Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
Oklahoma
Non-Conference Bedlam Baseball Showdown Set For Tuesday In Norman
March 26, 2018 | Cowboy Baseball
Game Notes
Oklahoma State (11-10-1) at #21 Oklahoma (17-9)
Tues., March 27/6:30 p.m.
L. Dale Mitchell Park (3,180) • Norman, Okla.
Video/TV: FOX Sports Oklahoma/FOX Sports GO (Chad McKee & George Frazier)
Radio: KSPI 93.7 FM/okstate.com/watch (Rex Holt & Matt Davis)
Live Stats: oklahoma.statbroadcast.com
Twitter In-Game Updates: @OSUBaseball
About Oklahoma State
• The Cowboys are 11-10-1 on the season following their first weekend of Big 12 Conference play in which they dropped two of their three games at Texas after winning a midweek contest at Central Arkansas.
• OSU is coming off a 2017 season in which it made its fifth consecutive NCAA Regional appearance and posted 30-27 record. 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 is 211-116-1 at his alma mater.
About Oklahoma
• Oklahoma is coming off a weekend series sweep of West Virginia in Norman and is 17-9 on the season.
• Led by sophomore Brady Lindsly (.388, 17 RBI) and junior Steele Walker (.343, 2 HR, 19 RBI), the Sooners own a .287 team batting average and are averaging over six runs per game.
• OU's pitching staff sports a collective 3.43 ERA and has recorded 263 strikeouts in 236.1 innings.
• Skip Johnson is in his first season as the Sooners' head coach after serving as their pitching coach in 2017; prior to that he spent a decade as an assistant and associate head coach at Texas.
Cowboys vs. Sooners
Oklahoma State is 168-152 in the all-time series against Oklahoma, including a 16-6 mark under Josh Holliday.
Last 12 Meetings
2017 - OSU 9, OU 7; OSU 5, OU 2 (DH in Oklahoma City); OSU 4, OU 3 (Stillwater)
2016 - OU 9, OSU 1 (OKC); OSU 10, OU 9; OU 3, OSU 1 (Tulsa); OSU 4, OU 3 (Norman)
2015 - OSU 5, OU 1 (Big 12 Championship/Tulsa); OSU 9, OU 6 (Tulsa); OSU 8, OU 1; OU 5, OSU 3 (OKC); OSU 24, OU 2 (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
On The Road Again and Again and Again and Again and Again and Again and Again and...
As has become commonplace, OSU opened Big 12 Conference play on the road in 2018. The Cowboys have begun league play at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium only twice since 2003 (in 2005 and 2013), with 13 road trips to start conference action during that span.
Since the start of Big 12 Conference baseball in 1997, the Cowboys have opened league play on the road 17 times and just six times in Stillwater.
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.
Like Kissing Your Sister
For the fifth time in program history and first time since 1985, Oklahoma State had a game end in a tie on March 18 against Seton Hall in Stillwater. Knotted at 3-3, the game officially ended with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning due to a weather delay and Seton Hall's travel curfew.
With Cowboy runners on second and third and one out, lightning was detected in the area. The game was delayed for 36 minutes and was just minutes from resuming before the lightning sirens went off again, causing the game to be halted and officially end in a tie due to the Pirates traveling to Oklahoma City to catch a flight.
The game marked the first ever at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium to end in a tie and marked OSU's first draw since the Cowboys tied Western Michigan in Lakeland, Fla., on March 4, 1985, in a contest called due to darkness.
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 strong start in 2018, Simpson is hitting a team-high .318 and also leads OSU in hits (28), doubles (8), home runs (6), RBIs (22), total bases (54) and slugging percentage (.614). He has started all 22 games for the Cowboys — 13 at catcher, five in left field and four as DH.
New Faces
OSU's active roster includes 17 newcomers — nine from the junior college ranks along with eight high school recruits.
Thus far in 2018, 13 Cowboy newcomers have made their OSU debut; eight 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.
Kroon, who has started 15 games at third base and seven at shortstop this season, came to Stillwater following stints at Oregon and Central Arizona CC, and he has been among the Cowboys' most consistent hitters in 2018.
Kroon owns a .293 batting average and is second on OSU in hits (24), RBIs (18), slugging percentage (.524) and on-base percentage (.408). The Arizona native has seven multi-hit games and has reached base safely in 20-straight games.
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 121 career games, 70 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. He has started six games at second base and six in center field this season while batting either leadoff or second in the order.
Rosa missed the weekend games vs. Seton Hall and Missouri State and the Texas series with a foot injury (he had two at-bats at Central Arkansas before aggravating the injury). He is hitting .326 on the season to go along with a .543 slugging percentage, and his .468 on-base percentage and eight hit by pitches leads the team.
