Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
Oral Roberts
Cowboys Set For Final Non-Conference Tilt
May 16, 2016 | Cowboy Baseball
#12 Oklahoma State (32-17)
at Oral Roberts (32-16)
J.L. Johnson Stadium (2,418)
Tulsa, Okla.
Tues., May 17: 6:30 p.m.
Oklahoma StateÂ
   Oklahoma State concludes the regular season portion of its schedule with four games in five days this week, beginning with a midweek contest against Oral Roberts Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in Tulsa. The Cowboys are 32-17 overall and in second place in the Big 12 Conference standings with a 13-8 mark. Following the trip to Tulsa for their final non-conference game, the Cowboys return home and will host Kansas in a three-game series beginning Thursday at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.
   Led by Donnie Walton and his .352 batting average, the Cowboys are hitting a collective .259, while the pitching staff has posted a Big 12-best 3.26 ERAÂ
   The Cowboys are coming off a 38-20 season in which they made their third consecutive NCAA Regional appearance, and expectations are again high. OSU was ranked in the top 10 nationally in four different preseason polls and returns seven starters from 2015, including All-Big 12 Conference performers Donnie Walton, Ryan Sluder and Corey Hassel.
   The 2016 season marks OSU's fourth under Holliday, who compiled a 127-57 record in his first three seasons at his alma mater.Â
About The Golden Eagles
   Oral Roberts has won six-straight games and is 32-16, including an 18-3 mark at home, and the Golden Eagles are top The Summit League standings with a 21-6 conference mark. Led by junior shortstop Noah Cummings (.382, 4 HR, 36 RBIs), ORU owns a .307 team batting average, while the pitching staff sports a 3.83 ERA.
   Expected to start on the mound for ORU is left-hander Trevor McCutchin, who is 2-2 with a 7.79 ERA in 11 appearances, including three starts.
   OSU is 34-32 all time against Oral Roberts, including a 4-0 loss in Stillwater on April 12 that marked the Cowboys third-straight loss to the Golden Eagles. OSU is 2-4 vs. ORU under Josh Holliday.
Watch, Listen, Follow
   Tuesday's game will be broadcast free through the ORU Sports Network and is available on the web and mobile devices. A link to access the broadcast can be found on www.oruathletics.com via the Schedule tab on the baseball homepage.
   All OSU baseball games are carried live by Stillwater Radio and air on KSPI 93.7 FM or 780 AM. Rex Holt, who is in his 34th season on the air with Cowboy baseball, will call the action, with Matt "Chief" Davis providing color commentary. Radio broadcasts are also available online at okstate.com/watch.
   Live stats for all games can also be found at okstate.com, with links available under the Schedule tab on the baseball home page. Additionally, fans can follow the official OSU Baseball Twitter account, @OSUBaseball, for in-game updates.
In The Polls
   OSU remained in this week's national polls and is ranked as high as 12th by Perfect Game. The Cowboys are also ranked No. 14 by Collegiate Baseball, 15th in the NCBWA and USA Today coaches polls, 20th in the Baseball America poll and No. 21 by D1Baseball.com.
   OSU has been ranked in at least one national poll for 65 consecutive weeks dating back to 2013, when the Cowboys were in the polls for the final 14 weeks of the season. During that time, they have spent 16 weeks in the Top 10 and been ranked as high as No. 3 (by the NCBWA in 2014). They finished the '14 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.
Close Calls
   OSU is 38-21 in one-run games since 2013, including a 12-8 mark this season. After losing their first five one-run games this season, including four via walk-off, the Cowboys won nine in a row before dropping two at West Virginia. Under head coach Josh Holliday (2013-pres.), 38 of the Cowboys' 74 losses have come by two runs or less.
Strong-Armed
   In its first three seasons under the direction of coach Rob Walton, OSU's pitching staff turned in impressive numbers.Â
   The Cowboys' success under Walton includes 12 All-Big 12 pitchers, two consensus first-team All-Americans, a Big 12 Pitcher of the Year and a first-round Major League Baseball Draft pick.
   Here's just a sampling of how the Cowboys have performed under Walton:
   • OSU's pitching staff led the Big 12 in ERA in conference-only games in 2014 (2.43) and 2015 (2.50).
   • The Cowboys' 2.84 ERA in 2015 ranked eighth nationally and was the lowest by an OSU pitching staff since 1973.
   • 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 three seasons, OSU has seen Jason Hursh drafted in the first round of the 2013 Major League Baseball Draft, Brendan McCurry (2014) and Michael Freeman (2015) named first-team All-Americans and Freeman garner Big 12 Pitcher of the Year honors.
   • Freeman's 1.31 ERA ranked sixth in the NCAA in 2015 and was the fifth lowest in a single season in OSU history.
   • McCurry set OSU records for single-season saves (19) and career saves (27). Â
Dealing
   OSU leads the Big 12 with a 3.26 team ERA, with Thomas Hatch posting a league-best 1.97 ERA and three other Cowboys in the top 10 — Tyler Buffett (4th at 2.37), Jensen Elliott (9th at 3.41) and Trey Cobb (10th at 3.45).
   OSU also leads the conference with a .239 opponent batting average, four complete games and 15 saves and ranks second in strikeouts (428) and shutouts (7).
Back In The Saddle
   Donnie Walton spurned professional baseball last summer to return for his senior season with the Cowboys in 2016.
   Walton has established himself as one of the Big 12's elite players since arriving on campus in 2013. In 209 career games, the switch hitter owns a .317 batting average to go along with 10 home runs, 125 RBIs, 43 doubles and an OSU-record 55 sacrifice bunts (which ranks seventh on the NCAA's all-time list).
   Primarily a shortstop throughout his career, Walton is one of just nine players in OSU history to earn All-Big 12 First Team accolades twice (in 2014 & 2015), with no Cowboy ever achieving that status three times.
   A 23rd-round draft pick of the Milwaukee Brewers last June, Walton chose not to sign a pro contract and instead starred in the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League. He was named the CCBL All-Star Game MVP and then earned the Star of Stars Award as the most valuable player of the CCBL playoffs after leading the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox to the league championship.
   Walton was one of 50 players on USA Baseball's 2016 Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List and was recently named to the Brooks Wallace Award (nation's top shortstop) Watch List by the National College Baseball Hall of Fame.
Hometown Hero
   Corey Hassel played in 86 games and hit just .208 in his first two seasons at OSU, but the Stillwater native had a breakout junior campaign for his hometown Cowboys in 2015.
   Used mostly as a late-game defensive replacement and pinch runner in 2013 and 2014, Hassel became a regular starter in the outfield as a junior and led the Cowboys with a .312 batting average. He also topped OSU in multi-hit games (18) and multi-RBI efforts (11) en route to All-Big 12 Second Team honors. In conference play, Hassel hit .344 with two home runs and 18 RBIs and led OSU in numerous offensive categories, including RBIs, hits (31) and doubles (6).
   The only Cowboy to start all 49 games this season, Hassel leads OSU with 16 doubles, 14 sacrifice bunts — which also ranks eighth nationally — and 13 stolen bases.
The Candyman Can
   Tyler Buffett was reliable on the mound in his first two seasons in Stillwater, but he has taken on a starring role in 2016.
   In a team-high 29 appearances, 28 of those in relief, the junior right-hander is 6-1 with eight saves and a 2.37 ERA, with the six wins and eight saves marking career highs. He leads the Big 12 in appearances and opponent batting average (.208), ranks second in saves and fourth ERA.
   In the month of March, 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. He was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week twice (March 7th and 28th).
   Named to the National Pitcher of the Year Award Watch List by the National College Baseball Hall of Fame and the NCBWA's Stopper of the Year Watch List, Buffett is 2-0 with five saves and a 1.56 ERA in 10 relief outings in Big 12 play. He has allowed only three runs in 17.1 innings while racking up 19 strikeouts against league foes.
Deep Threat
   Dustin Williams tied for the OSU lead with six home runs last season — and in 15 games this year, he'd already equaled his long ball total of a year ago.
   The Cowboys' junior first baseman currently leads the Big 12 lead with 12 homer, the most by an OSU player since 2011 when Zach Johnson had 13.
   The left-handed hitting Williams was named the Big 12 Player of the Week on March 14 following a three-game stretch that saw him go 5-for-11 (.455) at the plate with four home runs, seven RBIs, 17 total bases and a 1.545 slugging percentage. He homered in all three games — including twice in one of them — and also drove in multiple runs in each contest.
Hit Man
   Garrett Benge put up video game numbers at the junior college level last season, and he's proving to be a valuable hitter in his first season in an OSU uniform.
   As a freshman at Cowley County CC, Benge was the 2015 NJCAA Division I Player of the Year after hitting .502 with 19 home runs, 97 RBIs, 26 doubles and four triples. In 59 games, he collected 103 hits and a .946 slugging percentage.
   Now manning the hot corner in Stillwater, Benge has swung a consistent bat for the Cowboys as he's hitting .316 and leads OSU with 35 RBIs and a .492 slugging percentage.
The Cyclist
   J.R. Davis made history in the series finale at West Virginia when he joined Josh Fields (2003) and Zach Johnson (2011) as the only OSU players to hit for the cycle during the Big 12 era (since 1997). The Cowboy second baseman is also one of just 18 Big 12 players to ever hit for the cycle.
   After leading off Sunday's game vs. WVU with a walk, Davis delivered an RBI triple in the third and a leadoff single in the sixth. In the eighth, he hit his first-career home run, a two-run shot, and then in the ninth he recorded an RBI double to complete the cycle. He finished the historic day 4-for-4 with a career-high four RBIs and three runs scored.
   Davis, a JUCO transfer who had not played since 2014 prior to joining OSU this season, appeared in just one of the Cowboys' first nine games this season but was inserted in the starting lineup at second base March 1 vs. Indiana State and has not left since. He owns a .342 batting average in 41 games, and the Cowboys are 24-8 with Davis batting in the leadoff spot.
Award TourÂ
   OSU has had 10 Big 12 weekly award winners in 2016, which is tied for the second-most in a single season in conference history (the record is 11 by Baylor in 2012), and the Cowboys set a record with seven pitcher of the week honorees.
   Tyler Buffett (March 7 and March 28), Trey Cobb (April 4 and April 18) and Thomas Hatch (April 25 and May 9) have each been named Big 12 Pitcher of the Week twice, while Jensen Elliott has been the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week (April 4) and Newcomer of the Week (April 18). Other winners are Dustin Williams (Player of Week on March 14) and J.R. Davis (Newcomer of Week on April 4).
Short Hops
   OSU entered the week 20th in the official NCAA RPI ... The Cowboys have turned 61 double plays this season, which ranks is tied for third nationally ... OSU is 7-8 against ranked teams this season.
