch hitting and designated hitter duties at West Virginia after fouling a ball off his foot and leaving the game against Arkansas, but he is expected to be back in the lineup at shortstop this week.
Conor Costello made his first pitching appearance of the season with an inning of relief Saturday at West Virginia. Costello appeared in 10 games as the Cowboys' DH before a broken hamate bone suffered on March 6 caused him to miss OSU's next 14 contests.

Stat Speak

The first official NCAA RPI of 2016 was released today, and OSU came in at No. 19.
OSU is 10-2 at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium this season.
The Cowboys rank fifth nationally with a 2.33 team ERA.
OSU has turned 30 double plays this season, which ranks 11^th nationally.
Of OSU's 28 games this season, 16 have been decided by one run. The Cowboys are 9-7 in those games.
J.R. Davis was OSU's leading hitter last week, going 6-for-15 (.400) at the plate with a team-high five RBIs, two doubles and an .867 slugging percentage.
Collin Theroux also had a big week, going 4-for-12 (.333) with two homers and four RBIs.
In his last two starts — midweek games at Wichita State and vs. Arkansas — Michael Mertz is 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA and has racked up 15 strikeouts in 12.0 innings while allowing just two earned runs.
In the month of March, Tyler Buffett appeared in 11 of OSU's 18 games and went 4-0 with four saves and a 1.54 ERA to go along with 27 strikeouts in 23 1/3 innings.

Up Next

OSU does not have a midweek contest and returns to Big 12 play Friday night when the Cowboys open a three-game series against league-leading Texas Tech at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.
Texas Tech is 20-8 overall and atop the Big 12 standings at 8-1. The Red Raiders are coming off back-to-back series sweeps of Oklahoma and Kansas State in Lubbock after opening conference play by winning 2-of-3 games at Baylor.
The Red Raiders will face top-10 ranked Florida State for a two-game midweek series on the road in Tallahassee, Fla., before coming to Stillwater.
OSU is 39-28 all time against Texas Tech and has won four-straight series against the Red Raiders. The Cowboys are 6-3 vs. TTU in three seasons under Josh Holliday.

Oklahoma State University Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Tyler Buffett

Trey Cobb

Conor Costello

J.R. Davis

Jensen Elliott

Michael Mertz

Collin Theroux

Donnie Walton

Dustin Williams

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