Cowboy Baseball Concludes Long Homestand With Midweek Test

Dallas Baptist (11-5) at #12 Oklahoma State (14-3)

Tues., March 14 • 6 p.m.
O'Brate Stadium (8,000) • Stillwater, Okla.

Video/TV: Big 12 Now on ESPN+
(Robert Allen & Tom Holliday)
Radio: KSPI 93.7 FM & The Varsity Network - okla.st/GetVarsity
(Rex Holt & Matt Davis)
Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
Twitter In-Game Updates: @OSUBaseball

About Oklahoma State

     • Winners of 11 in a row, OSU is 14-3 and concludes a 10 games in 12 days homestand when the Pokes host Dallas Baptist Tuesday night at O'Brate Stadium. The Cowboys then open Big 12 play this weekend at Texas Tech.
     • The Cowboys are coming off a 42-22 season in 2022 in which they made their ninth consecutive NCAA Regional appearance. OSU 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, OSU returns six position starters and 13 letterwinners from '22.
     • The 2023 season is OSU's 11th under head coach Josh Holliday, who is 376-202-2 at his alma mater. The Cowboys have earned an NCAA Region berth each year under his watch.

About Dallas Baptist

     • DBU is 11-5 and riding a four-game winning streak that includes a midweek victory against Grambling State and a weekend series sweep of Oral Roberts.
     • Dan Heefner is in his 16th season as DBU's head coach and owns a 571-300-1 career record.
     • OSU is 20-9 all time against DBU, including a 7-3 mark under Josh Holliday. Both teams won one-run ballgames on their home field last season, with the Cowboys claiming a 5-4 win in Stillwater and the Patriots winning 8-7 in Dallas.
     • DBU is expected to start Zach Heaton on the mound against the Cowboys. The right-hander is 1-0 with a 2.00 ERA in three starts this season; he has seven strikeouts and six walks in nine innings of work.

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

     OSU was ranked as high as No. 8 in the preseason national polls, getting that ranking from USA TODAY Sports. This week, the Cowboys are ranked No. 12 by D1Baseball, 13th by USA TODAY and the NCBWA, 15th by Perfect Game, 17th by Baseball America and 18th by Collegiate Baseball.
     OSU has been nationally ranked for 42 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.
     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.

RPI Talk

Oklahoma State enters the week No. 26 in the official NCAA RPI; Dallas Baptist is 108.

We're Going Streaking

     OSU is currently on an 11-game winning streak, which is tied for the third longest of the Josh Holliday head coaching era.
     The Pokes' longest win streak under Holliday is 14, which came in 2020-21 (last five games of COVID shortened '20 season and first nine of '21), and OSU turned in a 12-game winning streak in 2014. The Cowboys also went on an 11-game winning streak last season.
     The program record for longest winning streak is 30 games, set by the 1986 Cowboys.

Sparkling Statistics

     • Nolan McLean is tied with Georgia Tech's Terry Busse for the NCAA lead with six saves.
     • McLean also ranks 10th nationally by having drawn 19 walks.
     • OSU sports a .311 team batting average, which ranks second in the Big 12. Nolan Schubart is hitting a team-high .393 and is one of eight Cowboys with a batting average over .300.
     • Cowboy reliever Isaac Stebens leads the Big 12 with a 1.21 ERA, while Juaron Watts-Brown is fourth at 1.99. Led by that duo, OSU's pitching staff ranks second in the league with 180 strikeouts.
     • David Mendham's eight doubles rank eighth nationally, three behind the leader.
     • OSU owns a .985 fielding percentage, which ranks 11th nationally, and has committed just nine errors — the Pokes rank second in the Big 12 in both categories.

Double Your Pleasure

Roc Riggio did something that hadn't been done in over three decades in the second game of a doubleheader against Utah Tech.
Riggio tied a program record with four doubles, a feat last achieved by a Cowboy when Lou Lucca did it in 1991.

Bakers On The Mound

     OSU had two pitchers record 13 strikeout performances last weekend against Utah Tech. The baker's dozen punchouts are the most in a game by a Big 12 pitcher this season.
     In the series opener, Juaron Watts-Brown reached the mark in 6 2/3 innings. The 13 strikeouts were the second most in a game in Watts-Brown's career behind only the 16 he recorded while at Long Beach State last season in a game against UC Riverside that also saw him throw a no-hitter.
     In game three of the weekend, Brian Hendry racked up his 13 Ks in six innings en route to his first win as a Cowboy. The total marked a career high for the St. John's transfer, whose previous best was 10 in 2021.

Big 12's Best

     Roc Riggio and Juaron Watts-Brown earned Big 12 weekly awards for their week four performances.
     Riggio was named the Big 12 Player of the Week, while Watts-Brown collected Big 12 Pitcher of the Week accolades. The duo helped OSU pick up series sweeps over Arizona State and Utah Tech as the Pokes extended their winning streak to 11 games.
     In OSU's six wins, Riggio posted a team-high .476 batting average to go along with five doubles, a triple, two home runs and four RBIs. The sophomore went 10-for-21 at the plate and also scored 11 runs, racked up 23 total bases, walked eight times and stole two bases while playing error-free baseball at second base.
     Riggio tallied four multi-hit games and had a record performance with four doubles in the second game of the doubleheader against Utah Tech, tying the OSU single-game record.
     With his hot hitting, Riggio extended his streak of reaching base safely to 12 games, the second longest streak by a Cowboy this season, and raised his season batting average from .237 to .322.
     Watts-Brown was dominant in the series opener against Utah Tech, racking up 13 strikeouts in 6 ? innings en route to his second win of the year. He allowed just one run on three hits, and the 13 strikeouts was a career high in an OSU uniform and the most by a Big 12 pitcher this season.