Cowboys Set For NCAA Oklahoma City Regional Play In Familiar Venue

May 29, 2019 | Cowboy Baseball

Game Notes

#1-seed Oklahoma State (36-18)
at the 2019 NCAA Oklahoma City Regional
Fri., May 31-Mon., June 3 • Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark/Oklahoma City

Video/TV: ESPN3 (Lowell Galindo & Keith Moreland)
Radio: KSPI 93.7 FM (Rex Holt & Matt Davis)
   okstate.com/watch & stillwaterradio.net
Live Stats: ncaa.com
Twitter In-Game Updates: @OSUBaseball

About Oklahoma State
   • Oklahoma State is 36-18 overall and finished third in the Big 12 Conference standings with a 14-9 league mark. The Cowboys opened the postseason by capturing the Big 12 Baseball Championship title last weekend in Oklahoma City, going 4-1 in the tourney to claim the program's 33rd conference championship.
   • OSU had 10 players earn 2019 All-Big 12 status, led by All-Big 12 First Team outfielder Trevor Boone.
   • 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.
   • Four Cowboys position players who started at least 35 games last season returned 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 267-150-1 at his alma mater.

Seeding, Hosting & Mother Nature
   OSU was awarded the No. 9 national seed in the 2019 NCAA Baseball Championship and was selected as a No. 1 seed and host of the NCAA Stillwater Regional at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.
   However, due to record rainfall in Stillwater of more than 13 inches since May 15, the natural grass surface at Allie P. was deemed unplayable, forcing OSU to move the Regional to Oklahoma City's Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

Cowboys At The NCAA Baseball Championship
   • Oklahoma State is making its 45th appearance in the NCAA Baseball Championship, which ranks as fourth most all time, and the Cowboys own a 149-95 (.611) record in the tourney, with the 149 wins sixth on the all-time list. The Cowboys' 20 College World Series appearances are tied for sixth all time.
   • OSU is seeking to advance to the fifth NCAA Super Regional in program history (1999, 2007, 2014, 2016). Should the Cowboys advance out of the Oklahoma City Regional, they will face the winner of the NCAA Lubbock (Texas Tech) Regional in a Super Regional.
   • The 2019 NCAA Regional berth is OSU's seventh in as many seasons under head coach Josh Holliday. OSU is 15-12 in NCAA tourney play under Holliday — 11-8 in Regionals, 2-2 in Super Regionals and 2-2 at the College World Series.

The NCAA Oklahoma City Regional Field
   • UConn is the No. 2 seed at the Regional and is 36-23 on the season, which includes a 12-12 mark in American Athletic Conference play. Closer Jacob Wallace is 3-1 with a 0.73 ERA and 15 saves in 28 appearances.
   • Third-seeded Nebraska owns a 31-22 record and finished with a 15-9 Big Ten Conference record. Outfielder Aaron Palensky leads the Cornhuskers with a .324 batting average and six home runs to go along with 11 doubles and 31 RBIs.
   • Harvard rounds out the field as the No. 4 seed with a record of 27-14, and the Ivy League champion Crimson went 14-7 in league play. Patrick McColl leads Harvard with a .399 batting average and 12 homers while also posting 47 RBIs.

In The Polls
   OSU is in the national rankings for the 10th week in 2019 and checks in as high as No. 9 in this week's
D1Baseball.com, NCBWA, Collegiate Baseball and Perfect Game polls, which marks the Cowboys' highest ranking of the season. OSU is also ranked 10th by Baseball America and 11th in the USA Today coaches poll.
   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.

Crown Them
   The Cowboys captured the 33rd conference championship in program history when they won the 2019 Big 12 Baseball Championship title last weekend in Oklahoma City.
   OSU went 4-1 at the tourney, defeating TCU (twice) and Baylor and knocking off West Virginia in the title game.
   Colin Simpson was named the Big 12 Championship Most Outstanding Player and was joined on the all-tournament team by Cowboys Jensen Elliott (SP), Andrew Navigato (SS) and Cade Cabbiness (OF).

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.

Building A Winner
   In seven seasons as head coach at his alma mater, Josh Holliday has built a sparkling resume. Among the highlights:
   • The Cowboys have earned seven 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 five times, claiming the program's first-ever regular season Big 12 title in 2014 and finishing 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
   • The Pokes have added three Big 12 championships to the program's total. 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. The Cowboys also claimed the conference tourney title in 2019.
   • OSU hosted NCAA Regionals in 2014 and 2015 and was the top-seeded team both times. The Cowboys were also awarded a No. 9 national seed and host and top-seed status of the NCAA Oklahoma City Regional in 2019.
   • Holliday has coached 61 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.

All-American Boys
   The Cowboys have had a player earn first-team All-American status in four of the last five 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.

SOS & RPI
   Oklahoma State's strength of schedule was stout in 2019 as the Cowboys faced 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) — and four of those are still ranked, including current top-10 teams UCLA and Texas Tech.
   OSU is No. 7 in the latest official NCAA RPI.

Beaver Dam
   Oklahoma State's series sweep of No. 2 Oregon State earlier this month in Corvallis, Ore., marked the first time the Beavers had been swept in a three-game series on their home field since 2010 (vs. Stanford).

Close Calls
   OSU is 69-40 in one-run games under Josh Holliday, and 69 of the Cowboys' 150 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 114 games in Holliday's seven seasons. The largest deficit OSU has overcome this season is six runs — the Cowboys trailed USC by a 6-0 margin after two inning on March 8 before coming back to win.

Armed & Dangerous
   In seven seasons under the direction of coach Rob Walton, OSU's pitching staff has turned in impressive numbers.
   The Cowboys' success under Walton includes 23 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.

Going, Going, Gone x 12
   OSU enjoyed a record-setting day in its series opener at Kansas as the Cowboys slugged a program single-game record 12 home runs, besting the record of 11 set in 1999 against Chicago State, en route to a 27-6 win.
   Among the other feats from that game:
   • The 12 homers tied OSU with Belmont for the fourth most in a single game in NCAA history. Georgia Southern owns the record with 14 against UT Martin in 2015.
   • Christian Funk and Trevor Boone tied the OSU record for home runs in a game with three. The feat has now been accomplished 16 times by 13 different players in program history; Boone is also one of only three Cowboys to do it twice.
   • Seven different Cowboys homered in the win, and OSU hit at least one homer in each of the final eight innings.
   • OSU's 27 runs were its most ever in a Big 12 game, surpassing the 23 it scored against Kansas State on March 7, 1997. It also marked the most runs in a conference game for the Cowboys since they had 28 at Iowa State in a Big Eight Conference affair on April 16, 1995.
   • The 27 runs were the most in a Big 12 game since Oklahoma had 29 against Kansas State during the 2009 season.

Chicks Dig The Long Ball
   OSU has 84 home runs on the season, the highest output by a Cowboys' team since the 2008 team had 89. The total ranks sixth in the NCAA this season (Arizona State leads with 92) and is 24 more than the next Big 12 team (TCU).
   Eleven different Cowboys have homered this season with four of those — Trevor Boone, Colin Simpson, Andrew Navigato and Christian Funk — posting double-digit round trippers.

Homer Simpson
   Colin Simpson has smashed 46 career home runs, which ranks 10th on OSU's all-time list. The senior has homered in seven of OSU's last 10 games, including a stretch in which he went deep in five consecutive games — both games of the Baylor series and then in the first three games of the Big 12 Baseball Championship (vs. TCU, Baylor and TCU).

#BooneBombs
   Trevor Boone's 19 home runs are the most in a season by a Cowboy since Corey Brown slugged 22 in 2007.
   In the series opener against Texas, Boone rewrote the OSU record book as he became the first Cowboy to hit three home runs in a game three times in a career. Boone also had three homers in a game last season against Baylor and in the series opener at Kansas earlier this season.

Tank Smash
   Colin Simpson, aka "Tank," has established himself as one of the Big 12's top sluggers over the last three seasons, a span over which he has smacked 44 home runs and collected 142 RBIs and earned all-conference status each year, including All-Big 12 Second Team honors each of the last two years (at catcher in 2018 and as a utility player this season).
   Through 54 games in '19, Simpson leads the Cowboys with 51 RBIs, and he has 15 home runs, three of them grand slams. Ten of his homers came in Big 12 play, and he led the league with 27 RBIs in conference games.
   An ABCA/Rawlings All-Midwest Region First Teams 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 dish in 2018 but has gotten more time in left field this season with 13 starts; he started six games in left in 2018 and also played the position in the Cape Cod League in 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 has found his groove with the bat in his hands, and it propelled him to All-Big 12 First Team honors.
   At the conclusion of the Iowa series (March 2), the junior's batting average stood at .194, and he had just one RBI. But since then, Boone has raised his average to .294 to go along with a Big 12-best 19 home runs and a team-high 51 RBIs. He also ranks second in the Big 12 with a .649 slugging percentage.
   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, both of which ranked second on the team.

Hit The Slugging Switch
   Carson McCusker has picked up right where he left off in 2018, starting 45 games for the Cowboys this season (42 of those in the outfield) and hitting a team-high .316 to go along five homers, 16 doubles, three triples and 36 RBIs to earn honorable mention All-Big 12 honors for the second consecutive year.
   McCusker, who missed OSU's first nine games in April due to illness before returning to the lineup for the Texas series, hit .313 in Big 12 play with three homers and 20 RBIs in 67 league at-bats.
   In the second game of the Kansas State series, McCusker tied an OSU single-game record with two triples, becoming the first Cowboy since 2011 to reach that mark.
   Over the first five weeks of his first season in an OSU uniform in 2018, 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 the breakout performance, McCusker started 34-straight games in right field and was one of OSU's most consistent performers, hitting .314 with six homers and 11 RBIs in league play to earn 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 the Oklahoma native chose to spend his final collegiate season in Stillwater as a graduate transfer for the Cowboys.
   Carter has had a significant impact for OSU, starting 37 games and posting a .273 batting average to go along with 28 RBIs. Twenty-one of his RBIs have come with two outs, and he's hitting .405 (17-for-42) with runners in scoring position.
   Carter missed six games (3/31-4/10) with concussion symptoms after taking a foul ball off the mask against TCU and then missed five games (4/14-20) with a thumb injury.

New Kid On The Block
   A 36th-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Angels in last year's Major League Baseball Draft, Hueston Morrill chose the Cowboys over professional baseball, and he is having a significant impact in his first collegiate season.
   The freshman middle infielder has spent the majority of his time at second base and is among OSU's leading hitters with a .265 batting average. Named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team and also collecting honorable mention All-Big 12 honors, "Huey" leads the Cowboys with 10 stolen bases and 18 multi-hit games, including a 4-for-5 effort in his second start of the season against Wright State (2/23), and is second on the team with 15 doubles.

Instant Impact
   JUCO product Andrew Navigato has proven to be a mainstay in the Cowboys' lineup and middle infield and produced numbers that made him an All-Big 12 Second Team Selection.
   The California native, who transferred to OSU following two seasons at Cuesta College, has started 51 games for the Cowboys and is second on the team with a .303 batting average to go along with 12 home runs, 14 doubles and 40 RBIs.
   Navigato hit eight of his 12 homers in Big 12 play and also had 21 RBIs and a .302 batting average against league competition.
   OSU's leading hitter at the Big 12 Baseball Championship to help carry the Pokes to the tourney title, Navigato hit .429 (9-for-21) with five RBIs in five games and was named to the all-tournament team.
   Navigato began the season as the Cowboys' starting third baseman and has 15 starts at the hot corner but has since taken over at shortstop, where he's started 36 games.

Dealing
   Peyton Battenfield is coming off a sophomore season in which he earned honorable mention All-Big 12 accolades, and he has continued to post impressive numbers to achieve that status once again in 2019.
   The right-hander has made a team-high 25 relief appearances this season and is 4-3 with three saves and a 3.19 ERA while recording a team-high 62 strikeouts in 53 2/3 innings. Opponents are hitting just .195 against him.
   Battenfield turned in a career performance at USC as he took the mound to open the third inning and tossed seven scoreless frames, allowing only two hits and racking up a career-high seven strikeouts on 101 pitches, to earn the win.
   He also shined at the Big 12 Baseball Championship to help the Cowboys to the tourney title as he appeared in three games and picked up a win and two saves, including one in the championship game.
   In 2018, Battenfield led OSU with 26 appearances (25 in relief) and was 2-3 with a pair of saves and a 4.66 ERA; he also had 62 strikeouts in 56 innings.

Ace Climbing
   Jensen Elliott has posted nine wins this season for the second time in his career and enters the NCAA Regional with 21 career victories, leaving him just one shy of moving into the top 10 on OSU's all-time list. The junior has won each of his last four starts, with wins over Oregon State, Oklahoma and Baylor (twice).
   Elliott has tossed three complete games this season, including becoming the first Cowboy hurler since 2016 to post consecutive complete games when he did it against Oklahoma and Baylor.
   The right-hander tossed a shutout against Texas and has been a part of four of OSU's six shutouts this season.

Back On The Bump
   OSU was without several key pitchers and potential weekend starters for most of 2018, and the return to prominence of two of those arms — Jensen Elliott and Parker Scott — has given the Cowboys a boost in 2019.
   • A Freshman All-American in 2016 after going 9-3 in 17 starts, Elliott was 3-0 through four outings in 2017 before undergoing Tommy John Surgery last April. The righty returned to the mound for his 2018 debut on May 13 and pitched in four games over the final few weeks of the season.
   Named to the 2019 All-Big 12 Second Team, Elliott is 9-3 with a 3.59 ERA in 15 starts this season, including a one-hit shutout of 19th-ranked Texas, tossing seven shutout innings in a 1-0 win at No. 2 Oregon State and earning back-to-back complete game wins against Oklahoma (5/10) and Baylor (5/17).
   • Scott pitched in six games as a freshman in 2017, starting twice, before an arm injury ended his season. The southpaw suffered another setback when he underwent TJS that November. This season, he returned to the mound for the first time since March 12, 2017 and tossed a scoreless inning against Michigan (3/10), and he earned his first-career win in relief vs. K-State (3/24). In 13 outings, six as a starter, he's 3-1 with a 1.45 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 37 1/3 innings, and he led the Big 12 in conference-only games with a 1.11 ERA.
   Scott turned in one of the best performances of his career in the opener of the Big 12 Baseball Championship as he tossed six innings and allowed just one run on four hits while striking out four to earn a win against TCU.

Fear The Beards
   A pair of Cowboy righties has been a huge boost to the OSU pitching staff in 2019.
   Junior Ben Leeper has emerged as OSU's closer and is thriving in that role as he is 3-3 with six saves and a 3.90 ERA to earn honorable mention All-Big 12 plaudits. The Texan did not allow a run over his first 15 1/3 innings this season, and in a team-high 25 appearances, he has 39 strikeouts in 27 2/3 innings of work.
   In OSU's win over No. 16 Michigan, Leeper took the mound at Dodger Stadium to open the bottom of the 10th and struck out the side to seal a 3-2 victory. He also has saves against UTRGV, Wichita St., TCU, Oregon St. and Oklahoma.
   Leeper has undergone Tommy John surgery twice, missing his senior season of high school and most of the 2016 and 2017 seasons with the Cowboys. He entered 2019 with a 1-2 record and 11.02 ERA in 19 career outings at OSU.
   Standlee was expected to be a key contributor to the OSU staff in 2018 but was forced to redshirt the season after being declared academically ineligible.
   In his first season in 2019, Standlee has appeared in 17 games, 10 as a starter, and is 3-1 with a save and a 4.11 ERA. The right-hander is third on the Cowboys with 51 strikeouts and was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team.
   Standlee made his first-career start against Missouri State and was dominant over seven shutout innings, allowing only six singles while striking out eight, the most strikeouts by a Cowboy pitcher this season.
   In the Big 12 Championship title game, Standlee had a memorable performance as he worked a career-high seven innings and allowed just one run while striking out three against West Virginia to earn the win in OSU's 5-2 victory.

From The Start Or Out Of The Pen
   Senior Joe Lienhard has proven to be a valuable commodity throughout his career, whether it be as a starter or reliever.
   The righty has made 73 career appearances, which ranks eighth on OSU's all-time list. Of those outings, 31 have been as a starter, and he is 12-7 with a save and a 4.78 ERA to go along with 177 strikeouts in 199.2 innings.
   Lienhard has made 18 appearances this season (seven starts, five of them in Big 12 play) and is 3-1 with a 4.73 ERA. After coming out of the bullpen in his first seven outings, he got the start against No. 16 Michigan at Dodger Stadium and tossed 5 1/3 strong innings, allowing just one run on four hits and striking out three.
   As a junior, Lienhard was an All-Big 12 honorable mention selection. He went 4-1 in eight Big 12 starts, including the conference opener at Texas in which he worked a career-high 8 1/3 innings and struck out eight (also a career best) while only giving up one run.
   Lienhard's father, Steve, pitched on four College World Series teams at OSU from 1984-87 and posted a 12-4 record with three saves.