Game Notes

#11 Oklahoma State (6-0) at Missouri State (4-1)

Tues., March 2 / 3 p.m.
Hammons Field (1,900) • Springfield, Mo.

Video/TV: ESPN+
Radio: 93.7 KSPI FM (Rex Holt & Matt Davis)
      stillwaterradio.net
Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
Twitter In-Game Updates: @OSUBaseball

About Oklahoma State
   • OSU is back in action on the road Tuesday when the Cowboys travel to Springfield, Mo., to take on Missouri State. The Pokes then return home for a weekend series with Grand Canyon at O'Brate Stadium.
   • The Cowboys are coming off a 13-5 showing in 2020, a season that was cut short in early March due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.
   • OSU returns the majority of its 2020 roster in 2021, along with a talented group of newcomers in a recruiting class ranked in the top 25 nationally. Seven position players that started at least 13 games a year ago are back, and the Cowboys' entire starting weekend rotation also returns.
   • The 2021 season is OSU's ninth under head coach Josh Holliday, who is 290-158-1 at his alma mater.

About Missouri State
   • Missouri State State is 4-1 on the season and coming off a weekend series win at home against Central Arkansas.
   • Led by Jack Duffy (.524, 2 HR, 7 RBIs), the Bears are hitting .331 on the season, while their pitching staff sports a 4.00 ERA.
   • Keith Guttin is in his 39th season as MSU's head coach and is the third among active Division I head coaches with 1,292 career wins.
   • MSU is expected to start right-hander Ty Buckner on the mound. Buckner has made one start on the season and is 1-0 as he struck out five and walked one in four shutout innings.

Cowboys vs. Bears
   Oklahoma State is 16-8 all time against Missouri State, including a 10-2 mark under Josh Holliday. The Bears claimed an 11-10 win in the last meeting, which came a year ago in Stillwater.

We're Going Streaking
   OSU's 6-0 start is its second-best start to a season under Josh Holliday; in 2014, the Cowboys won their first seven games.
   The Pokes have posted 11 consecutive wins after winning their final five games of 2020 prior to the cancellation of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In The Polls
   OSU has appeared in the national polls each of the first three weeks of the season, and this week the Cowboys check in as high as No. 11 in the Collegiate Baseball rankings. The Pokes are also 15th in the D1Baseball.com poll, 18^th in the USA Today coaches poll and 20^th in the NCBWA rankings.
   The Cowboys spent three weeks of the 2020 season in the national polls and peaked at No. 16 in the
Baseball America rankings.
   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 six seasons — 10th in 2014 and fourth in 2016.

High Five
Oklahoma State entered the 2021 season as the fifth-winningest team in NCAA baseball history in terms of winning percentage at .661.

2,657 & Counting
   Oklahoma State began the 2021 season 14th on the NCAA's all-time Division I wins list with 2,670. The Cowboys are one of only 25 programs in Division I history to reach 2,600 victories, and of those, only four — Florida State, Miami (Fla.), Florida and Fresno State — have played fewer seasons than OSU's 109.

Building A Winner
   In eight 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, seven 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 73-41 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 123 games in Holliday's nine seasons.

Armed & Dangerous
   In eight 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 22 Major League Baseball Draft picks, including a first rounder.
   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, totals that each 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, 2014 and 2019 and had 10 in 2016, the second most in a single season in program history. Those totals also marked four of only seven 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).

13 Years
   Asterisk or not due to the shortened season, Max Hewitt made history in 2020 as he became only the 18th Cowboy to hit .400 in a season and the first since Ty Wright in 2007 — Hewitt turned in a .410 batting average (25-for-61) in 18 games. An OSU player has hit .400 in season 20 times in program history.

Go Pro
During Josh Holliday's tenure as head coach, Oklahoma State has had 46 players selected in the Major League Baseball Draft. Fourteen 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.

One Last Ride
   Due to the 2020 season being cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCAA granted eligibility for '20 seniors wishing to return and play in 2021. Five Cowboys took advantage of the opportunity, with Cade Cabbiness, Alix Garcia, Max Hewitt, Carson McCusker and C.J. Varela opting to return this season.
   That group gives OSU a strong veteran presence, with Cabbiness and Varela returning for their fifth years in the program and Hewitt and McCusker their fourth; entering the '21 season, the group of Cabbiness, Garcia, Hewitt and McCusker has combined to play in 414 games for the Cowboys.

Preseason Picks
   OSU was picked to finish fourth in the Big 12 standings in a preseason vote of the league's head coaches, who also named three Cowboys to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team.
   The coaches tabbed infielders Max Hewitt and Hueston Morrill as all-conference picks, while Justin Campbell was named to the team as a utility player.
   Hewitt finished second in the Big 12 with a .410 batting average in 2020 and had career highs in extra-base hits and RBIs despite the shortened season, while Morrill has started 75 games on the infield over the last two seasons and was an honorable mention All-Big 12 performer as a freshman.
   Campbell was a standout on the mound and at the plate as a freshman last season, hitting .414 with a pair of three-RBI games in limited duty, while ranking second on the team with 22 strikeouts as a part of OSU's weekend rotation.

Cowboy Baseball Set For Midweek Road Test

Game Notes

#11 Oklahoma State (6-0) at Missouri State (4-1)

Tues., March 2 / 3 p.m.
Hammons Field (1,900) • Springfield, Mo.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Cade Cabbiness

Justin Campbell

Alix Garcia

Max Hewitt

Carson McCusker

Hueston Morrill

C.J. Varela

Oklahoma State University Athletics

Cowboy Baseball Set For Midweek Road Test

Game Notes

#11 Oklahoma State (6-0) at Missouri State (4-1)

Tues., March 2 / 3 p.m. Hammons Field (1,900) • Springfield, Mo.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Cade Cabbiness

Justin Campbell

Alix Garcia

Max Hewitt

Carson McCusker

Hueston Morrill

C.J. Varela

Related Videos

Tues., March 2 / 3 p.m.
Hammons Field (1,900) • Springfield, Mo.