Oklahoma State University Athletics
Thursday, March 5
STILLWATER, OK
4:00 PM
Oklahoma State University
vs
BYU
Alix Garcia
Cowboy Baseball Continues Homestand With BYU
March 04, 2020 | Cowboy Baseball
Game Notes
BYU (7-6) vs. Oklahoma State (8-5)
Thurs., March 5 / 4 p.m. • Fri., March 6 / 4 p.m. • Sat., March 6 / Noon
Allie P. Reynolds Stadium (4,000) • Stillwater, Okla.
Video/TV: Big 12 Now On ESPN+ (Thurs. & Fri.) (Dave Hunziker & Tom Holliday)
Radio: KSPI 93.7 FM & stillwaterradio.net (Rex Holt & Matt Davis)
Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
Twitter In-Game Updates: @OSUBaseball
About Oklahoma State
• In the midst of a nine-game homestand — the final nine games at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium — Oklahoma State is 8-5 on the season and opens a three-game series with BYU on Thursday. The Cowboys are 5-1 at home this season.
• The Cowboys are coming off a 40-21 season in 2019 in which they advanced to within one game of the College World Series. After winning the Big 12 Championship and NCAA Oklahoma City Regional titles, the Pokes fell in three games to Texas Tech at the Lubbock Super Regional.
• Four position players who started at least 45 games for the Cowboys last season return in 2020 — outfielders Carson McCusker and Cade Cabbiness, infielder Hueston Morrill and first baseman Alix Garcia. OSU also returns a number of experienced arms on the mound, led by Parker Scott, Brett Standlee and Ben Leeper.
• The 2020 season is OSU's eighth under head coach Josh Holliday, who is 279-158-1 at his alma mater.
About BYU
• BYU is 7-6 on the season and coming off a 5-4 win over Utah Valley on Tuesday.
• The Cougars are hitting .215 as a team, while the pitching staff sports a 4.05 ERA.
• Mike Littlewood is in his eighth season as BYU's head coach and owns a 222-166 career record. He has led the Cougars to three West Coast Conference championships.
• BYU's starting pitching rotation vs. the Cowboys is expected to be:
Thursday: RHP Justin Sterner — 0-0 with a 3.18 ERA in three starts; 19 K, 5 BB in 17.0 IP
Friday: LHP Cy Nielson — 0-2 with a 4.50 ERA in three starts; 18 K, 5 BB in 14.0 IP
Saturday: RHP Jarod Lessar — 0-0, 4.72 ERA in four appearances (three starts); 13 K, 5 BB in 13.1 IP
Cowboys vs. Cougars
Oklahoma State is 9-4 all time against BYU with the last meeting coming in 2009 in Stillwater. The Cowboys opened the '09 season with a 17-14 win over the Cougars and also won 5-4 the next day.
High Five
OSU entered the 2020 season as the fifth-winningest team in NCAA history in terms of winning percentage at .661.
2,657 & Counting
Oklahoma State began the 2020 season 15th on the NCAA's all-time Division I wins list with 2,657. The Cowboys are one of only 24 programs in Division I history to reach 2,600 victories, and of those, only three — Florida State, Miami (Fla.) and Fresno State — have played fewer seasons than OSU's 108.
Extra Innings At Allie P.
OSU's historic ballpark, Allie P. Reynolds Stadium, is in its 40th season in 2020 and will play host to 14 games before the Cowboys move into the new O'Brate Stadium on March 20.
Allie P. has been home to Oklahoma State baseball since April 4, 1981, and in those 40 seasons, the Cowboys have established a decisive home-field advantage.
OSU is 940-248-1 (.791) all time at Reynolds Stadium. In the stadium's history, the Cowboys have lost more than two consecutive games on their 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, '12, '13, '14, '17 and '18).
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 earned seven NCAA Regional berths, advanced to three 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 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 2019, they were ranked as high as 11th 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 62 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.
SOS
Oklahoma State's strength of schedule ranked as the nation's second toughest in 2019, and the Pokes will face stout opposition again this season, with 10 NCAA Regional teams from a year ago on the slate. Nine of OSU's opponents were ranked in the preseason polls — Arizona State (3), Texas Tech (3), UCLA (8), Oklahoma (16), TCU (20), Texas A&M (20), Dallas Baptist (23), Texas (24) and Oregon State (25).
OSU is currently No. 39 in the official NCAA RPI; BYU is 142nd.
Close Calls
OSU is 72-41 in one-run games under Josh Holliday, and 73 of the Cowboys' 158 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 121 games in Holliday's eight seasons.
Go Pro
During Josh Holliday's tenure as head coach, Oklahoma State has had 45 players selected in the Major League Baseball Draft. Thirteen 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.
In 2019, OSU's eight draft picks tied for the ninth most of any Division I program; all eight were selected in the first 30 rounds, tying the Cowboys for the fifth-highest total in Division I.
Opportunity Knocked, They Answered
A pair of Cowboys who came to Stillwater after starting at the JUCO level forced their way into the lineup and haven't left while continuing to produce at a high level.
• Carson McCusker — 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.
As a junior, McCusker continued to shine as he led the Cowboys with a .311 batting average and 17 doubles and earned honorable mention All-Big 12 honors for a second consecutive year.
McCusker was voted a Preseason All-Big 12 outfielder by the conference's head coaches.
• Alix Garcia — Garcia played in just eight of the Cowboys' first 21 games in 2019, his first season in an OSU uniform, but was inserted into the starting lineup in the second game of the Big 12 schedule at Kansas State and never left.
Garcia started 41 consecutive games at first base to end the season and was OSU's second-leading hitter with a .294 batting average while hitting eight home runs and collecting 25 RBIs.
In Big 12 play, Garcia was OSU's top hitter as he turned in a .324 average against conference foes.
Instant Impact
Hueston Morrill chose OSU over professional baseball in 2019 and had an impressive first season for the Cowboys.
A 36th-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Angels in the '19 Major League Baseball Draft, Morrill was an honorable mention All-Big 12 performer and was also named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team.
Spending the majority of his time at second base, "Huey" hit .282 and tallied 20 multi-hit games while leading the Cowboys with 17 doubles, 12 stolen bases and a .390 on-base percentage.
Morrill proved especially clutch in the postseason, hitting safely in all seven of OSU's NCAA tourney games and posting a .417 batting average in both the NCAA Oklahoma City Regional and NCAA Lubbock Super Regional; he was named to the NCAA OKC Regional All-Tournament Team.
As a sophomore, Morrill has made the transition to shortstop for the Pokes, starting every game there, and he was named to the Frisco College Baseball Classic All-Tournament Team.
Back On The Bump
Parker Scott struggled with injuries that cost him the majority of his first two seasons in Stillwater, but the southpaw emerged healthy in 2019 and proved to be a valuable member of the Cowboys' rotation.
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 that caused him to redshirt in 2018.
A year ago, Scott returned to the mound for the first time since March 12, 2017 and tossed a scoreless inning against Michigan (3/10) before earning his first-career win in relief vs. K-State (3/24).
Scott went on to make 15 appearances, eight as a starter, and went 3-1 with a 2.18 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 45 1/3 innings. He led the Big 12 in conference-only games with a 1.11 ERA while racking up 31 strikeouts in 24 1/3 innings of work.
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.
In three starts this season, Scott is 2-1 with a 3.00 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 18 innings of work.
Fear The Beards
A pair of Cowboy righties developed into key cogs in the OSU pitching staff in 2019 and will be relied on heavily again this season.
Junior Ben Leeper emerged as OSU's closer a year ago and earned honorable mention All-Big 12 plaudits after going 4-4 with seven saves in 29 appearances while tallying 43 strikeouts in 31.1 innings.
A native Texan, Leeper did not allow a run over his first 15 1/3 innings of 2019, and he posted saves against UTRGV, Wichita State, Michigan, TCU, Oregon State, Oklahoma and Nebraska.
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.
Brett Standlee was expected to be a key contributor to the OSU staff in 2018 but the right-hander was forced to redshirt the season after being declared academically ineligible.
In his first season in 2019, Standlee served roles as both a starter and reliever and was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team. He appeared in 19 games, 12 as a starter, and was 3-2 with a save and a 4.26 ERA while ranking second on the team in strikeouts (55) and innings pitched (72 2/3).
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 in 2019.
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.
Standlee has been used as a starter and reliever this season and is 1-0 with a save, a 2.04 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 17 2/3 innings over five appearances. He earned a win in his start at No. 8 Arizona State, tying career highs in innings pitched (7.0) and strikeouts (8) in OSU's 2-1 victory.
Canadian Cowboy
In his third and final season in an OSU uniform, senior Max Hewitt is poised to cap his career with his best year in Stillwater.
Through the first three weeks of the season, Hewitt owns a .444 batting average, which ranks second in the Big 12. He leads the Cowboys with seven multi-hit games.
A native of Ontario, Canada, Hewitt played in 57 games over his first two OSU seasons, 28 of those as a starter, and hit .260 with nine RBIs and two extra-base hits. He has already driven in 10 runs this season, posting three multi-RBI games, while tallying three doubles and a triple.
Used primarily as a middle infielder over the last two seasons, Hewitt made his debut as OSU's catcher in the second game of 2020 and has started seven games behind the dish for the Pokes after having not previously played the position since high school.
Welcome, Glad You're Here
OSU's 2020 recruiting class was ranked as high as No. 3 nationally, and a number of players are expected to have an immediate impact this season.
The Cowboys' starting lineup on opening weekend included four newcomers — transfers Brock Mathis, Jake Thompson and Kaden Polcovich and freshman Caeden Trenkle — while two-thirds of the starting pitching rotation was comprised of true freshmen in right-handers Bryce Osmond and Justin Campbell.
In a vote of the league's head coaches, Polcovich was selected as the Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, while Osmond was tabbed the Preseason Freshman of the Year.
Polcovich comes to Stillwater after two standout junior college seasons at Northwest Florida State. With the versatility to play on the infield and in the outfield, the switch hitter and hit .273 last season with 12 home runs, 38 RBIs and 16 stolen bases in 53 games. He followed that up by being named to the 2019 All-Cape Cod League Team last summer.
Osmond enjoyed a highly decorated career at Jenks High School, where he was a prep All-American. A possible two-way player as a right-handed pitcher and shortstop, he was rated the No. 53 overall prospect in the 2019 Major League Baseball Draft by MLB Pipeline, and he was a 35th-round pick of the Washington Nationals last June.
Here For The First Time
Of the 34 players on OSU's active roster, 21 of those are either true freshmen (11), redshirt freshmen (3) or sophomores (7).
Of the 15 hurlers who have taken the mound for OSU this season, nine are newcomers, including six true freshmen and a sophomore who had never pitched at the college level.
Three of the top five hitters in the OSU lineup are newcomers, with Jake Thompson (.326), Kaden Polcovich (.326) and Caeden Trenkle (.308) also combining for 34 of the Cowboys' 80 RBIs on the year.
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