Cowboy Baseball Faces Road Test At Texas

#14 Oklahoma State (31-14, 14-7) at Texas (28-18, 13-8)

Fri., May 3 • 6:30 p.m. / Sat., May 4 • 2:30 p.m. / Sun., May 5 • 1 p.m.
UFCU Disch-Falk Field (7,373) • Austin, Texas

Video/TV: Longhorn Network
(Keith Moreland & Greg Swindell)
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 31-14 overall and second in the Big 12 standings at 14-7 in conference play. Up next, OSU travels to Austin for a weekend series at Texas.
     • 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.
     • A total of 23 newcomers joined the OSU program for the 2024 season. The Cowboys brought in 15 players from the high school ranks, while adding six Division I transfers and a pair of JUCO products.
     • The 2024 season is OSU's 12th under head coach Josh Holliday, who is 434-233-2 at his alma mater. The Cowboys have earned an NCAA Regional berth each year under his watch.

About Texas

     • Texas is 28-18 and fourth in the Big 12 standings at 13-8.
     • David Pierce is in his eighth season as the Longhorns' head coach and owns a 288-156 record. He also has head coaching stints at Sam Houston and Tulane and is 485-264 in his career.
     • OSU is 54-67 all time against Texas, including a 26-14 mark under Josh Holliday. Last season, the Cowboys won the final two games of the series in Stillwater after dropping the opener.
     • UT's starting pitching rotation vs. the Cowboys is expected to be:

     Friday: RHP Max Grubbs — 4-4, 3.44 ERA in 14 appearances (eight starts); 36 K, 10 BB in 52.1 IP
     Saturday: LHP Ace Whitehead — 4-0, 3.88 ERA in 10 appearances (six starts); 34 K, 15 BB in 46.1 IP
     Sunday: RHP Lebarron Johnson — 2-3, 5.61 ERA in 12 appearances (11 starts); 58 K, 32 BB in 51.1 IP

And We're Back

     OSU re-entered the national rankings on April 8 for the first time since the preseason and remained in the polls for a fourth-straight week. The Cowboys are as high as No. 14 in the D1Baseball.com poll and are ranked 16th by Baseball America, USA Today and the NCBWA and 18th by Perfect Game.
     The Pokes had a streak of being nationally ranked end after 55 consecutive weeks end on Feb. 19; they had appeared in the polls during a stretch dating back to the 2021 preseason rankings.
     Under Josh Holliday, the Cowboys have peaked at No. 2 in the polls, reaching that mark twice in 2022.
     OSU has finished in the top 10 in the final polls twice under Holliday — 10th in 2014 and fourth in 2016.

RPI Talk

Oklahoma State entered the weekend No. 25 in the official NCAA RPI; Texas is 55th.

Clutch

OSU is hitting .323 with runners in scoring position this season. Jaxson Crull (8-for-20), Aidan Meola (18-for-47), Ian Daugherty (9-for-22), Kollin Ritchie (12-for-31), Nolan Schubart (16-for-44) and Tyler Wulfert (10-for-29) are among the top Cowboy hitters with RISP.

Close Calls

OSU is 93-63 (.596) in one-run games with Josh Holliday at the helm, including a 3-6 mark this season.

Power Surge

In its last five games, which includes midweek wins over Oral Roberts and Wichita State and a series sweep of BYU — OSU mashed 25 home runs, tallied 71 runs and racked up 146 total bases, while its pitching staff piled up 71 strikeouts with single-game totals of 13, 16, 16, 13 and 13.

Strong Armed

OSU is second in the Big 12 and 21st nationally with a 4.34 team ERA; six Cowboys own an ERA of 3.79 or under, with Sam Garcia (3.70) and Brian Holiday (3.79) ranking in the top 10 in the conference.
The Cowboys' staff has tossed three shutouts and is fourth nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.31) and 16th in WHIP (1.30).

Man On Fire

Good luck finding a hotter hitter than Nolan Schubart, who is putting up video game numbers of late.
Over OSU's last five games, Schubart is 14-for-20 with seven home runs, two doubles and 17 RBIs. He's racked up 37 total bases and posted a 2.619 OPS.

Rob Walton's Punchout

     The Cowboys' pitching staff under Rob Walton is again putting up big strikeout numbers in 2024.
     OSU has recorded 503 strikeouts in 402.1 innings through 45 games; the Cowboys' rank fourth in the NCAA in strikeouts and are seventh nationally with 11.3 Ks per nine innings. Sam Garcia (82) and Brian Holiday (81) rank second and third in the Big 12 in strikeouts and are in the top 25 nationally.
     The Pokes have reached double digits in strikeouts in 29 games, including their last six and 22 of the last 29 outings.

Easy Choice

Carson Benge was named the Big 12 Conference Player of the Week, the D1Baseball Player of the Week, the Perfect Game National Player of the Week and the NCBWA National Co-Hitter of the Week for his performance in leading OSU to a win at Oral Roberts and a Big 12 series sweep of BYU.
Benge shined at the plate, batting .471 and hitting safely in all four games, and on the mound, picking up a win in the series opener against the Cougars in his first start of the season. He homered in all four games and finished with five round trippers on the week to go along with a team-high 10 RBIs. He also had two doubles, 25 total bases, a 1.471 slugging percentage, scored 10 runs and walked four times.

Happy Holiday

     After two years at the junior college level, Brian Holiday has adjusted well to life in Division I baseball.
     OSU's Saturday starter, the righty is 4-3 and eighth in the Big 12 with a 3.79 ERA, and opponents are hitting just .211 against Holiday, which ranks fifth in the league. He has a conference-high 73 2/3 innings pitched and has lasted at least six innings in 10 of his 11 starts.
     He ranks 13th nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.23) and 22nd in WHIP (0.95).
     Holiday is also third in the Big 12 with 81 strikeouts. He turned in a complete game, 14-strikeout performance in a win over No. 18 TCU in which he took a no-hitter into the seventh inning. That came on the heels of an 11-strikeout effort in eight innings of work against UCF.
    Random Fact: Holiday was named the 2023 NJCAA JUCO World Series Most Outstanding Pitcher after helping lead Central Florida to the NJCAA national championship as a sophomore.

Change Of Scenery

     A move to Stillwater is paying off for Sam Garcia.
     After graduating from High Point in three years, Garcia transferred to OSU and has established himself as the Cowboys' Friday night starter. In 11 outings, the southpaw is 4-3 with a 3.70 ERA, and he ranks second in the Big 12 with 82 strikeouts; he is sixth nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 8.20. He has struck out six or more batters in nine of his starts, including a season-high 11 in a win at West Virginia.
     Garcia struggled to a 1-8 record and 7.57 ERA in 18 outings last season at HPU, but as a sophomore in 2022 he won five games and had a 1.64 ERA in 16 appearances to earn All-Big South First Team honors.
     Random Fact: Garcia graduated from E.A. Laney High School in Wilmington, North Carolina, which is also the alma mater of NBA legend Michael Jordan.

Two-Way Talent

     As a redshirt freshman in 2023, Carson Benge earned Freshman All-America honors, was a semifinalist for the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award and was an All-Big 12 First Team selection.
     After missing 2022 following Tommy John surgery, Benge posted a team-high .345 batting average to go along with seven home runs, 17 doubles and 43 RBIs. Spending most of his time in right field, he also recorded a .468 on-base percentage and drew 42 walks as opposed to striking out just 32 times in nearly 200 at-bats. On the mound, he made 10 starts and was 2-2 with 35 strikeouts in 35.0 innings.
     This season, Benge is hitting .324 and leads OSU in nine offensive categories, including doubles (19), RBIs (50), walks (40) and total bases (117). In 15 appearances, 14 of those in relief, he has posted a 2.84 ERA and is 1-1 with three saves and 25 strikeouts in 19 innings.
     Random Fact: Carson's older brother, Garrett, was a two-time All-Big 12 infielder for OSU in 2016-17; he was the starting third baseman on the Cowboys' 2016 College World Series team.

Hit The Ground Hitting

     In his first collegiate season, Nolan Schubart 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 DBU on Feb. 27; since his return to the lineup vs. Missouri State, he is 34-for-88 (.386) with 12 homers and 33 RBIs in 25 games.
     Random Fact: Schubart originally committed to Michigan before a coaching change there led to him signing with the Cowboys.

March On

     Zach Ehrhard went on a tear at the plate in the month of March.
     In 20 games, the Cowboy outfielder hit .405 (32-for-79) with 10 doubles, and he posted 10 multi-hit performances. In doing so, he raised his batting average from .200 to .349.
     He's continued his hot hitting into April and leads OSU with 58 hits and 53 runs while ranking second in batting average (.330), doubles (15), walks (35) and slugging percentage (.585). His 10 homers are more than his output from his first two seasons combined as he hit three as both a freshman and sophomore.
     Ehrhard is hitting a conference-best .437 in Big 12 play with seven homers, nine doubles and 22 RBIs.
     Random Fact: At Wharton High School, Ehrhard was coached by MLB Hall of Famer Wade Boggs, who was a volunteer coach for the baseball team.

Swinging A Hot Bat

     After splitting time early, Ian Daugherty has established himself as OSU's starting backstop and has been thriving as one of the Cowboys' top hitters of late.
     Over his last nine games, Daugherty is hitting .382 (13-for-34) with five homers, three doubles, 14 RBIs and a .912 slugging percentage. He has hit safely in seven of those contests and raised his batting average 61 points from .226 to .287.
     The junior's seven homers and 24 RBIs are both career highs.
     Random Fact: Both Daugherty's parents, Derek and Micah, and his brother, Cole, are OSU graduates.

Hit Man

     Injuries limited Aidan Meola's playing time over his first two collegiate seasons, and he has battled them again in 2024. But the junior has played in a career-high 31 games this season and established himself as one of OSU's top hitters.
     Meola has reached base safely in 27 games while collecting hits in 24 of those, including posting 13 multi-hit efforts. He leads the Pokes with a .342 batting average to go along with six homers and 35 RBIs.
     He's also showcased a knack for the clutch hit as he's 18-for-47 (.383) with runners in scoring position.
     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.

Powering His Way Into The Record Books

     In a program known for slugging prowess, Nolan Schubart put his name at the top of a pair of lists with a historic performance against Wichita State on April 30.
     Schubart set OSU's single-game home run record and tied the Big 12 mark with four bombs against the Shockers, and he also set Big 12 and program records with 18 total bases. He was 5-for-5 with four homers, a double and seven RBIs in the contest.
     After a two-RBI double in his first at-bat in the first inning, Schubart smashed a solo homer later in the opening frame, delivered another solo shot in the third, then a two-run blast in the fifth. He set the record by going deep in the sixth with another solo bomb.
     Prior to Schubart's record-setting effort, OSU had 18 three-homer games in program history, with 14 different Cowboys achieving that feat. Schubart, who homered three times in a game last season against East Tennessee State, also became the fourth Poke to hit three or more homers in a game multiple times, joining Roy York, Adam Carr and Trevor Boone.
     Schubart became only the second Big 12 player to homer four times in a game, joining Missouri's Jacob Priday (2008).

Streakers

OSU's current six-game winning streak is its longest of the season. The Cowboys have also had a pair of five-game win streaks in 2024.

Happy Trails From ATX

OSU is 9-3 against Texas in Austin under head coach Josh Holliday and has won three of the four series. The Cowboys left town winners in 2014, 2016 and 2022, with UT's lone series win in 2018.

#14 Oklahoma State (31-14, 14-7) at Texas (28-18, 13-8)

Fri., May 3 • 6:30 p.m. / Sat., May 4 • 2:30 p.m. / Sun., May 5 • 1 p.m.
UFCU Disch-Falk Field (7,373) • Austin, Texas

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Carson Benge

Jaxson Crull

Ian Daugherty

Zach Ehrhard

Sam Garcia

Brian Holiday

Aidan Meola

Kollin Ritchie

Nolan Schubart

Tyler Wulfert

Oklahoma State University Athletics