Cowboy Baseball Hits Road For Midweek Tilt In Wichita

Oklahoma State (15-9) at Wichita State (15-8)

Tues., March 26 • 6 p.m.
Eck Stadium (8,153) • Wichita, Kan.

Video/TV: ESPN+ (Shane Dennis)
Radio: KSPI 93.7 FM (Rex Holt & Matt Davis)
The Varsity Network - okla.st/GetVarsity
Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
X In-Game Scoreboard/Updates: @OSUBaseball

About Oklahoma State

     • The Cowboys are 15-9 overall and tied for fifth in the Big 12 standings at 3-3 in conference play. Up next, OSU travels to Wichita State for a midweek contest Tuesday night before returning to league action this weekend at West Virginia.
     • OSU finished 41-20 in 2023 and earned its 10th consecutive NCAA Regional bid. It was the second-straight 40-win season for the Pokes and the sixth under head coach Josh Holliday.
     • The Cowboys shared the Big 12 regular season championship with Texas and West Virginia after finishing 15-9 in conference play.
     • OSU returns six position starters, four of those All-Big 12 performers, from a year ago.
     • The 2024 season is OSU's 12th under head coach Josh Holliday, who is 418-228-2 at his alma mater. The Cowboys have earned an NCAA Regional berth each year under his watch.

About Wichita State

     • Wichita State is 15-8, including a 9-3 mark at home.
     • Brian Green is in his first season as the Shockers' head coach. He also has head coaching stints at Washington State and New Mexico State and owns a career record of 264-209-1 in 10 seasons.
     • OSU is 65-36 all time against WSU, including a 14-4 mark under Josh Holliday. Last season, the two teams each won a midweek game on the other's home field.

RPI Talk

Oklahoma State enters the week No. 31 in the official NCAA RPI; Wichita State is 58th.

Clutch

OSU is hitting .360 with runners in scoring position this season. Ian Daugherty (5-for-7), Jaxson Crull (7-for-13), Aidan Meola (11-for-25), Avery Ortiz (6-for-13) and Carson Benge (12-for-31) are among the top Cowboy hitters with RISP.

Close Calls

OSU is 92-61 (.601) in one-run games with Josh Holliday at the helm, including a 2-4 mark this season.

Strong Armed

OSU ranks second in the Big 12 and 15th nationally with a 3.74 team ERA; nine Cowboys own an ERA of 3.52 or under, with Brian Holiday ranking fifth in the conference with a 1.87 ERA.
The Cowboys' staff ranks eighth nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.04) and 11th in WHIP (1.25).

Rob Walton's Punchout

     The Cowboys' pitching staff under Rob Walton is again putting up big strikeout numbers in 2024.
     OSU has recorded 249 strikeouts through 24 games, averaging 10.6 per nine innings to rank 23rd nationally. All 16 pitchers who have taken the mound have at least one punchout, and 10 Pokes have double digits in strikeouts, led by Brian Holiday's 51.
     The Pokes have reached double digits in strikeouts in 13 games, including each of the last four contests.

Hit The Ground Hitting

     In his first collegiate season, Nolan Schubart proved to be a powerful addition to the OSU lineup, and he earned All-America and Freshman All-America honors and was also named the Big 12 Co-Freshman of the Year and an All-Big 12 First Team performer.
     A starter in 59 games, Schubart hit .338 with 17 home runs, 20 doubles and 74 RBIs and turned in a .667 slugging percentage. His 74 RBIs was the most by a Cowboy since 2007.
     Among all NCAA Division I freshmen in 2023, Schubart ranked second in RBIs, third in doubles, sixth in total bases (144), walks (43) and slugging percentage and seventh in home runs.
     Schubart missed 12 games this season after suffering an injury against Dallas Baptist; he returned to the lineup vs. Missouri State and went 2-for-3 with a homer.
     Random Fact: Schubart originally committed to play at Michigan before a coaching change there led to him signing with the Cowboys.

Swinging A Hot Bat

     Injuries limited Aidan Meola's playing time over his first two collegiate seasons, but the junior has been a constant in the lineup and the Cowboys' most consistent hitter in 2024.
     After starting OSU's first seven games, Meola missed four contests with an injury suffered against Oregon State before returning during the midweek series against Utah Tech.
     Meola has reached base safely in 18 games of the 20 games he's played in while collecting hits in 16 of those, including recording nine multi-hit efforts. He owns a team-high .355 batting average and is tied for the team lead with 21 RBIs while ranking second with a .594 slugging percentage.
     He's also showcased a knack for the clutch hit as he's 11-for-25 (.440) with runners in scoring position and has produced nine two-out RBIs. He drove in the tying run with a double in the bottom of the ninth inning against No. 2 Arkansas to send the game into extra innings in a contest OSU eventually won in 14.
     Primarily a third baseman his first two seasons, Meola has played second base and first base in 2024.
     Random Fact: Meola's dad, Tony, played goalie for the U.S. Men's National Team in the 1990, 1994 and 2002 World Cups, and he was inducted into the United States Soccer Hall of Fame in 2012.

Oklahoma State (15-9) at Wichita State (15-8)

Tues., March 26 • 6 p.m.
Eck Stadium (8,153) • Wichita, Kan.

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Players Mentioned

Carson Benge

Jaxson Crull

Ian Daugherty

Brian Holiday

Aidan Meola

Avery Ortiz

Nolan Schubart

Oklahoma State University Athletics