Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
Texas State
Cowboy Baseball Heads South To Open 2018 Season
February 14, 2018 | Cowboy Baseball
OSU GAME NOTES (PDF)
Oklahoma State (0-0) at Texas State (0-0)
Fri., Feb 16/6 p.m. • Sat., Feb. 17/4 p.m. • Sun., Feb. 18/1 p.m.
Bobcat Ballpark (2,000) • San Marcos, Texas
  TV/Video: txstatebobcats.com (subscription $ required)
  Radio: KSPI 93.7 FM/Pete 94.3 FM/780 AM (Rex Holt & Matt Davis)
  Live Stats: texasstate.statbroadcast.com
 Twitter In-Game Updates: @OSUBaseball
About Oklahoma State
    • OSU is coming off a 2017 season in which it made its fifth consecutive NCAA Regional appearance and finished 30-27 overall. The Cowboys went 8-14 in conference play a year ago to finish eighth in the standings but made history when they became the first-ever team to win the Big 12 Championship title as a No. 8 seed; OSU swept through the tourney field with a 4-0 mark.
    • The Cowboys return six position players who started at least 30 games last season, while nine pitchers who combined for 16 wins return to the staff.
    • The 2018 season marks OSU's sixth under head coach Josh Holliday, who has compiled a 200-106 record at his alma mater.
About Texas State
    • Texas State is coming off a 2017 season in which it finished 29-30 overall and 13-17 in Sun Belt Conference play.Â
    • Three Bobcats — senior utility player Dylan Paul and junior infielders Jonathan Ortega and Jaylen Hubbard — were named to the 2018 Preseason All-Sun Belt Team; both Hubbard and Ortega own career batting averages over .300.
    • Ty Harrington is entering his 19th season as TXST's head coach and owns a 591-468-1 career record. He led the Bobcats to NCAA Regional appearances in 2000, 2009 and 2011.
    • Current Arizona Diamondbacks All-Star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt was an All-American and two-time Southland Conference Player of the Year at Texas State from 2007-09.
    TXST's starting pitching rotation vs. the Cowboys is:
    Friday: RHP Nicholas Fraze — 5-2, 4.59 ERA in 15 starts in 2017; 49 K, 43 BB in 84.1 IP
    Saturday: RHP Connor Reich — 3-5, 5.73 ERA in 19 appearances (10 starts) in 2017; 71 K, 36 BB in 77.0 IP
    Sunday: TBA
Cowboys vs. Bobcats
    Oklahoma State owns a 6-2 all-time record in the series against Texas State. A year ago, the Cowboys took two-of-three games against the Bobcats in Stillwater in a three-game series on the second weekend of the season.
    Previous Meetings
    1989 - OSU 8, SW Texas State 3; SW Texas State 10, OSU 5 (Stillwater)
    1990 - OSU 4, SW Texas State 1 (Austin, Texas)
    1998 - OSU 12, SW Texas State 4; OSU 5, SW Texas State 1 (Stillwater)
    2017 - OSU 10, Texas State 7; Texas State 12, OSU 11; OSU 6, Texas State 3 (Stillwater)
In The Polls
    From March 4, 2013 to April 3, 2017, OSU was ranked in at least one national poll, a streak of 77 consecutive weeks. During that time, the Cowboys spent 18 weeks in the Top 10 and were ranked as high as No. 3 (by the NCBWA in 2014). They have finished in the top 10 in the final national polls twice in the last four seasons — 10th in 2014 and fourth in 2016 — and have ended the season in the top 10 in the national polls 20 times in program history.
High Five
   OSU enters the 2018 season as the fifth winningest team in NCAA history in terms of winning percentage at .663.Â
    Team      Seasons     Wins   Losses   Ties   Pct.
1.  Texas         121     3,443   1,283   31   .727
2.  Florida State       70     2,839   1,066   11   .726
3.  Miami (Fla.)       73     2,567   1,058   18   .707
4.  Arizona State      106     2,836   1,413   8   .667
5.  Oklahoma State      106     2,586   1,315   4   .663
25 For 2,500
    Oklahoma State began 2018 as one of only 25 programs in Division I history to reach 2,500 victories, beginning the year with 2,586 all-time wins to rank 15th all time. Of the 25 teams with 2,500 wins, only four have played fewer season's than OSU's 106 (Florida State - 70; Miami (Fla.) - 73; Fresno State - 89; and Florida - 103).
HOFers
    Oklahoma State's coaching staff includes three hall of famers. Josh Holliday was inducted into the Cowboy Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003, while Rob Walton joined him in 2018; James Vilade is a member of the the University of Dallas Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2011.
    Holliday's playing days for the Cowboys saw him hit .311 with 53 homers and 237 RBIs in 256 games, while Walton was 20-4 with a 3.74 ERA and 10 complete games in 54 appearances.
    Vilade spent four seasons as the head coach at UD and compiled a 118-52 record.
Building A Winner
    In the first five seasons as head coach at his alma mater, Josh Holliday has built quite an impressive resume. Among the highlights:
    • The Cowboys have earned five NCAA Regional berths, advanced to two Super Regionals and played in the College World Series for the first time since Holliday was a senior for the Cowboys in 1999.
    • OSU finished first or second in the Big 12 Conference standings each season from 2013-16.
    • The Cowboys finished in the top 10 in the national rankings in 2014 (10th) and 2016 (4th) after ending the 2013 season ranked as high as No. 19. In 2015, they were ranked as high as 17th in the final polls
    • In 2014, OSU won its first-ever Big 12 Conference regular season championship, and the 2017 club captured the second Big 12 Championship title in program history.
    • OSU hosted NCAA Regionals in 2014 and 2015 and was the top-seeded team both times.
    • Holliday has coached 42 All-Big 12 performers, six All-Americans, two Big 12 Pitcher of the Year honorees and a Big 12 Player of the Year.
Comeback Cowboys
    Come-from-behind victories have been a trend for the Cowboys under Josh Holliday; OSU has overcome deficits to win 81 games in Holliday's five seasons.
Year   Come-from-Behind Wins
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 18
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 28
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 15
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 9
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 11
Close Calls
    OSU is 49-32 in one-run games under head coach Josh Holliday (2013-pres.), and 53 of the Cowboys' 106 losses under Holliday have come by two runs or less.
    The Cowboys were 8-11 in one-run games in 2017. Thirteen of OSU's 22 conference games were decided by two runs or less; the Cowboys were 4-9 in those games with six one-run defeats and three two-run setbacks.
Small Ball
    OSU has utilized the bunt game to fuel offensive success under Josh Holliday as the Cowboys have smashed program  records for sacrifice bunting over the last five seasons.
    In 2014, the Cowboys were third nationally with a program-record 88 sacrifice bunts, which trumped the 2013 team's total of 74. In 2015, OSU led the NCAA with 81 sacrifice bunts, and four different Cowboys had at least 10 sac bunts, while the 2016 campaign saw the Cowboys post 64. OSU finished second in the Big 12 with 43 sac bunts in 2017.
    Donnie Walton finished his OSU career in 2016 with a school-record 55 sacrifice bunts, a total which ranks seventh on the NCAA's all-time list. Five other Cowboys who have played under Holliday — Gage Green, Corey Hassel, Saulyer Saxon, Jacob Chappell and Ryan Sluder — also rank in the top 10 on OSU's career sac bunt list.
Armed & Dangerous
    In five seasons under the direction of coach Rob Walton, OSU's pitching staff has turned in impressive numbers.Â
    The Cowboys' success under Walton from 2013-17 includes 16 All-Big 12 pitchers, two consensus first-team All-Americans, two Big 12 Pitcher of the Year winners and a first-round Major League Baseball Draft pick.
    Here's just a sampling of how the Cowboys have performed under Walton, who was named the 2016 ABCA/Baseball America Assistant Coach of the Year:
    • Four of OSU's five pitching staffs under Walton recorded an ERA of 3.29 or lower.
    • In 2016, the Cowboys led the Big 12 with 574 strikeouts, 10 shutouts and 21 saves, each totals that ranked as the second highest in a single season in school history.
    • 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 2013 and 2014 and had 10 in 2016, the second most in a single season in program history. Those totals also marked three of only six times in program history the Cowboys have tallied seven shutouts or more in a season; in the 26 seasons prior to 2013, OSU reached seven shutouts only once.
    • Jason Hursh was a first-round pick in the 2013 MLB Draft, Brendan McCurry (2014) and Michael Freeman (2015) were first-team All-Americans and Freeman (2015) and Thomas Hatch (2016) were named Big 12 Pitcher of the Year.
    • 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).
Go Pro
   During Josh Holliday's tenure as head coach (2013-17), Oklahoma State has had 32 players selected in the Major League Baseball Draft. Eleven of those Cowboys have been picked in the top 10 rounds, including 2013 first-rounder Jason Hursh.
   In 2016, OSU tied a program record with 11 MLB Draft picks. (The 2007 Cowboys also had 11 draftees). The 11 draft picks tied the Cowboys with Mississippi State for the third most of any Division I program in 2016 behind only Texas A&M (13) and Southern California (12). Five of those went in the first 10 rounds, which marked the most top-10-round picks for OSU since five Pokes were taken in the top-10 rounds in 2008. Seven of the OSU players drafted were pitchers.
Year   OSU Draft Picks
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 2
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 5
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 8
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 11
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 6
Tank Smash
    Colin Simpson, aka "Tank", enjoyed a breakout sophomore season for the Cowboys in 2017. The catcher/DH collected honorable mention All-Big 12 honors and led OSU with 11 home runs while ranking third in RBIs (40) and slugging percentage (.492).
    Simpson did the majority of his damage against Big 12 competition as in 22 conference games he hit .272 with seven homers and 23 RBIs — no other Cowboy had more than two homers or 19 RBIs in league play. During one stretch, Simpson went deep in four-straight Big 12 contests, including smacking two homers vs. West Virginia on April 2.
   Simpson was named to the Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team after hitting .368 (7-for-19) with two doubles, two homers and five RBIs in four tourney games.
An All-American Streak
    The Cowboys have had a player earn first-team All-American status in each of the last four years. The streak began with pitcher Brendan McCurry (2014), who was followed by pitchers Michael Freeman (2015) and Thomas Hatch (2016). Outfielder Garrett McCain extended the streak in 2017.
    OSU has had 25 different players earn first-team All-America status in program history.
Outfield Veteran
    A constant in Josh Holliday's lineup card over the last three seasons has been outfielder Jon Littell. Entering his senior season, Littell is by far the Cowboys' most experienced player, having appeared in 135 games, and his 123 starts is 60 more than the next closest player on the OSU roster.
    Littell has the versatility to play either corner outfield spot — he's started 76 games in left field and 47 games in right field during his career.Â
    At the plate, Littell caught fire in OSU's 2017 run to the College World Series as he was OSU's second-leading hitter in the NCAA tourney with a .379 batting average (11-for-29) in nine games. He carried that into 2017, where he was hitting over .300 with three homers and 21 RBIs before suffering injuries in an outfield collision at TCU on March 26 and missing nine games; the injuries lingered throughout the remainder of the season.
    Littell showed a penchant for clutch hitting in 2017 as he hit .306 (15-for-49) with runners in scoring position while 16 of his 28 RBIs came with two outs.
Experienced Sophomores
    The Cowboys were one of the Big 12's youngest teams in 2017 with a number of freshmen playing prominent roles, and much will be expected of the group again in 2018. Five of those — Ryan Cash, Cade Cabbiness, Trevor Boone, Cameron Dobbs and Michael Neustifter — were position players who combined for 146 starts. On the mound, Jonathan Heasley was among the team leaders with 22 appearances, while C.J. Varela (13), Brady Basso (12) and Peyton Battenfield (5) also played key roles on the mound.Â
Teel Time
    Carson Teel joined the OSU program as a walk-on in 2015 and spent that season redshirting for his hometown team. Since then, Teel has flourished into a scholarship player with a significant role in the Cowboys' pitching rotation.
    In 2017, the southpaw led OSU with 28 appearances, 25 of those in relief, and topped the Pokes with a 3.06 ERA and three saves while ranking second on the pitching staff in wins (5) and strikeouts (77).
    In OSU's run to the Big 12 Championship title, Teel appeared in all four games, striking out 10 and allowing only one run in 8.1 innings out of the bullpen.
    Teel was a 27th-round draft pick of the Boston Red Sox in last June's MLB Draft but put a professional career on hold to return for his junior season.Â
New Faces
    OSU's active roster includes 17 newcomers — nine from the junior college ranks along with eight high school recruits.
    Of the Cowboys' nine JUCO signees, four of those started their collegiate careers at the Division I level — Matt Kroon (Oregon), Reza Aleaziz (Oregon State), Jacob Ruder (Kansas State) and Ryan Van Leeuwen (UT Arlington).
