Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
TCU
Cowboy Baseball Opens Big 12 Home Schedule With TCU
March 29, 2018 | Cowboy Baseball
Game Notes
Oklahoma State (12-10-1, 1-2) vs. #18 TCU (17-9, 3-0)
Fri., March 30/8 p.m. • Sat., March 31/6 p.m. • Sun., April 1/Noon
Allie P. Reynolds Stadium (4,000) • Stillwater, Okla.
Video/TV: ESPNU/WatchESPN - Fri. & Sat. (Matt Schick & Mike Rooney)
FOX Sports Oklahoma/FOX Sports GO – Sun. (Dave Hunziker & Tom Holliday)
Radio: KSPI 93.7 FM/okstate.com/watch (Rex Holt & Matt Davis)
Live Stats: sidearmstats.com/okstate/baseball
Twitter In-Game Updates: @OSUBaseball
About Oklahoma State
• The Cowboys are 12-10-1 on the season and coming off a midweek win in a non-conference game at Oklahoma. OSU opened Big 12 Conference play last weekend at Texas by winning the series opener before dropping the final two games.
• 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 212-116-1 at his alma mater.
About TCU
• Winners of four in a row, TCU is 14-7 and opened Big 12 play with a series sweep of Kansas State last weekend in Fort Worth.
• Led by senior Michael Landestoy (.328, HR, 14 RBI) and junior Josh Watson (.312, 4 HR, 16 RBI), the Horned Frogs own a .260 team batting average and are averaging six runs per game.
• TCU's pitching staff sports a Big 12-best 2.76 ERA, which also ranks 13th nationally, and has recorded 212 strikeouts in 192.2 innings.
• Jim Schlossnagle is in his 15th season as the Horned Frogs' head coach and owns a 629-279 record. Prior to TCU, he spent two seasons as UNLV's head coach; his career record stands at 706-326.
• TCU's starting pitching rotation vs. the Cowboys is expected to be:
Friday: RHP Jared Janczak — 1-1, 2.45 ERA in six starts; 38 K, 12 BB in 36.2 IP
Saturday: LHP Nick Lodolo — 4-1, 3.77 ERA in six starts; 32 K, 6 BB in 28.2 IP
Sunday: RHP Sean Wymer — 1-1, 3.91 ERA in five appearances (four starts); 24 K, 3 BB in 25.1 IP
Cowboys vs. Horned Frogs
Oklahoma State is 21-22 in the all-time series against TCU, including a 7-11 mark under Josh Holliday.
Last 10 Meetings
2017 - TCU 7, OSU 5; TCU 6, OSU 5; TCU 5, OSU 1 (Fort Worth)
2016 - OSU 9, TCU 0; TCU 11, OSU 6; OSU 11, TCU 7 (Stillwater); TCU 13, OSU 5 (Big 12 Championship/Oklahoma City)
2015 - OSU 7, TCU 6 (12 inn.); TCU 7, OSU 4; OSU 7, TCU 2 (Fort Worth)
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
Home Sweet Home
Allie P. Reynolds Stadium has been home to Oklahoma State baseball since April 4, 1981, and in those 38 seasons, the Cowboys have been nearly unbeatable on their home field.
OSU is 919-233-1 (.797) all time at Reynolds Stadium and has lost more than two consecutive games on its home turf only nine times (six in a row in 2007; five straight in 2017; four in a row in 2016 and 2018; three straight in 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2017).
The Cowboys are 5-5-1 on their home field in 2018.
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 .323 and also leads OSU in hits (30), doubles (8), home runs (7), RBIs (26), total bases (59) and slugging percentage (.634). He has started all 23 games for the Cowboys — 14 at catcher, five in left field and four as DH.
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. The senior is by far the Cowboys' most experienced player, having appeared in 158 games, and his 146 starts is 60 more than the next closest player on the OSU roster.
Littell has experience at both corner outfield spots as he's started 94 games in left field and 52 in right field in his career.
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.
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 11 appearances this season, nine of those in relief, Teel is 3-1 with three saves. He earned his first win of the season with a career-high 7 1/3 innings of work against Arizona State before striking out a career-high 10 in four innings to earn a win against Eastern Michigan. In his first start of 2018 against Missouri State, he struck out eight and allowed just three hits in seven scoreless innings to pick up a win.
Teel ranks third in the Big 12 with a 1.95 ERA and 40 strikeouts and is fifth in the league in saves; he is also sixth in opponent batting average (.205) and appearances.
RPI Talk
The official NCAA RPI (games through March 28) has OSU at No. 66, while TCU is 64.
Texas Tech is No. 1 in the RPI, while other Big 12 teams are Baylor (27), West Virginia (29), Texas (33), Oklahoma (65), Kansas (76), and Kansas State (89).
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 eight 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 .282 batting average, leads OSU with six stolen bases and is second on the Cowboys in hits (24), RBIs (18), slugging percentage (.506) and on-base percentage (.408). The Arizona native has seven multi-hit games and has reached base safely in 21-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 is 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 as a starter, and he has been in the starting lineup at first base, second base, third base, left field, center field 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.
The Weekender
Jonathan Heasley has emerged as a constant in OSU's weekend rotation as a sophomore.
An MLB Draft eligible right-hander, Heasley won his first two starts of the season and posted 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 posted at least six strikeouts in each of his first four starts this season, and his 36 strikeouts rank in the top 10 in the Big 12.
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.
