Cowboys Host In-State Rival ORU In Midweek Tilt

February 25, 2019 | Cowboy Baseball

Game Notes

#19 Oklahoma State (5-2) vs. Oral Roberts (3-3)
Tues., Feb. 26/4:05 p.m.
Allie P. Reynolds Stadium (4,000) • Stillwater, Okla.

Video/TV: okstate.com/live (Dave Hunziker & Tom Holliday)
Radio: KSPI 93.7 FM (Rex Holt & Matt Davis)
   okstate.com/watch & stillwaterradio.net
Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
Twitter In-Game Updates: @OSUBaseball

About Oklahoma State
   • OSU is 5-2 on the season after winning its second consecutive weekend series against Wright State in Stillwater.
   • The Cowboys are coming off a 31-26-1 season in 2018 in which they earned a sixth consecutive NCAA Regional berth. OSU advanced to the finals of the NCAA DeLand Regional where they lost to host Stetson.
   • OSU finished second in the Big 12 Conference standings in 2018 with a 16-8 mark, one game back of league champion Texas. It marked the fifth time in the last six seasons the Cowboys earned a top-two league finish.
   • OSU had 11 players earn All-Big 12 status a year ago, led by 2018 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Matt Kroon and All-Big 12 First Team starting pitcher Carson Teel. Seven of those all-conference Cowboys return in 2019.
   • Four Cowboys position players who started at least 35 games last season return in 2019 — catcher/outfielder Colin Simpson, outfielder Trevor Boone, first/third baseman Christian Funk and outfielder Carson McCusker.
   • The 2019 season marks OSU's seventh under head coach Josh Holliday, who is 236-134-1 at his alma mater.

About Oral Roberts
   • Oral Roberts is 3-3 on the season after dropping all three of its games last weekend at the Kleberg Bank College Classic in Corpus Christi, Texas; the Golden Eagles fell to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, BYU and Ohio State.
   • The Golden Eagles own a .254 team batting average and are averaging seven runs per game.
   • ORU's pitching staff sports a 4.33 ERA and has recorded 48 strikeouts in 52.0 innings.
   • Ryan Folmar is in his seventh season as ORU's head coach and owns a 218-134 career record. Folmar was a four-year letterwinner at Oklahoma State as a catcher from 1994-97.
   • ORU is expected to start right-hander Jacob Salim vs. the Cowboys. Salim is 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA this season, tossing two scoreless innings in two appearances.

Cowboys vs. Golden Eagles
   Oklahoma State is 35-38 all time in the series against Oral Roberts, including a 3-10 mark under Josh Holliday.

In The Polls
   OSU is ranked in five national polls, coming in as high as No. 19 by D1Baseball. The Cowboys are also ranked 20th by Perfect Game, 21st by USA Today, 23rd by the NCBWA and 28th by Collegiate Baseball.
   Last season, OSU entered the national rankings for the first time on April 23 and remained in at least one poll for five consecutive weeks before dropping out.
   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 five seasons — 10th in 2014 and fourth in 2016.

High Five
OSU entered the 2019 season as the fifth-winningest team in NCAA history in terms of winning percentage at .661.

2,600 Club
   Oklahoma State began 2019 as one of only 19 programs in Division I history to reach 2,600 victories, beginning the year with 2,617 all-time wins to rank 15th all time. Of those 19 teams with 2,600 wins, only Florida State (71) has played fewer seasons than OSU's 107.

One More Season At Allie P.
   The 2019 season marks the 39th and final season of OSU's historic ballpark, Allie P. Reynolds Stadium, with the Cowboys set to begin playing in the new O'Brate Stadium in 2020.
   Allie P. has been home to Oklahoma State baseball since April 4, 1981, and in those 39 seasons, the Cowboys have established a decisive home-field advantage.
   OSU is 929-240-1 (.794) all time at Reynolds Stadium and has lost more than two consecutive games on its home turf only 10 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, 2017 and 2018).
   The Cowboys are 3-1 on their home field in 2019.

Building A Winner
   In the first six seasons as head coach at his alma mater, Josh Holliday built an impressive resume. Among the highlights:
   • The Cowboys have earned six 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 has finished first or second in the Big 12 Conference standings in five of its six seasons under Holliday — first in 2014, second in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2018.
   • 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 53 All-Big 12 performers, six All-Americans, two Big 12 Pitcher of the Year honorees, a Big 12 Player of the Year and a Big 12 Newcomer of the Year.

Close Calls
   OSU is 57-35 in one-run games under Josh Holliday, and 61 of the Cowboys' 134 losses under Holliday have come by two runs or less.

Comeback Cowboys
   Come-from-behind victories have been a trend for the Cowboys under Josh Holliday; OSU has overcome deficits to win 98 games in Holliday's seven seasons. The largest deficit OSU has overcome this season is three runs — the Cowboys trailed Wright State by a 3-0 margin on Feb. 23 before coming back to win.

Armed & Dangerous
   In six seasons under the direction of coach Rob Walton, OSU's pitching staff has turned in impressive numbers.
   The Cowboys' success under Walton includes 20 All-Big 12 pitchers, two consensus first-team All-Americans, two Big 12 Pitcher of the Year winners and a first-round Major League Baseball Draft pick.
   Here's just a sampling of how the Cowboys have performed under Walton, who was named the 2016 ABCA/Baseball America Assistant Coach of the Year:
   • Four of OSU's pitching staffs under Walton recorded an ERA of 3.29 or lower.
   • In 2016, the Cowboys led the Big 12 with 574 strikeouts, 10 shutouts and 21 saves, each totals that ranked as the second highest in a single season in school history.
   • OSU's pitching staff led the Big 12 in ERA in conference-only games in 2014 (2.43) and 2015 (2.50).
   • The Cowboys' 2.84 ERA in 2015 ranked eighth nationally and was the lowest by an OSU pitching staff since 1973.
   • OSU recorded seven shutouts in 2013 and 2014 and had 10 in 2016, the second most in a single season in program history. Those totals also marked three of only six times in program history the Cowboys have tallied seven shutouts or more in a season; in the 26 seasons prior to 2013, OSU reached seven shutouts only once.
   • Jason Hursh was a first-round pick in the 2013 MLB Draft, Brendan McCurry (2014) and Michael Freeman (2015) were first-team All-Americans and Freeman (2015) and Thomas Hatch (2016) were named Big 12 Pitcher of the Year.
   • Freeman's 1.31 ERA ranked sixth in the NCAA in 2015 and was the fifth lowest in a single season in OSU history.
   • McCurry set OSU records for single-season saves (19) and career saves (27).

Go Pro
During Josh Holliday's tenure as head coach, Oklahoma State has had 37 players selected in the Major League Baseball Draft. Eleven of those Cowboys were 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.

Chicks Dig The Long Ball
   The Cowboys' 71 home runs during the 2018 season were the most by an OSU team since 2009 when the Pokes had 81. OSU ranked 17th in the NCAA in homers last season.
   Colin Simpson led OSU's power surge a year ago, with his 18 homers, the most by an OSU player since Rebel Ridling had 18 in 2008. The last Cowboy to reach 20 round trippers in a season was Corey Brown, who smashed 22 in 2007.
   OSU smacked 11 homers in its series at Baylor, including posting seven in the game two win. That total marked OSU's most home runs in a game since the Pokes had eight against Kansas in 2006; the school record is 11 set against Chicago State in 1999.
   Led by Simpson, OSU returns a group that combined for 47 of its homers (66 percent) last season.

SOS
   Oklahoma State's strength of schedule appears stout in 2019 as the Cowboys will face 10 NCAA Regional teams from a year ago, including defending national champion Oregon State. Eight of OSU's opponents were nationally ranked in the preseason polls — UCLA (3), Michigan (17), Missouri State (24), TCU (16), Texas (14), Texas Tech (3), Oregon State (2) and Baylor (12).
   OSU finished the 2018 season No. 36 in the RPI.

Tank Smash
   Colin Simpson, aka "Tank", has established himself as one of the Big 12's top sluggers over the last two seasons, a span during which he smacked 29 home runs and collected 91 RBIs, and he enters his senior season on Preseason All-American and All-Big 12 lists.
   An All-Big 12 Second Team and ABCA/Rawlings All-Midwest Region performer last season, Simpson started all 58 games for the Cowboys and hit .280 with a career-high 18 home runs, a total that ranked 17th nationally. He also topped OSU in RBIs (51), total bases (130), walks (37) and slugging percentage (.578) and was second in hits (63), runs (48) and stolen bases (8).
   Primarily a catcher, Simpson started 43 games behind the plate in 2018 but is expected to get more time in left field this season; he started six games in left a year ago and also played the position in the Cape Cod League over the summer.
   Simpson enjoyed a breakout sophomore season for the Cowboys in 2017, collecting honorable mention All-Big 12 honors and leading OSU with 11 home runs while ranking third in RBIs (40) and slugging percentage (.492).

Boone Goes The Dynamite
   Trevor Boone had a breakout sophomore campaign for the Cowboys in 2018, starting 51 games in center field and earning honorable mention All-Big 12 honors.
   Boone went on a tear at the plate with the start of Big 12 Conference play; he was hitting .192 in 17 games prior to the conference-opening series at Texas but over the next 39 games he raised his average to .270.
In OSU's 24 Big 12 games, Boone hit .293 with seven homers and 24 RBIs in Big 12 play, both of which ranked second on the team.
   Included in Boone's surge was a game against Baylor in which he tied an OSU record by becoming only the 12th player in OSU history to hit three home runs in a game (it's been done on 14 occasions). Boone homered in each of his first three at-bats against the Bears in Saturday's contest.

Hit The Slugging Switch
   Over the first five weeks of his first season in an OSU uniform in 2018, Carson McCusker made just one start and collected only one hit, a single, in 11 at-bats.
   Things changed in a hurry for the sophomore in a doubleheader sweep of TCU on March 31. McCusker started both games of the twin bill 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.
   Following that breakout performance, McCusker started 34-straight games in right field and was one of the Cowboys' most consistent performers, hitting .314 with six homers and 11 RBIs in league play and earning honorable mention All-Big 12 accolades.

Clutch Carter
   Bryce Carter spent parts of four seasons at Stanford from 2015-18, playing in 97 games for the Cardinal (he was granted an injury redshirt season in 2017 after appearing in nine games), but chose to spend his final collegiate season in Stillwater as a graduate transfer for the Cowboys.
   Carter has made an immediate impact for OSU, starting every game and posting a .400 batting average and seven RBIs. Each of his RBIs has come with two outs, and he's also 5-for-9 (.556) with runners in scoring position.