Cowboy Baseball Opens Season With Showdown At Vandy

February 16, 2022 | Cowboy Baseball

Game Notes

#7 Oklahoma State
at #1 Vanderbilt

Fri., Feb. 18 • 4:30 p.m. / Sat., Feb. 19 • 1 p.m. / Sun., Feb. 20 • 1 p.m.
Hawkins Field (3,626) • Nashville, Tenn.

Video/TV: SEC Network+
Radio: Pete 94.3 FM/KSPI-AM 780/stillwaterradio.net (Rex Holt & Matt Davis)
Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
Twitter In-Game Updates: @OSUBaseball

About Oklahoma State
     • The Cowboys are coming off a 36-19-1 season in 2021 in which they earned an eighth consecutive NCAA Regional berth. OSU finished fourth in the Big 12 Conference standings at 12-12.
     • OSU returns 13 letterwinners from a year ago, including four position starters and nine pitchers. Highlighting the list are Preseason All-Americans Justin Campbell, Victor Mederos and Nolan McLean, as well as Jake Thompson, a Preseason All-Big 12 pick along with Campbell and McLean.
     • The 2022 season is OSU's 10th under head coach Josh Holliday, who is 320-177-2 at his alma mater.

About Vanderbilt
     • Vanderbilt posted a 49-18 record last season and advanced to the finals of the College World Series. The Commodores return 22 letterwinners from a year ago, including seven position starters.
     • Tim Corbin is in his 20th season at Vandy, where he has led the Commodores to an 802-377-1 record. and NCAA championships in 2014 and 2019.
     • Vandy's starting pitching rotation vs. the Cowboys is expected to be:
     Friday: RHP Chris McElvain — 5-1, two saves, 4.34 ERA in 22 appearances (one start) in 2021
     Saturday: RHP Nick Maldonado — Made 28 relief appearances in 2021, was 1-2 with 9 saves, 2.31 ERA
     Sunday: LHP Holton — Freshman from Guyton, Georgia

Cowboys vs. Commodores
     Oklahoma State is 1-3 all time against Vanderbilt, which won two-of-three games in a weekend series in Stillwater last March. The other meeting came in 2010 at the Dodgertown Classic at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, with the Commodores winning that contest, 7-6.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T
     OSU is ranked as high as No. 7 nationally in the preseason polls, checking in at that spot in both the D1Baseball and Collegiate Baseball rankings. The Cowboys are also ranked No. 8 in the USA Today coaches poll, No. 13 by the NCBWA, 16th by Perfect Game and 19th by Baseball America.
     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 under Josh Holliday — 10th in 2014 and fourth in 2016.

High Five
    Oklahoma State entered the 2022 season as the fifth-winningest team in NCAA baseball history in terms of winning percentage at .661.

2,706 & Counting
     Oklahoma State began the 2022 season 14th on the NCAA's all-time Division I wins list with 2,706. The Cowboys are one of only 14 programs in Division I history to reach 2,700 victories, and of those, only one — Florida State — has played fewer seasons than OSU's 110.

Building A Winner
     In nine seasons as head coach at his alma mater, Josh Holliday has built a sparkling resume.
     • The Cowboys have earned eight 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 71 All-Big 12 performers, seven All-Americans, two Big 12 Pitcher of the Year honorees, two Big 12 Newcomer of the Year winners and a Big 12 Player 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 at OSU, joining Gary Ward (953), Frank Anderson (329) and Toby Greene (318), and he now ranks third on the all-time wins list with 320.

Close Calls
     OSU is 78-47 in one-run games under Josh Holliday, and 81 of the Cowboys' 177 losses under Holliday have come by two runs or less.

Everybody's Golden All-American
     Justin Campbell is a consensus Preseason First-Team All-American as he earned that distinction from D1Baseball, Perfect Game and the NCBWA.
      The Cowboy right-hander is also one of 55 players on USA Baseball's Golden Spikes Award Watch List.

All-American Cowboys
     Joining Justin Campbell on the list of OSU Preseason All-Americans are Victor Mederos and Nolan McLean. Mederos was a Preseason All-America Second Team selection by Baseball America, while McLean earned third-team honors from D1Baseball.

Big 12 Love For The Pokes
     OSU was picked by league coaches to finish second behind Texas in the 2022 Big 12 Conference standings. Three Cowboys - Justin Campbell, Nolan McLean and Jake Thompson - were named to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team, while Victor Mederos was named the Preseason Newcomer of the Year and Roc Riggio the Preseason Freshman of the Year.

Cowboys Of Summer
     A number of Cowboys had successful stints in various summer leagues in 2021.
     • Marcus Brown - Named the Appalachian League Player of the Year. Hit .407 and led Elizabethton River Riders in RBIs, runs and walks.
     • Justin Campbell - Played for Team USA Collegiate National Team.
     • Lyle Miller-Green - Led Cape Cod League in RBIs as a member of the Chatham Anglers.
     • John Bay - Led the Appalachian League with 10 home runs
     • Griffin Doersching - Second in the Northwoods League with nine homers
     • Jaxson Crull - Appalachian League All-Star
     • Chase Adkison - Appalachian League All-Star
     • Jimmy Ramsey - College Summer League All-Star
     • Jake Thompson - Cape Cod League All-Star, led Brewster Whitecaps to championship
     • Roman Phansalkar - California Collegiate League All-Star and champion
     • Trevor Martin - 27 K in 19.1 IP for Chatham in Cape Cod League, named team's Most Outstanding Reliever

Change Of Scenery
     OSU added six Division I transfers to its roster for 2022 - Victor Mederos (Miami), Bayden Root (Ohio State), Jimmy Ramsey (Kentucky), Dillon Marsh (Kentucky), David Mendham (South Carolina) and Griffin Doersching (Northern Kentucky). Additionally, the Cowboys have four new JUCO transfers with D1 experience - Lyle Miller-Green (George Mason), Brett Brown (Texas A&M), Solomon Washington (Tennessee Tech) and Chase Adkison (Boise State).