Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
Little Rock
Cowboy Baseball Concludes Homestand With Midweek Pair
February 26, 2018 | Cowboy Baseball
Game Notes
Oklahoma State (4-1) vs. Little Rock (4-3)
Tues., Feb 27/4 p.m. • Wed., Feb. 28/4 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: sidearmstats.com/okstate/baseball
  Twitter In-Game Updates: @OSUBaseball
Gameday Promotions: Cowboys & Carhartts – fans have a chance to win an OSU Carhartt jacket each inning
About Oklahoma State
    • Winners of three in a row, OSU is 4-1 on the season after opening 2018 with a road series win at Texas State and sweeping a weather-shortened, two-game series against Marist on its home opening weekend.
    • 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 204-107 record at his alma mater.
About Little Rock
    • Little Rock is 4-3 on the season after sweeping a doubleheader at home against Fort Wayne last Sunday. The Trojans also have road wins at Central Arkansas and Tennessee Tech on the year.
    • The Trojans are hitting .275 as a team, led by Troy Alexander (.448, HR, 7 RBIs) and Chase Coker (.412, 3 RBIs), and the pitching staff owns a 5.00 ERA.Â
    • Right-hander McKinley Moore is expected to start on the mound for Little Rock on Tuesday; he is 0-1 on the season, having allowed five runs on four hits in three innings in his lone appearance, which came at Tennessee Tech. Wednesday's starter has not been announced.
    • Chris Curry is in his fourth season as Little Rock head coach and owns a 67-98 career record.
Cowboys vs. Trojans
    Oklahoma State is 43-2 all time in the series against Little Rock, including a 1-0 mark under Josh Holliday. Little Rock's lone wins in the series came in 1983 and 1987.
    Last 5 Meetings
    2014 - OSU 7, UALR 6 (Stillwater)
    2012 - OSU 9, UALR 7 (Stillwater)
    2011 - OSU 9, UALR 6 (Stillwater)
    2006 - OSU 14, UALR 8; OSU 16, UALR 6 (7 inn.) (Stillwater)     Â
High Five
   OSU entered 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).
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.Â
    OSU is 916-229 (.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 are 2-0 on their home field in 2018.
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
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
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1
Close Calls
    OSU is 51-32 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
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.
    Off to a hot start in 2018, Simpson is 8-for-20 (.400) with a pair of homers, eight RBIs and an .800 slugging percentage; he has started all five 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.Â
    In four appearances this season, Teel already has a Big 12-best three saves, a total that ranks seventh nationally.
