Cowboy Baseball Set For NCAA Stillwater Regional

Friday, June 2

Stillwater, OK

6:00 PM

Oklahoma State University

Oral Roberts

May 31, 2023 | Cowboy Baseball

Game Notes 27 NCAA Regional

NCAA Stillwater Regional
#1-seed Oklahoma State (41-18) at the

Fri., June 2-Mon., May 5
O'Brate Stadium (8,000) • Stillwater, Okla.

Video/TV: ESPN+ (Victor Rojas & Keith Moreland)
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 41-18 on the season and the No. 11 national seed in the 2023 NCAA Baseball Championship. The Cowboys are the top seed at this week's NCAA Stillwater Regional, which also includes No. 2-seed Dallas Baptist, third-seeded Washington and fourth-seeded Oral Roberts.
     • The Cowboys shared the Big 12 regular season championship with Texas and West Virginia after finishing 15-9 in conference play.
     • OSU is coming off a Big 12 Championship run that saw the Pokes advance to the title game before falling to TCU. The Cowboys went 4-2 at the tourney.
     • The 2023 season is OSU's 11th under head coach Josh Holliday, who is 403-217-2 at his alma mater. The Cowboys have earned an NCAA Regional berth each year under his watch.

Cowboys At The NCAA Baseball Championship

     • Oklahoma State is making its 48th appearance in the NCAA Baseball Championship, which ranks as the fourth most all time, and the Cowboys own a 157-102 (.606) record in the tourney, with the 157 wins sixth on the all-time list. The Cowboys' 20 College World Series appearances are tied for sixth all time.
     • The Cowboys are seeking to advance to the sixth NCAA Super Regional in program history (1999, 2007, 2014, 2016, 2019). Should the Cowboys advance out of the Stillwater Regional, they will face the winner of the NCAA Nashville (Vanderbilt) Regional in a Super Regional.
     • OSU has made an NCAA Regional each season under 11th-year head coach Josh Holliday. It is the Cowboys' 10th NCAA appearance under his direction — there was no NCAA tourney in 2020 after the remainder of the season was cancelled in March due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.
     • The Pokes are 23-19 in NCAA tourney play under Holliday — 18-13 in Regionals, 3-4 in Super Regionals and 2-2 at the College World Series. During his tenure, the Cowboys have made six NCAA Regional finals appearances and earned three Super Regional berths. In 2016, Holliday led his alma mater to the 20th College World Series in program history.
     • OSU is the No. 11 national seed. This year also marks the fifth under Holliday that the Pokes are a No. 1 seed; they previously achieved that status in 2014, 2015 and 2019. OSU was a No. 2 seed in 2016 and 2021, and Holliday-coached OSU teams have been a No. 3 seed three times (2013, 2017 and 2018).

Cowboys vs. NCAA Stillwater Regional Field
     No. 2-seed Dallas Baptist — All-time series: OSU leads, 15-8 (8-4 under Holliday)                                         Last meeting: 3/28/23 in Dallas, TX — DBU won, 8-0
     No. 3-seed Washington — All-time series: OSU leads, 4-1      (1-0 under Holliday)                                          Last meeting: 2/22/15 at the Big 12/Pac-12 Challenge in Peoria, AZ — OSU won, 12-2
     No. 4-seed Oral Roberts — All-time series: ORU leads, 37-41 (5-13 under Holliday)                                        Last meeting: 5/2/23 in Tulsa, OK — ORU won, 9-7

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. 12 by Baseball America, 13th by USA TODAY Sports, 14th by Collegiate Baseball, 15th by the NCBWA and 16th by D1Baseball.
     OSU has been nationally ranked for 53 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.
     The Pokes have finished in the top 10 in the final polls twice under Josh Holliday — 10th in 2014 and fourth in 2016.
     OSU was No. 17 in the final official NCAA RPI.

Crown Them

     With a 15-9 record, OSU claimed a share of the 2023 Big 12 regular season championship along with Texas and West Virginia.
     The title marks the second regular-season Big 12 championship in program history, joining OSU's 2014 team, and its fifth Big 12 championship as the Cowboys won tourney titles in 2004, 2017 and 2019.
     OSU counts 34 conference championships in program history; it also has 24 Big Eight and five Missouri Valley titles.

Big 12's Best

     Ten OSU players were honored with All-Big 12 status for 2023. Highlighting the list were Nolan Schubart, who was named the Big 12 Co-Freshman of the Year, and Tyler Wulfert, who was tabbed the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year.
     OSU had nine combined first- and second-team selections, which tied a program record previously set in 2008.
   Three Pokes were named to the All-Big 12 First Team — Schubart, infielder Roc Riggio and utility player Carson Benge. OSU placed six on the All-Big 12 Second Team, tying a program record for second teamers previously set in 2008. Along with Wulfert, Cowboys on this year's team are catcher Chase Adkison, designated hitter Colin Brueggemann, utility player Nolan McLean, relief pitcher Isaac Stebens and Benge, who made the second team as an outfielder.
     Earning All-Big 12 Honorable Mention accolades were starting pitchers Ben Abram and Juaron Watts-Brown, as well as McLean as a relief pitcher, while Schubart and Benge were unanimous picks for the Big 12 All-Freshman Team.

Postseason Pedigrees

     OSU's coaching staff has maintained a high level of success over the last two decades.
     • Josh Holliday — In 22 seasons as an assistant or head coach, he has helped lead 19 teams to NCAA Regionals, including a current streak of 15 in a row. His coaching tenure includes OSU (2002-03), North Carolina State (2004), Georgia Tech (2005-07, Arizona State (2008-09) and Vanderbilt (2010-12) as an assistant and head coach at OSU (2013-present).
     • Rob Walton — He has been an assistant or head coach on 24 consecutive NCAA Regional teams. That includes 1999-2003 as an assistant at Oral Roberts, 2004-12 as ORU's head coach and 2013-present as an Oklahoma State assistant.
     • Justin Seely — He has been a part of 13 NCAA Regional teams in his 14 seasons as an assistant. That includes a run of 11 straight at Texas A&M (2009-19) and the last two seasons with the Cowboys.

400 & 40

With OSU's win over West Virginia at the Big 12 Championship, Josh Holliday notched his 400th career win as head coach. The Cowboys have also reached 40 wins for the second consecutive season and sixth time in Holliday's tenure.

Streakers

Oklahoma State is making its 10th consecutive NCAA Regional appearance, the nation's fourth-longest current streak behind only Vanderbilt (17), Florida (15) and LSU (11).

That's Offensive

     • OSU owns a .302 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).
     • Seven regulars in the OSU starting lineup are hitting at least .300. Roc Riggio leads the way with a .344 average that ranks ninth in the Big 12, while Nolan Schubart is right behind him in 10th at .343.
     • The Cowboys have smashed 104 home runs, their most in a season since the 1999 club had 132, to rank 15th nationally. Fifteen players have homered, led by Roc Riggio's 17 and Nolan Schubart's 16.
     • OSU's 144 doubles rank third nationally, eight behind NCAA leader Virginia.
     • The Cowboys' .539 slugging percentage leads the Big 12 and is 11th nationally.
     • OSU has scored 497 runs (13th nationally); their 8.4 runs per game ranks 19th in the NCAA.
     • The Pokes posted seven run-rule wins this season.

K Kounter

     In the first 110 seasons of Cowboy Baseball, no OSU pitching staff recorded 600 strikeouts in a season — they've now reached that mark in back-to-back seasons.
     In 2022, the Cowboys shattered the program record for strikeouts in a season with 679, besting the previous mark by 91. The total ranked fifth nationally, and OSU was 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 ninth in the NCAA with 607 strikeouts, and they have three pitchers — Juaron Watts-Brown, Isaac Stebens and Ben Abram — in the top 10 in the conference in punchouts.
     OSU's 10.7 strikeouts per nine innings this season is tops in the Big 12 and ranks ninth nationally.