Cowboy Baseball Concludes Homestand With Wichita State

Tuesday, April 4

Stillwater, OK

6:00 PM

Oklahoma State University

Wichita State

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Nolan Schubart

April 03, 2023 | Cowboy Baseball

Game_Notes_14_-_Wichita_State.pdf

Wichita State (16-11) at #11 Oklahoma State (22-7)

Tues., April 4 • 6 p.m.
O'Brate Stadium (8,000) • Stillwater, Okla.

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

About Oklahoma State

     • OSU is 22-7 overall and atop the Big 12 standings with a 6-3 conference mark. The Cowboys conclude their current homestand with a midweek matchup against Wichita State on Tuesday night at O'Brate Stadium before opening a league series at TCU beginning Thursday night in Fort Worth.
     • 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 384-206-2 at his alma mater. The Cowboys have earned an NCAA Region berth each year under his watch.

About Wichita State

     • Wichita State is 16-11, including a 6-6 mark on the road.
     • Loren Hibbs is serving as WSU's interim head coach this season. Hibbs won over 800 games in 27 seasons as the head coach at Charlotte prior to returning to his alma mater in 2019.
     • OSU is 65-35 all time against WSU, including a 14-3 mark under Josh Holliday. The Cowboys defeated the Shockers, 10-1, on March 22 in Wichita.
     • The Shockers are expected to start Matt Boyer on the mound against the Pokes. The right-hander has worked 2 2/3 innings in two relief appearances this season and owns a 10.12 ERA.

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

     OSU was ranked as high as No. 8 in the preseason national polls, receiving that ranking from USA TODAY Sports. This week, the Cowboys are ranked No. 11 by Baseball America, 12th by Collegiate Baseball, 13th by USA TODAY Sports, 14th by Perfect Game, 15th by the NCBWA and 16th by D1Baseball.
     OSU has been nationally ranked for 45 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. 18 in the official NCAA RPI; Wichita State is 128th.

K Kounter

     The 2022 OSU pitching staff shattered the program record for strikeouts in a season with 679, besting the previous mark by 91.
     The Cowboys' 679 strikeouts ranked fifth nationally, and they ranked seventh in the NCAA in strikeouts per nine innings at 10.7.
     With an influx of new arms, this year's staff has continued to pile up Ks. The Cowboys lead the Big 12 and rank eighth in the NCAA with 308 strikeouts, and they have three pitchers — Juaron Watts-Brown, Ben Abram and Isaac Stebens — in the top 10 in the conference in punchouts.
     OSU's 11.2 strikeouts per nine innings this season is tops in the Big 12 and ranks 10th nationally.

Cowboys Who Rake

     OSU's offense is putting up some impressive numbers at the plate.
     • The Cowboys rank second in the Big 12 with a .309 team batting average, which is 32nd nationally.
     • Seven regulars in the OSU starting lineup are hitting at least .300. Nolan Schubart leads the way with a .400 average that ranks third in the Big 12.
     • OSU's 73 doubles rank fifth nationally, nine behind NCAA leader Virginia.
     • The Cowboys have smashed a Big 12-best 53 home runs, which ranks 14th nationally. Thirteen different players have homered, and four of those — Nolan Schubart, Roc Riggio, Nolan McLean and David Mendham — lead the team with eight round trippers apiece.
     • OSU's .557 slugging percentage leads the Big 12 and is ninth nationally.
     • The Cowboys have posted five run-rule wins this season.

Two-Way Too

     Nolan McLean isn't the only two-way standout for the Cowboys as Carson Benge has become a force at the plate and on the mound in his first collegiate season.
     After redshirting last season to rehab following Tommy John surgery, Benge has been a constant in the OSU lineup as both a right-fielder and DH, and he ranks second on the team with a .366 batting average to go along with four homers, 10 doubles and 23 RBIs. He is the Pokes' leading hitter in Big 12 play with a .444 batting average, and his 12 RBIS in league games are also tops on the club.
     On the mound, Benge has made three starts and is 1-1 with 10 strikeouts in 12 1/3 innings. He picked up the first win of his career in a midweek outing against Wichita State in which he allowed just one run and struck out a career-high five in five innings of work.
     Random Fact: Carson's older brother, Garrett, was a two-time All-Big 12 infielder for the Cowboys in 2016 and 2017.

Freshman Swinging A Hot Bat

      Just over a month into his first collegiate season, Nolan Schubart has proven to be a powerful addition to the OSU lineup.
     The left-handed hitting outfielder owns a team-high .400 batting average, which ranks third in the Big 12, and he leads the league in on-base percentage (.538) and is second in slugging percentage (.778). The Michigan native is also third in the league in home runs (8), fifth in total bases (70) and sixth in RBIs (32).
     Schubart has reached base safely in 19-straight games, the longest streak by a Cowboy this season.
     Random Fact: Schubart was originally committed to play at Michigan before a coaching change there led to him signing with the Cowboys.

Meet The New Guy

     OSU bolstered its pitching staff with the addition of transfer Juaron Watts-Brown, who has emerged as a standout in the Cowboys' weekend rotation.
     Watts-Brown picked up his first win in an OSU uniform against Austin Peay as he recorded eight strikeouts for the second consecutive game. He moved to 2-0 with a 13-strikeout performance vs. Utah Tech and notched his third win with another 13 K effort, this one against Baylor.
     Against Texas, Watts-Brown tossed a season-high eight innings and struck out 12 while allowing just one run on three hits in a 128-pitch effort to move to 4-1 on the year.
     The righty leads the Big 12 and ranks second nationally with 67 strikeouts, and his 14.59 strikeouts per nine innings is 11th in the NCAA. He is third in the league in opponent batting average at .177 to go along with a 2.61 ERA that ranks fifth; his 41 1/3 innings pitched are the third most in the conference.
     Watts-Brown transferred to OSU after earning Freshman All-America honors at Long Beach State last season. He went 4-4 with a 3.68 ERA in 15 appearances, including 12 starts, for the Dirtbags and racked up 111 strikeouts in 73 1/3 innings.
     During the month of May, Watts-Brown went 3-0 with a 1.64 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 33 innings, and he posted double-digit strikeout games in four of his last five starts of the season.
     Watts-Brown's first collegiate season also saw him toss the first complete game no-hitter in LBSU history, and he set the school record for strikeouts per nine innings in a season with 13.62.
    Random Fact: Watts-Brown was named the West Yosemite League Player of the Year in baseball, football and basketball during his prep career at Hanford High School; he played quarterback on the gridiron and forward in hoops.

Stillwater Slingers

     A pair of hometown hurlers have stepped up for the Cowboys this season.
     Southpaw Drew Blake picked up the win in relief in the season opener vs. Missouri as the redshirt freshman worked two shutout innings in relief. Blake's 13 appearances are tied for third in the Big 12.
     Blake had a career-best performance in the series finale and series-clinching win vs. Texas as he tossed four shutout innings and allowed just one hit while striking out five.
     Isaac Stebens tossed four scoreless innings out of the bullpen in his debut against Vanderbilt, then worked two more shutout frames with four Ks in the combined no-hitter against Cal Baptist.
     A righty is in his first season at OSU after a JUCO All-American career at Cowley County CC, Stebens is 4-0 with a Big 12-best 1.67 ERA to go along with 40 strikeouts in 32 1/3 innings. He is second in the conference in opponent batting average at .162. He earned his first-career save in the second game of the Texas series.
     Random Fact: Blake's dad, Randy, was teammates with Josh Holliday on the Stillwater High School football team in the mid-1990s; Holliday was the Pioneers' quarterback, and Blake starred at wide receiver.