Cowboy Baseball Concludes Regular Season With Bedlam Series

#10 Oklahoma State (35-15, 13-8) at Oklahoma (29-22, 10-11)

Thurs., May 18 • 6:30 p.m. / Fri., May 19 • 6:30 p.m. / Sat., May 20 • 4 p.m.
L. Dale Mitchell Park (3,180) • Norman, Okla.

Video/TV: ESPN+
(Chad McKee, Toby Rowland, Blake Brewster)
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 35-15 overall and second in the Big 12 standings with an 13-8 conference mark. The Cowboys conclude the regular season on the road at Oklahoma for the Bedlam Series, which opens Thursday.
     • 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 397-214-2 at his alma mater. The Cowboys have earned an NCAA Regional berth each year under his watch.

About Oklahoma

     • Oklahoma is 29-22 on the season and seventh in the Big 12 standings at 10-11.
     • Skip Johnson is in his sixth season as OU's head coach and owns a 186-126 career record.
     • OSU is 182-157 all time against OU, including a 30-11 mark under Josh Holliday. Earlier this season, the Cowboys topped the Sooners 19-8 in a midweek contest on April 18 in Stillwater.
     • OU's starting pitching rotation vs. the Cowboys is expected to be:

     Thursday: RHP Braxton Douthit — 4-4, 4.77 ERA in 13 starts; 45 K, 48 BB in 66.0 IP
     Friday: TBA
     Saturday: TBA

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. 10 by Collegiate Baseball, 18th by Baseball America, 22nd by USA TODAY Sports, Perfect Game and the NCBWA and 25th by D1Baseball.
     OSU has been nationally ranked for 51 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 weekend No. 24 in the official NCAA RPI; OU is 51st.

That's Offensive

• OSU owns a .310 team batting average. The last time the Cowboys hit .300 or better in a full season was in 2010 when they hit .307. (The 2020 Pokes hit .302 in 18 games in the COVID-shortened season).
• The Cowboys have smashed 94 home runs, their most in a season since the 1999 club had 132.

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 16th in the NCAA with 514 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 10.8 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 are second in the Big 12 and 20th nationally with a .310 team batting average.
     • Six regulars in the OSU starting lineup are hitting at least .300. Tyler Wulfert leads the way with a .364 average that ranks fourth in the Big 12, while Roc Riggio is right behind him in fifth at .361.
     • OSU's 130 doubles rank third nationally, 12 behind NCAA leader Virginia.
     • The Pokes have smashed a Big 12-best 94 home runs, which ranks 16th nationally. Fifteen players have homered, and Roc Riggio leads the team with 17 round trippers to rank second in the league.
   • The Cowboys' .563 slugging percentage leads the Big 12 and is seventh nationally.
     • OSU has scored 438 runs (13th nationally); their 8.8 runs per game ranks 11th in the NCAA.
     • The Pokes have posted seven run-rule wins.

A Day For The Record Books

     Nolan Schubart turned in a remarkable performance in the series finale against ETSU as he went 3-for-3 with three home runs, two of those grand slams, and 10 RBIs to go along with a pair of walks. That effort saw him reach several record marks, including:
     • Tying the OSU record for homers in a game. It marked the 18th time in program history the feat has been achieved, and he is the 14th different Cowboy to hit the mark.
     • Tying the OSU record for RBIs in a game, which was first set in 1993.
     • Tying the Big 12 Conference record for grand slams in a game as he became the fourth league player to achieve the feat and first since 2018.

Roc Rolled — And He's Doing It Again

     Roc Riggio enjoyed a Freshman All-American season in 2022, starting 53 games for the Cowboys and hitting .295 with 11 home runs, 14 doubles and 47 RBIs.
     The second baseman caught fire at the plate in the postseason and was named to the all-tournament team at both the Big 12 Baseball Championship and the NCAA Stillwater Regional. In 10 games, he hit .458 (22-for-48) with six doubles, five homers and 19 RBIs.
     Riggio is swinging a hot bat once again in 2023. He's hitting .361, fifth in the Big 12, and ranks in the top five in the league in home runs (17), triples (3), runs (60), total bases (139), slugging percentage (.760) and on-base percentage (.489); he's in the top 10 in hits (61), doubles (16), RBIs (54) and walks (40).
    Random Fact: As an eighth grader, Riggio committed to play baseball at UCLA.

Two-Way Talent

     Nolan McLean's powerful bat was a fixture in the middle of the Cowboys' order in 2022, and he also emerged as OSU's closer. That combination led to him being named a Perfect Game All-American and a semifinalist for the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award.
     A native of North Carolina, McLean became the third player in OSU history to earn All-Big 12 honors at two different positions — he was named All-Big 12 First Team as a utility player, was an All-Big 12 Second Team selection as a relief pitcher and collected honorable mention All-Big 12 plaudits as an infielder.
     McLean slugged a team-high 19 home runs and hit .285 with 16 doubles and 47 RBIs while spending the majority of his time at third base. He was OSU's second-leading hitter in Big 12 play, posting a .330 average to go along with seven homers and 20 RBIs.
     On the mound, McLean made 23 relief appearances and posted a 2-1 record and five saves while recording 39 strikeouts in 25 1/3 innings. Four of his saves came in league play.
     McLean spurned professional baseball to return to Stillwater after being selected with the first pick of the third round of last July's Major League Baseball Draft by the Baltimore Orioles.
     In 2023, McLean picked up right where he left off before suffering a knee injury on April 1 against Texas that caused him to miss 18 games. Primarily an outfielder before the injury, he's hitting .284 with nine homers and 28 RBIs in 30 games, while recording six saves, a 1.65 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings over 10 appearances on the mound. He is once again a semifinalist for the Olerud Award.
     Random Fact: McLean was a quarterback on the OSU football team during the 2020 season.

Two-Way Too

     Another two-way standout for the Pokes is Carson Benge, who has become a force at the plate and on the mound in his first season and is a semifinalist for the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award.
     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 sports a .348 batting average to go along with seven homers, 16 doubles and 38 RBIs. He is the Pokes' second-leading hitter in Big 12 play with a .365 batting average, and he has four homers, eight doubles and 15 RBIs in league games.
     On the mound, Benge has made nine starts and is 2-1 with 34 strikeouts in 32 2/3 innings. He earned the first win of his career in a midweek outing against Wichita State in which he allowed just one run and struck out five in five innings of work, and he racked up a career-high nine Ks in the May game vs. ORU.
     Random Fact: Carson's older brother, Garrett, was a two-time All-Big 12 infielder for OSU in 2016-17.

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 23 appearances are tied for fifth 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 in his first season at OSU after a JUCO All-American career at Cowley County CC, Stebens is 4-1 with six saves, a 2.60 ERA and 69 strikeouts in 52 innings. He leads the Big 12 in ERA and opponent batting average at .200 and is seventh in strikeouts.
     Stebens, who is one of 25 semifinalists for the College Baseball Foundation's 2023 Pitcher of the Year award, earned his first-career save in the second game of the Texas series and also notched saves in the series opener vs. TCU, the non-conference Bedlam game, in both wins at Michigan and vs. ETSU.
    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.

Iron Man

     Chase Adkison has been a mainstay behind the plate this season. After splitting time at catcher with Ian Daugherty over OSU's first five games (Daugherty started three of those), Adkison has been a rock at the position following an injury to Daugherty, and he has produced at the plate as well as defensively.
     Adkison started 24 consecutive games at catcher (Feb. 25/Gm. 2-April 21) and 43 of OSU's last 45 contests behind the dish.
     In 45 games, Adkison is hitting .342 with six homers, eight doubles and 38 RBIs. He owns a .995 fielding percentage and has thrown out 12 runners trying to steal.
     Random Fact: Adkison owns and operates a business, The Glove Plug, where he buys, sells and trades baseball gloves on Instagram (@the_glove_plug_).

Howling

     Tyler Wulfert battled injuries early in the season but has been a constant and productive force in the lineup over the last two months.
     The Cowboy third baseman is OSU's leading hitter and ranks fourth in the Big 12 with a .364 batting average. He is hitting .408 in conference play and has posted six home runs, seven doubles and 19 RBIs in league games.
     Of Wulfert's 47 hits, 25 are for extra bases (8 HR, 14 2B, 3 3B), to produce a .705 slugging percentage.
    Random Fact: Wulfert's dad, Mark, was an 11th-round pick of the San Diego Padres in the 1995 MLB Draft and played two professional seasons for the Class A Clinton LumberKings.