Cowboy Baseball Opens 2023 Season at College Baseball Showdown

#8 Oklahoma State at the College Baseball Showdown

Fri., Feb. 17-Sun., Feb. 19 • Globe Life Field (40,300) • Arlington, Texas

Video/TV: FloBaseball (Pat Combs, Ben Wilson, Danny Lee, Mike Hardge)
Radio: KSPI 93.7 FM (Fri.)/94.3 Pete FM (Sat. & Sun.) and stillwaterradio.net (Rex Holt & Matt Davis)
Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
Twitter In-Game Updates: @OSUBaseball

About Oklahoma State

     • OSU is coming off a 42-22 season in 2022 in which it made its ninth consecutive NCAA Regional appearance. The Cowboys finished tied for second in the Big 12 standings with a 15-9 conference mark, one game out of first place.
     • OSU was the No. 7 national seed in last year's NCAA Championship, the program's highest ever tourney seeding, and was an NCAA Regional host for the fourth time under Josh Holliday; the Pokes advanced to the NCAA Regional finals for the sixth time under Holliday.
     • Led by Nolan McLean and Roc Riggio, the Cowboys return six position starters and 13 letterwinners from a year ago.
     • The 2023 season is OSU's 11th under head coach Josh Holliday, who is 362-199-2 at his alma mater. The Cowboys have earned an NCAA Region berth each year under his watch.

Cowboys vs. College Baseball Showdown Opponents
     Missouri — All-time series: OSU leads, 130-68      Last meeting: 3/25/12 in Columbia, Mo. — MU 4, OSU 2
     Vanderbilt — All-time series: Vandy leads, 4-3    Last meeting: 2/20/22 in Nashville, Tenn. — OSU 7, VU 5
     Arkansas — All-time series: OSU leads, 47-23      Last meeting: 6/6/22 at the NCAA Stillwater Regional — UA 7, OSU 3

Familiar Turf

Over the last two years, OSU has played 10 games at Globe Life Field — midweek contests against Louisiana-Monroe and Sam Houston, a three-game series with BYU and the 2022 Big 12 Championship — and the Cowboys are 5-5 in those contests.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

     OSU is ranked as high as No. 8 in the preseason national polls, earning that ranking from USA TODAY Sports. The Cowboys are ranked No. 9 by D1Baseball, 11th by the NCBWA, 12th by Collegiate Baseball, 15th by Baseball America and 18th by Perfect Game.
     OSU has been nationally ranked for 38 consecutive weeks dating back to the 2021 preseason polls. The Cowboys reached No. 2 twice in 2022, marking their highest-ever ranking under Josh Holliday, and finished the year ranked as high as No. 17 in the final polls.
     From March 4, 2013 to April 3, 2017, a streak of 77 consecutive weeks, OSU was ranked in at least one national poll. During that time, the Cowboys spent 18 weeks in the Top 10, climbing as high as No. 3. They have finished in the top 10 in the final polls twice under Josh Holliday — 10th in 2014 and fourth in 2016.

Big 12 Love For The Pokes

OSU placed four players on the 2023 Preseason All-Big 12 Team as Marcus Brown, Nolan McLean, Roc Riggio and Juaron Watts-Brown earned that distinction. Additionally, Watts-Brown was named the Big 12 Preseason Pitcher of the Year and Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year.
The Cowboys were picked to finish second in the Big 12 standings, receiving four first-place votes from the league's coaches. Two-time defending champion TCU collected five first-place votes to edge OSU as the favorite.

All-American Golden Cowboys

     Juaron Watts-Brown and Nolan McLean are both consensus Preseason All-Americans.
     Watts-Brown, the Cowboys' sophomore right-handed pitcher, was a second-team pick by D1Baseball and Baseball America and a third-team choice by Collegiate Baseball, Perfect Game and the NCBWA.
     A two-way standout, McLean was named a Preseason All-American as a utility player and earned second-team status from D1Baseball and Collegiate Baseball and third-team honors from Baseball America, Perfect Game and the NCBWA.
     Both McLean and Watts-Brown are also on the Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List, which includes 55 of the nation's top amateur players.
     Joining the McLean/Watts-Brown duo as a Preseason All-American is second baseman Roc Riggio, who was a third-team selection by Baseball America and D1Baseball.

New Faces

OSU's roster includes 23 newcomers, and the Cowboys brought in a recruiting class and transfer class that were both ranked in the top 10 nationally.
The group of newcomers includes 12 freshmen, six Division I transfers and five players who joined the Pokes from the JUCO ranks.