Around The Horn With Cowboy Baseball: CWS Edition

Oklahoma State opened the 2016 College World Series with consecutive 1-0 shutouts, knocking off UC Santa Barbara in its first game Saturday before topping Arizona on Monday. With the victories, the Cowboys are within one win of advancing to next week's CWS Finals.

"So very proud of the kids," said OSU head coach Josh Holliday. "They continue to play at a high level. We're pitching the ball, catching the ball and playing good team baseball so that's a strong recipe."

Highlights

OSU is 43-20 on the season and its seven-game winning streak is tied for its longest of the year (March 8-March 19).
The Cowboys have played in the NCAA Tournament in each of head coach Josh Holliday's four seasons at the helm and are 13-6 in tourney play.
OSU has never trailed in its seven NCAA Tournament games and has outscored its opponents by a 37-6 margin.
The Cowboys are the first team in NCAA College World Series history to post consecutive 1-0 shutouts.

History

OSU is making its 20^th College World Series appearance in 2016, and the Cowboys now own a 40-36 record. OSU is only the sixth program to reach 40 wins at the CWS.
The Cowboys have started 2-0 at the CWS for the sixth time in school history. In each of its five previous times to achieve that feat (1959, 1961, 1981, 1987 and 1990), OSU reached the CWS championship game.
Tom and Josh Holliday are the first father-son duo to lead teams to the CWS. Tom, who was head coach of the Cowboys from 1997-2003, guided OSU to Omaha in 1999.
Josh Holliday is the 17^th player to reach the CWS as a player and head coach. Tom Holliday is also on that list.

You Get Nothing

OSU's 10 shutouts this season are the second highest in a season in school history. The school record is 13, set by the 1984 club.
The Cowboys have three shutouts in seven NCAA Tournament games.
OSU has not allowed a run in 19 2/3 consecutive innings dating back to the eighth inning of the NCAA Columbia Super Regional against South Carolina.
OSU's two CWS shutouts are the fifth and sixth in program history. The others: Roy Peterson vs. Fresno State (1959); Jim Wixson vs. North Carolina (1960); Littleton Fowler vs. Syracuse (1961); and Rob Walton/Gordie Dillard vs. Indiana State (1986).
Thomas Hatch has thrown 26 consecutive scoreless innings dating back to the fourth inning of the TCU game in the Big 12 Championship.
Hatch has worked 23 shutout innings in his three NCAA tourney starts.

Pitching Excellence

OSU owns a 0.71 ERA in the NCAA Tournament. The Cowboys have allowed only five earned runs (six total) in 63 innings.
The Cowboys have racked up 57 strikeouts in the tourney, and their opponents are hitting just .195.
Thomas Hatch and Tyler Buffett are each 3-0 in the NCAA tourney. Both right-handers have started three games, and they have combined to allow only two runs while striking out 36 in 45 innings of work.
OSU's starting rotation of Hatch, Buffett and Jensen Elliott is 7-0 with a 0.53 ERA in the NCAA Tournament. The trio has allowed three earned runs in 51 innings and struck out 44.
Trey Cobb has made five relief appearances in the NCAA Tournament and has racked up four saves and 10 strikeouts in nine innings of work.
Earlier this week, Hatch became the 24^th player in OSU history to earn First-Team All-America honors when he earned that distinction from D1Baseball.com. The Cowboys have had a pitcher named a First-Team All-American each of the last three years (Brendan McCurry in 2014 and Michael Freeman in 2015).

Moving Up The Charts

Tyler Buffett's 36 appearances in 2016 is a school single-season record, topping the previous high of 35 set by Brendan McCurry in 2014.
Thomas Hatch's four shutouts this season is tied with Jim Jacobsen for the second most in a single season in OSU history. John Farrell owns the record with five in 1984.
The four shutouts by Hatch is also tied for the second most in an OSU career. Farrell also holds that mark with six.
Hatch has tossed 128.1 innings this season, which ranks fifth on OSU's single-season list.
With 112 strikeouts on the season, Hatch needs just two more to move into the top 10 on the Cowboys' single-season list.
With 21 sacrifice bunts, Corey Hassel is one shy of tying Donnie Walton's OSU single-season record set in 2014. Hassel is also tied for second on the Cowboys' career list with 36 sac bunts (Walton owns record with 55).
Trey Cobb moved into a tie for 10^th on OSU's career saves chart with eight.
Cobb is now also tied for fifth on OSU's career appearances list with 72.
Donnie Walton's career hits total now stands at 258, two shy of moving into ninth on OSU's all-time list and five shy of the eighth spot.

Defensive Prowess
    OSU has played outstanding defense throughout 2016 and has taken that prowess to another level in the postseason. The Cowboys have made several highlight-reel plays in Omaha and committed just one error in its first two games.
    "We look at practicing defense every day as something we enjoy; it's something we look forward to," Holliday said. "Kids love to get out there and defend. Their confidence levels have grown. I think it's a piece of the game that probably we had to establish early on as an identity piece that we wanted to possess.
    "For many years, we were known as a team that just launched it over the fence and stuffed a bunch of DHs all over the field. So in order to be a complete championship team, you have to place a value on defense and that starts with how you train and your outlook. I think there's been some great growth on the defensive side of the ball for us since we started the season."
    Some numbers:

OSU is tied for 10^th nationally with a .979 fielding percentage.
The Cowboys rank third in the NCAA this season with 73 double plays.
OSU sports a .993 fielding percentage in the NCAA tourney, committing only two errors in seven games.

That's Offensive

OSU is hitting .301 in the NCAA Tournament.
In NCAA tourney play, Conor Costello leads OSU with a .462 batting average (12-for-26), while Corey Hassel has collected a team-high eight RBIs.
Jon Littell is hitting .455 (10-for-22) in the NCAA tourney.
Donnie Walton is OSU's leading hitter in Omaha with a .429 batting average (3-for-7), while Corey Hassel is 2-for-6 (.333) at the plate.
Garrett Benge has driven in both OSU runs at the CWS with singles.

Up Next

OSU awaits the winner of Wednesday's elimination game between Arizona and UC Santa Barbara. The Cowboys face UA or UCSB Friday at 2 p.m. Should OSU lose that game, there would be a rematch Saturday (time TBD) with a berth in the CWS Finals on the line.
The best-of-three CWS Finals begins Monday at 6 p.m. with Tuesday's game at 7 p.m. and the if-necessary game Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Oklahoma State University Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Garrett Benge

Tyler Buffett

Trey Cobb

Conor Costello

Jensen Elliott

Michael Freeman

Corey Hassel

Thomas Hatch

Jon Littell

Donnie Walton

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