Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
Marist
Cowboy Baseball Scheduled To Open Home Slate This Weekend
February 22, 2018 | Cowboy Baseball
OSU Game Notes
Oklahoma State (2-1) vs. Marist (0-3)
Fri., Feb 23/4 p.m. • Sat., Feb. 24/2 p.m. • Sun., Feb. 25/1 p.m.
Allie P. Reynolds Stadium (4,000) • Stillwater, Okla.
Video: okstate.com/live (Dave Hunziker & Tom Holliday)
Radio: KSPI 93.7 FM/780 AM/pete 94.3 FM (Rex Holt & Matt Davis)
Live Stats: okstate.com
Twitter In-Game Updates: @OSUBaseball
About Oklahoma State
• OSU is 2-1 on the season after opening 2018 with a road series win at Texas State, with the Cowboys winning the season opener and Sunday's finale.
• 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 202-107 record at his alma mater.
About Marist
• Marist is 0-3 on the season after being swept on opening weekend at Furman. The final two games of the series were each decided by one run.
• OSU and Marist have never previously met on the baseball diamond.
• The Red Foxes finished 32-23 and were an NCAA Regional team in 2017, earning a berth by winning the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship. Marist ended its season by going 0-2 at the NCAA Gainesville Regional, falling to host Florida and Bethune-Cookman.
• Chris Tracz is in his ninth season as Marist's head coach and is the winningest coach in program history; he entered 2018 with a career mark of 212-197-2 at his alma mater. Tracz was a standout pitcher for the Red Foxes from 2001-05, compiling a 38-9 record and 3.13 ERA and pitching on three NCAA Regional teams.
High Five
OSU enteed the 2018 season as the fifth winningest team in NCAA history in terms of winning percentage at .663.
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).
Home Sweet Home
Allie P. Reynolds Stadium has been home to Oklahoma State baseball since April 4, 1981, and in those 37 seasons, the Cowboys have been nearly unbeatable on their home field.
OSU is 914-229 (.800) all time at Reynolds Stadium and has lost more than two consecutive games on its home turf only eight times (six in a row in 2007; five straight in 2017; four in a row in 2016; three straight in 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2017).
The Cowboys were 16-14 on their home field in 2017 and won the 900th game at Reynolds Stadium against Texas State on Feb. 26.
Starting Off With A Dub
OSU is 5-0 in season home openers under Josh Holliday, with wins over Alcorn State (2013-14), Missouri State (2015), Incarnate Word (2016) and Texas State (2017).
Building A Winner
In the first five seasons as head coach at his alma mater, Josh Holliday 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 82 games in Holliday's six seasons.
Year Come-from-Behind Wins
2013 18
2014 28
2015 15
2016 9
2017 11
2018 1
Close Calls
OSU is 50-32 in one-run games under head coach Josh Holliday (2013-pres.), and 53 of the Cowboys' 107 losses under Holliday have come by two runs or less.
In 2017, 13 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.
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
2013 2
2014 5
2015 8
2016 11
2017 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.
Off to a hot start in 2018, Simpson was 6-for-3 (.462) with a pair of homers and six RBIs on opening weekend against Texas State; he started all three games at catcher for the Cowboys.
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.
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.
New Faces
OSU's active roster includes 17 newcomers — nine from the junior college ranks along with eight high school recruits.
On opening weekend at Texas State, nine Cowboy newcomers made their OSU debut; four of those saw their names in the starting lineup.
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).
