Cowboy Baseball Back Home For Big 12 Action

March 31, 2021 | Cowboy Baseball

Game Notes (PDF)

West Virginia (10-9, 2-1) at #11 Oklahoma State (16-6-1, 4-2)

Thurs., April 1 / 6 p.m. • Fri., April 2 / 6 p.m. • Sat., April 3 / 1 p.m.
O'Brate Stadium (2,700) • Stillwater, Okla.

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

About Oklahoma State
   • OSU returns to Big 12 action when the Cowboys host West Virginia in a Thursday-Saturday series at O'Brate Stadium. The Pokes are 16-6-1 on the season and tied for second in the Big 12 standings at 4-2, and they own an 11-3-1 mark at home.
   • 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 300-164-2 at his alma mater.

About West Virginia
   • West Virginia is 10-9 on the season and 2-1 in the Big 12 after opening conference play at home against Kansas last weekend.
   • Led by Mikey Kluska (.478, 2 HR, 12 RBIs), the Mountaineers are hitting .257 on the season, while their pitching staff sports a 5.12 ERA.
   • Randy Mazey is in his ninth season as WVU's head coach and owns a career record of 248-190 with the Mountaineers. Along with stints at Charleston Southern and East Carolina, Mazey has over 400 wins on his head coaching resumé.
   • WVU's starting pitching rotation vs. the Cowboys is expected to be:
   Friday: LHP Jackson Wolf — 2-2 with a 1.93 ERA in five starts; 30 K, 15 BB in 28.0 IP
   Saturday: LHP Adam Tulloch — In four starts is 0-1 with a 6.11 ERA; 30 K, 6 BB in 17.2 IP
   Sunday: LHP Ben Hampton — 2-0 with a 0.77 ERA in five outings (two starts); 11 K, 3 BB in 11.2 IP

Cowboys vs. Mountaineers
   OSU is 17-11 all time against West Virginia, including a 14-11 mark under Josh Holliday.

Streakers
   OSU's 9-0 start to the 2021 season was its best-ever start to a season under Josh Holliday, surpassing that of the 2014 Cowboys, who won their first seven games in Holliday's second season at the helm.
   Until posting a tie in the series finale vs. Grand Canyon, the Pokes had tallied 14 consecutive victories after winning their final five games of 2020 prior to the cancellation of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
   Prior to dropping the series opener to Vanderbilt, the Cowboys' last loss had come against Missouri State on March 3, 2020, in Stillwater.

In The Polls
   OSU has appeared in the national polls each of the first seven weeks of the season and is ranked as high as No. 11 this week, earning that ranking from Collegiate Baseball. The Pokes are also ranked 16th by D1Baseball.com and in the USA Today coaches poll and 17th by the NCBWA.
   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.

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.

300 Club
   Josh Holliday recorded his 300th career win as a head coach when he led his alma mater to a 5-4 win over Bedlam-rival Oklahoma on March 30 in Stillwater.
   Holliday is one of four coaches to reach the 300-win milestone with the Cowboys, joining Gary Ward (953), Frank Anderson (329) and Toby Greene (318).

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.

Back On The Bump
   Parker Scott is back for a fifth season with the Cowboys, and the southpaw is expected to lead OSU's starting rotation. He is ranked No. 69 on D1Baseball.com's Preseason Power Rankings: Top 150 Starting Pitchers for college baseball in 2021.
   Scott struggled with injuries that cost him the majority of his first two seasons in Stillwater but showed what he could do when healthy over the last two seasons.
   Scott pitched in six games as a freshman in 2017, starting twice, before an arm injury ended his season. He suffered another setback when he underwent Tommy John Surgery that November that caused him to redshirt in 2018.
   After two years between appearances (March 12, 2017-March 10, 2019), Scott made 15 appearances in 2019, eight as a starter, and go 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.
   In four starts in 2020, Scott was 3-1 with a 2.16 ERA and tallied 31 strikeouts in 25 innings.
   Scott is 5-1 with a 1.75 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 36.0 innings in his six outings this season.

Four Sure
   Four of the seven starting pitchers OSU has used this season — Parker Scott, Justin Wrobleski, Bryce Osmond and Justin Campbell — have combined to go 11-4 with a 2.50 ERA and 144 strikeouts in 115.1 innings.
   Both Wrobleski and Campbell have turned in career outings. Campbell struck out 14 in seven shutout innings at Oral Roberts, which came on the heels of a six-inning, 13-strikeout effort at Missouri State, and Wrobleski racked up 13 punchouts and allowed only one hit in seven scoreless frames vs. Grand Canyon.
   Scott ranks third nationally with five wins, while Campbell is fifth in the NCAA with a 0.35 ERA and 12th in strikeouts per nine innings with 15.23.

Fear The Beard
   Brett Standlee has emerged as OSU's top arm out of the bullpen in 2021.
   In a team-high 12 relief appearances, the bearded one is 3-0 with three saves and a 0.64 ERA. In 14 innings, the right-hander has posted 24 strikeouts and allowed just one run on five hits, and he's been part of three of the Cowboys' five shutouts.
   Forced to redshirt the 2018 season after being declared academically ineligible, Standlee made his collegiate debut in 2019 and served roles as both a starter and reliever en route to earning a spot on 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).
   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.
   Last season, Standlee was again used as a starter and reliever and went 1-0 with a save, a 1.83 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 19 2/3 innings over a team-high seven 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.

Bombs Away
   In less than two full seasons at Yavapai JC, where he played in a wooden bat league, Christian Encarnacion-Strand hit 33 home runs in 81 games, and he's continued that power surge in his first season in Stillwater.
   Encarnacion-Strand, who has started all 23 games for the Cowboys at third base, has smacked a team-high eight home runs and also leads the Pokes with 21 RBIs.
   With Encarnacion-Strand leading the way, the Cowboys have tallied 30 homers by nine different players in 2021. Brock Mathis and Nolan McLean rank second on OSU with six round trippers apiece.

Mound Menaces
   • OSU's five shutouts this season are tied for the most in the NCAA along with Mississippi State, Texas A&M and Louisiana Tech. The school record for shutouts in a season is 13, set in 1984; in 2016, the Pokes had 10.
   • The Cowboys lead the Big 12 and rank sixth nationally with 268 strikeouts, and their 11.8 strikeouts per nine innings also leads the conference and is ninth in the NCAA. OSU has racked up 268 strikeouts in 205 innings.
   • Justin Campbell leads the Big 12 and ranks fifth nationally with a 0.35 ERA. The righty has allowed just one earned run in his 26 innings of work.
   • Campbell posted a career-high 14 strikeouts in seven scoreless innings against Oral Roberts on March 9. The 14 strikeouts were just two shy of the OSU single-game record held by Derek Brandow.
   • In that game against the Golden Eagles, Campbell teamed with Mitchell Stone, Kale Davis and Brett Standlee to strike out 19 ORU batters. The 19 strikeouts are one shy of the OSU and Big 12 Conference record for strikeouts in a nine-inning game; the Cowboys punched out 20 against Alabama A&M on March 23, 2010. The program record for strikeouts in a game is 21, which came in a 15-inning contest against Texas in 2011.