Oklahoma State University Athletics
Friday, May 4
Iowa City, IA
6:05 PM
Oklahoma State University
at
Iowa
Jonathan Heasley
Cowboy Baseball Closes Out Non-Conference Play At Iowa
May 03, 2018 | Cowboy Baseball
Game Notes
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#12 Oklahoma State (27-15-1) at Iowa (26-15)
Fri., May 4/6:05 p.m. • Sat., May 5/2:05 p.m. • Sun., May 6/12:05 p.m.
Duane Banks Field (3,000) • Iowa City, Iowa
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About Oklahoma State
    • The Iowa series marks the final non-conference regular season games for the Cowboys, who enter the weekend with a 27-15-1 record. OSU has won five-straight Big 12 Conference series and sits in first place in the Big 12 standings by three games with a 15-3 league mark.
    • OSU is coming off a 2017 season in which it made its fifth consecutive NCAA Regional appearance and posted a 30-27 record. The Cowboys went 8-14 in conference play a year ago to finish eighth in the standings but made history as 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 227-121-1 at his alma mater.
About Iowa
    • Iowa is 26-15 on the season, including a 15-5 mark on its home field, and in seventh place in the Big 10 standings with a 9-7 conference mark.
    • Led by catcher Tyler Cropley (.375, 8 HR, 38 RBI) and outfielder Robert Neustrom (.321, 8 HR, 26 RBI), the Hawkeyes own a .269 team batting average and are averaging nearly six runs per game.
    • Iowa's pitching staff sports a 4.17 ERA and has recorded 379 strikeouts in 363.0 innings.
    • Rick Heller is in his fifth season as Iowa's head coach and owns a 166-104 career record, along the way leading the Hawkeyes to two NCAA Regionals and a Big 10 championship. A head coaching veteran of more than three decades, Heller also had stints at Upper Iowa, Northern Iowa and Indiana State and owns a 856-669-4 all-time record.
    • Iowa's starting pitching rotation vs. the Cowboys is expected to be:
    Friday: LHP Nick Allgeyer — 5-3, 2.18 ERA in 11 starts; 67 K, 21 BB in 70.1 IP
    Saturday: RHP Brady Schanuel — 5-6, 5.12 ERA in 11 starts; 57 K, 35 BB in 45.2 IP       Â
    Sunday: TBA
Cowboys vs. Hawkeyes
    Oklahoma State and Iowa have never met on the baseball diamond.
In The Polls
    From March 4, 2013 to April 3, 2017, OSU was ranked in at least one national poll, a streak of 77 consecutive weeks. During that time, the Cowboys spent 18 weeks in the Top 10 and were ranked as high as No. 3 (by the NCBWA in 2014). They have finished in the top 10 in the final national polls twice in the last four seasons — 10th in 2014 and fourth in 2016 — and have ended the season in the top 10 in the national polls 20 times in program history.
    OSU entered the national rankings for the first time in 2018 on April 23. This week, the Cowboys checked in as high as No. 12 in the Collegiate Baseball poll.
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.
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.
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 .298 and leads the Big 12 with a career-best 14 homers. He also tops OSU in hits (50), RBIs (43), total bases (104) and slugging percentage (.619). He has started all 43 games for the Cowboys — 29 at catcher, eight as DH and six in left field.
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 174 games, and his 166 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 113 starts in left field and 53 in right field in his career.
    A big reason why OSU has started Big 12 play with a 15-3 mark is Littell's bat — he's hitting .377 in conference play and has posted a .609 slugging percentage with six doubles, two triples, two homers and 17 RBIs.
    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.
Mr. Versatility
    Andrew Rosa is in his fifth season at OSU and is making 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 136 career games, 83 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 18 games at second base, six in center field and one at first base this season.
    Rosa has missed weekend games vs. Seton Hall and Missouri State as well as the Texas and OU series with a foot injury. He is hitting .296 on the season to go along with a .439 slugging percentage, and his .432 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 16 appearances this season, nine of those in relief, Teel is 6-2 with three saves and a 2.86 ERA, which ranks third in the Big 12. He earned his first win of the season with a career-high 7 1/3 innings in relief at Arizona State; 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 has twice been named Big 12 Pitcher of the Week in 2018 — on April 9 after tossing a complete game and striking out nine against Kansas State and again on April 30 following a Bedlam Series performance that saw him rack up a career-high 12 strikeouts in eight scoreless innings against No. 18 Oklahoma.
    Teel ranks second in the Big 12 in wins and strikeouts (72) and is fourth in opponent batting average (.224).
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 26 games at shortstop and 17 games at third base 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 15 doubles, 39 runs and 12 stolen bases and is second with 47 hits. The Arizona native has 14 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 and was also a Nippon Professional Baseball standout in Japan, where he racked up 177 saves over six seasons.
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 18-straight starts in right field, and he is hitting .347 with five homers, 10 RBIs and a .735 slugging percentage in Big 12 play.
Boone Goes The Dynamite
    Trevor Boone has been on a tear at the plate since the start of Big 12 Conference play. The sophomore outfielder was hitting .192 in 17 games prior to the Texas series but in 24 games since has raised his average to .275.
    Boone 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, he 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 OSU to a series sweep.
    Boone is hitting .313 with a team-high 19 RBIs in Big 12 play.
RPI Talk
    The official NCAA RPI (games through May 2) has OSU at No. 25, while Iowa is No. 187.
    Texas Tech is No. 3 in the RPI, while other Big 12 teams are Texas (30), West Virginia (32), Oklahoma (35), Baylor (36), TCU (65), Kansas (102) and Kansas State (134).
    • The Iowa series marks the final non-conference regular season games for the Cowboys, who enter the weekend with a 27-15-1 record. OSU has won five-straight Big 12 Conference series and sits in first place in the Big 12 standings by three games with a 15-3 league mark.
    • OSU is coming off a 2017 season in which it made its fifth consecutive NCAA Regional appearance and posted a 30-27 record. The Cowboys went 8-14 in conference play a year ago to finish eighth in the standings but made history as 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 227-121-1 at his alma mater.
About Iowa
    • Iowa is 26-15 on the season, including a 15-5 mark on its home field, and in seventh place in the Big 10 standings with a 9-7 conference mark.
    • Led by catcher Tyler Cropley (.375, 8 HR, 38 RBI) and outfielder Robert Neustrom (.321, 8 HR, 26 RBI), the Hawkeyes own a .269 team batting average and are averaging nearly six runs per game.
    • Iowa's pitching staff sports a 4.17 ERA and has recorded 379 strikeouts in 363.0 innings.
    • Rick Heller is in his fifth season as Iowa's head coach and owns a 166-104 career record, along the way leading the Hawkeyes to two NCAA Regionals and a Big 10 championship. A head coaching veteran of more than three decades, Heller also had stints at Upper Iowa, Northern Iowa and Indiana State and owns a 856-669-4 all-time record.
    • Iowa's starting pitching rotation vs. the Cowboys is expected to be:
    Friday: LHP Nick Allgeyer — 5-3, 2.18 ERA in 11 starts; 67 K, 21 BB in 70.1 IP
    Saturday: RHP Brady Schanuel — 5-6, 5.12 ERA in 11 starts; 57 K, 35 BB in 45.2 IP       Â
    Sunday: TBA
Cowboys vs. Hawkeyes
    Oklahoma State and Iowa have never met on the baseball diamond.
In The Polls
    From March 4, 2013 to April 3, 2017, OSU was ranked in at least one national poll, a streak of 77 consecutive weeks. During that time, the Cowboys spent 18 weeks in the Top 10 and were ranked as high as No. 3 (by the NCBWA in 2014). They have finished in the top 10 in the final national polls twice in the last four seasons — 10th in 2014 and fourth in 2016 — and have ended the season in the top 10 in the national polls 20 times in program history.
    OSU entered the national rankings for the first time in 2018 on April 23. This week, the Cowboys checked in as high as No. 12 in the Collegiate Baseball poll.
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.
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.
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 .298 and leads the Big 12 with a career-best 14 homers. He also tops OSU in hits (50), RBIs (43), total bases (104) and slugging percentage (.619). He has started all 43 games for the Cowboys — 29 at catcher, eight as DH and six in left field.
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 174 games, and his 166 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 113 starts in left field and 53 in right field in his career.
    A big reason why OSU has started Big 12 play with a 15-3 mark is Littell's bat — he's hitting .377 in conference play and has posted a .609 slugging percentage with six doubles, two triples, two homers and 17 RBIs.
    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.
Mr. Versatility
    Andrew Rosa is in his fifth season at OSU and is making 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 136 career games, 83 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 18 games at second base, six in center field and one at first base this season.
    Rosa has missed weekend games vs. Seton Hall and Missouri State as well as the Texas and OU series with a foot injury. He is hitting .296 on the season to go along with a .439 slugging percentage, and his .432 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 16 appearances this season, nine of those in relief, Teel is 6-2 with three saves and a 2.86 ERA, which ranks third in the Big 12. He earned his first win of the season with a career-high 7 1/3 innings in relief at Arizona State; 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 has twice been named Big 12 Pitcher of the Week in 2018 — on April 9 after tossing a complete game and striking out nine against Kansas State and again on April 30 following a Bedlam Series performance that saw him rack up a career-high 12 strikeouts in eight scoreless innings against No. 18 Oklahoma.
    Teel ranks second in the Big 12 in wins and strikeouts (72) and is fourth in opponent batting average (.224).
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 26 games at shortstop and 17 games at third base 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 15 doubles, 39 runs and 12 stolen bases and is second with 47 hits. The Arizona native has 14 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 and was also a Nippon Professional Baseball standout in Japan, where he racked up 177 saves over six seasons.
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 18-straight starts in right field, and he is hitting .347 with five homers, 10 RBIs and a .735 slugging percentage in Big 12 play.
Boone Goes The Dynamite
    Trevor Boone has been on a tear at the plate since the start of Big 12 Conference play. The sophomore outfielder was hitting .192 in 17 games prior to the Texas series but in 24 games since has raised his average to .275.
    Boone 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, he 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 OSU to a series sweep.
    Boone is hitting .313 with a team-high 19 RBIs in Big 12 play.
RPI Talk
    The official NCAA RPI (games through May 2) has OSU at No. 25, while Iowa is No. 187.
    Texas Tech is No. 3 in the RPI, while other Big 12 teams are Texas (30), West Virginia (32), Oklahoma (35), Baylor (36), TCU (65), Kansas (102) and Kansas State (134).
Players Mentioned
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