Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
West Virginia
Streaking Cowboy Baseball Heads To West Virginia
April 12, 2018 | Cowboy Baseball
Game Notes
Oklahoma State (18-12-1, 7-2) at West Virginia (15-15, 1-5)
Fri., April 13/5:30 p.m. • Sat., April 14/3 p.m. • Sun., April 15/Noon (All CST)
Monongalia County Ballpark (3,500) • Morgantown, W.Va.
Video/TV: wvusports.com/watch (Dan Granzilli & Ernie Galusky)
Radio: KSPI 93.7 FM/okstate.com/watch (Rex Holt & Matt Davis)
Live Stats: wvu.statbroadcast.com
Twitter In-Game Updates: @OSUBaseball
About Oklahoma State
• The Cowboys are 18-12-1 on the season and have won seven of their last nine games, with both losses coming to nationally ranked Wichita State. The Pokes are in second place in the Big 12 Conference standings with a 7-2 mark on the strength of six-straight league wins.
• 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 218-118-1 at his alma mater.
About West Virginia
• West Virginia is 15-15 on the season and enters the weekend on a four-game winning streak. The Mountaineers are 1-5 in Big 12 play with series losses at Oklahoma and Texas Tech.
• Led by Kyle Gray (.299, 5 HR, 14 RBI) and Darius Hill (.233, 2 HR, 13 2B, 16 RBI), the Mountaineers own a .252 team batting average and are averaging just over five runs per game.
• WVU's pitching staff sports a 4.74 ERA and has recorded 230 strikeouts in 260.0 innings.
• Randy Mazey is in his sixth season as the Mountaineers' head coach and owns a 175-142 record; last season he led WVU to its first NCAA Regional since 1996. Mazey also has head coaching stints at Charleston Southern and East Carolina and owns a career record of 362-302-2 as a head coach.
Cowboys vs. Mountaineers
Oklahoma State is 13-7 in the all-time series against West Virginia, including a 10-7 mark under Josh Holliday.
Last 10 Meetings
2017 - OSU 3, WVU 2; WVU 5, OSU 3 (10 inn.); WVU 9, OSU 8 (Stillwater); OSU 8, WVU 4; OSU 4, WVU 3 (10 inn.) (Big 12 Championship - Oklahoma City)
2016 - WVU 5, OSU 4 (10 inn.); WVU 4, OSU 3; OSU 8, WVU 1 (Morgantown)
2015 - WVU 5, OSU 4 (Stillwater); OSU 3, WVU 0 (Big 12 Championship - Tulsa)
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.
Once In A Blue Moon
The Cowboys' back-to-back series sweeps against TCU and Kansas State marks the first time since 2014 and only the second time under Josh Holliday that OSU has posted consecutive Big 12 series sweeps.
The six-game Big 12 winning streak also marks the longest by an OSU team since 2015; the Cowboys' longest ever under Holliday came in 2014 when the Pokes won seven-straight conference games.
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 .309 and is tied for the Big 12 lead with nine home runs. He also leads OSU in hits (38), RBIs (33), total bases (73) and slugging percentage (.593). He has started all 31 games for the Cowboys — 20 at catcher, six in left field and five 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 165 games, and his 154 starts is 60 more than the next closest player on the OSU roster.
Littell has experience at both corner outfield spots as he's made 101 starts in left field and 53 in right field in his career.
A big reason why OSU has started Big 12 play with a 7-2 mark is Littell's bat — he's the league's leading hitter in conference play with a .472 clip and has posted a .778 slugging percentage with four doubles, two triples and a homer.
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 proved a clutch hitter in 2017 as he hit .306 (15-for-49) with runners in scoring position and had 16 two-out RBIs.
What A Week
The sizzling bat of Jon Littell was rewarded with NCBWA National Hitter of the Week honors on April 3 as well as Big 12 Player of the Week accolades on April 2 following a week that saw the Cowboy senior lead the Pokes to a midweek win over Oklahoma and a series sweep of TCU.
Littell was 9-for-15 (.600) at the plate in the four games with three doubles, two triples and four RBIs. He also scored nine runs, drew five walks, stole a base and turned in a 1.067 slugging percentage.
Against a TCU pitching staff that entered the weekend as the Big 12 leader in ERA, Littell was 8-for-11 (.727) with three doubles, two triples and four RBIs. He scored nine runs, collected 15 total bases and posted a 1.364 slugging percentage.
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 127 career games, 76 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 12 games at second base, six in center field and one at first base this season while spending the majority of those 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 .271 on the season to go along with a .429 slugging percentage, and his .436 on-base percentage and 10 hit by pitches leads the team.
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 13 appearances this season, nine of those in relief, Teel is 4-1 with three saves and a 2.49 ERA, which ranks as the second lowest in the Big 12. 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 was named Big 12 Pitcher of the Week on April 9 after tossing his first-career complete game in a win at Kansas State; he struck out nine and allowed only one run while holding the Wildcats scoreless over the final eight innings.
Teel is fourth in the Big 12 in strikeouts (52), fifth in innings pitched (47.0) and sixth in opponent batting average (.216).
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 17 games at third base and 14 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 leads OSU with 29 runs and nine stolen bases and is third on the Cowboys in RBIs (20), on-base percentage (.396) and hits (30). The Arizona native has nine multi-hit games and had a streak of reaching base safely snapped at 24 games at Wichita State.
Kroon's father, Marc, pitched four seasons in the big leagues for the Padres, Reds and Rockies.
Saturday Slugger
Carson McCusker played a key role in OSU's Saturday doubleheader sweep of TCU, and in doing so earned recognition as the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on April 2.
The sophomore entered the day having made just one start on the season and with only one hit, a single, in 11 at-bats. He started both games of the doubleheader in right field and went 4-for-6 with three home runs, all solo shots, while also making several highlight-reel defensive plays in the outfield.
McCusker has made seven-straight starts in right field and is hitting .375 (9-for-24) with four homers, three doubles and seven RBIs during that stretch.
Boone Goes The Dynamite
Trevor Boone has been on a tear at the plate of late with his current 10-game hitting streak marking the longest of his career and tied for the longest by a Cowboy this season.
The sophomore outfielder was named the Big 12 Co-Player of the Week on April 9 after a three-game stretch that saw him go 7-for-12 at the plate with a pair of doubles, a homer and three RBIs. In the series sweep of Kansas State, Boone was 6-for-12 with two homers and five RBIs, and his go-ahead grand slam in the eighth inning of the series finale lifted the Cowboys to a series sweep.
Boone is hitting .400 in Big 12 play with a team-high three homers and 12 RBIs.
RPI Talk
The official NCAA RPI (games through April 11) has OSU at No. 40, while West Virginia is No. 23.
Texas Tech is No. 3 in the RPI, while other Big 12 teams are Oklahoma (24), Texas (31), Baylor (60), Kansas (75), TCU (76) and Kansas State (118).
