Tradition-Rich Baseball Programs Set To Meet In Valley Of The Sun

March 01, 2018 | Cowboy Baseball

Game Notes

Oklahoma State (5-2) at Arizona State (4-5)
Fri., March 2/7:30 p.m. • Sat., March 3/7:30 p.m. • Sun., March 4/1 p.m.
Phoenix Municipal Stadium (5,300) • Phoenix, Ariz.

Video/TV: pac-12.com/ive/arizona-state-university (Fri. & Sat.)
Pac-12 Network (Sun.) (J.B. Long & Andy Lopez)
Radio: KSPI 93.7 FM/780 AM/pete 94.3 FM (Rex Holt & Matt Davis)
Live Stats: ASU.statbroadcast.com
Twitter In-Game Updates: @OSUBaseball

About Oklahoma State
     • Following a midweek split of two games against Little Rock in Stillwater, OSU is 5-2 on the season. The Cowboys opened 2018 with a road series win at Texas State before 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 205-108 record at his alma mater.

About Arizona State
     • Arizona State is 4-5 on the season after splitting a midweek series at Long Beach State. The Sun Devils opened the season by splitting four games vs. Miami (Ohio) before dropping 2-of-3 games at Saint Mary's (Calif.).
     • The Sun Devils are hitting .279 as a team, led by Gage Canning (.583, 7 RBIs), Lyle Lin (.486, 2 HR, 5 RBIs) and Spencer Torkelson (.324, 6 HR, 9 RBIs), and the pitching staff owns a 4.62 ERA.
     • ASU's roster consists of 24 freshmen and sophomores — 16 freshmen and eight sophomores.
     • Tracy Smith is in his fourth season as Arizona State's head coach and owns a record of 98-83. Smith has been a Division I head coach for 22 seasons and also has stints at Miami (Ohio) and Indiana. Earlier this season, he surpassed 700 career wins.
     • ASU's starting pitching rotation vs. the Cowboys is expected to be:
     Friday: RHP Sam Romero — 0-0, save, 2.84 ERA in three relief appearances, 4 K, 2 BB in 6.1 IP
     Saturday: LHP Eli Lingos — 1-0, 4.63 ERA in two starts, 11 K, 3 BB in 11.2 IP
     Sunday: RHP Boyd Vander Kooi — 2-0, 0.61 ERA in two starts, CG, 14 K, 5 BB in 14.2 IP

Cowboys vs. Sun Devils
     Oklahoma State is 12-15 in the all-time series against Arizona State, including a 5-3 mark under Josh Holliday.
     Last 8 Meetings
    2017 - OSU 18, ASU 4 (Phoenix)
    2015 - ASU 4, OSU 3 (10 inn.); ASU 5, OSU 3; OSU 9, ASU 8 (Phoenix)
    2014 - ASU 6, OSU 1 (Surprise, Ariz.); OSU 8, ASU 5; OSU 6, ASU 5 (11 inn.); OSU 14, ASU 12 (Stillwater)

High Five
    OSU entered 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

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                    2

Close Calls
     OSU is 51-32 in one-run games under head coach Josh Holliday (2013-pres.), and 53 of the Cowboys' 108 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 is 8-for-20 (.400) with a pair of homers, eight RBIs and an .800 slugging percentage; he has started all seven 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.
     In four appearances this season, Teel already has a Big 12-best three saves, a total that ranks seventh nationally.

New Faces
     OSU's active roster includes 17 newcomers — nine from the junior college ranks along with eight high school recruits.
     Over the first two weeks of the season, 11 Cowboy newcomers have made their OSU debut; five of those have seen 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).

Shining In Stillwater
     In his third season at the collegiate level, Matt Kroon is showcasing the skills that have made him a two-time Major League Baseball Draft pick.
     OSU's starting third baseman in all seven games this season, Kroon arrived in Stillwater following stints at Oregon and Central Arizona CC, and he has been among the Cowboys' most consistent hitters through the first two weeks of 2018.
     Kroon leads the Pokes with a .391 batting average and .517 on-base percentage and is second on the club with a .609 slugging percentage.
     The Arizona native has three-multi hit games to pace the Cowboys, and he has hit safely in five-straight games, going 8-for-13 at the plate during that stretch with two doubles, a homer and seven RBIs.
     Kroon's father, Marc, pitched four seasons in the big leagues for the Padres, Reds and Rockies.

Mr. Versatility
     Andrew Rosa is in his fifth season at OSU and looks poised to make his final collegiate season his best yet.
     Rosa's ability to play multiple positions makes him a valuable part of the lineup. He's played in over 110 career games, 63 of those as a starter, and he has been in the starting lineup as a first baseman, second baseman, third baseman, left fielder, center fielder and DH.
     Listed as an infielder, Rosa's first three starts of 2018 came at second base, but he was inserted as a starter in center field — a position he had never previously played for the Cowboys — during the two midweek contests against Little Rock.
     Rosa is hitting .563 (9-for-16) on the season to go along with an .813 slugging percentage and .682 on-base percentage (he doesn't have enough at bats to qualify for Big 12 or OSU leaders), and he's already been hit by a pitch a team-high four times.
     Since striking out as a pinch hitter in his first at-bat of the season in the season opener, Rosa has hit safely in six-straight contests while batting leadoff or second in the order.

Friday Night Lights
     Jonathan Heasley has emerged as OSU's Friday night starter as a sophomore.
     An MLB Draft eligible right-hander, Heasley has won both his starts on the season and owns a 2.31 ERA over 11 2/3 innings. He equaled his career high with six strikeouts in the season opener at Texas State and bested that with nine punchouts in week two vs. Marist; he threw 106 pitches in both outings.
     Heasley's two wins in 2018 are tied for tops in the Big 12, and his 15 strikeouts are tied for the third-highest total in the conference.
     As a freshman last season, Heasley made 22 appearances, five as a starter, and went 2-4 with a 3.55 ERA while tying for the team lead with three saves.