2024 Oklahoma State Cowboy Baseball Season Superlatives

2024 Oklahoma State Cowboys

Photo by: 2024

July 26, 2024 | Cowboy Baseball

• Oklahoma State ended the season with a 42-19 record, marking its third-straight 40-win season and seventh under head coach Josh Holliday. The 42 wins was the most by a Big 12 team in 2024.

• OSU won the Big 12 Championship title, marking its sixth Big 12 Conference crown and the 35^th conference championship in program history. It was the Cowboys' fourth time to win the Big 12 tourney.

• The Cowboys finished second in the Big 12 Conference regular season standings with a 19-9 league mark as they won seven of 10 conference series. OSU has now finished in the top two of the league standings eight times in 11 seasons under Josh Holliday.

• The Cowboys earned an 11^th consecutive NCAA Regional berth. It's the nation's fourth-longest current streak behind only Vanderbilt (18), Florida (16) and LSU (12).

• OSU's NCAA Regional berth was the 49^th in program history, which is tied for the third most in NCAA history.

• OSU was selected to host an NCAA Regional and in doing so became the only program in the nation to host a Regional each of the last three years. It was the Cowboys' sixth time to serve as a Regional host under Josh Holliday.

• The Cowboys earned the No. 11 national seed in the NCAA Baseball Championship. They were a No. 1 Regional seed for the seventh time under Holliday.

• The Cowboys climbed to as high as No. 12 in the national polls. OSU finished the year as high as No. 14 in the final rankings, earning that spot in the USA TODAY coaches poll. The Pokes were also ranked 18^th by Baseball America, 19^th by the NCBWA, 21^st by D1Baseball and 22^nd by Perfect Game.

• OSU came in at No. 16 in the final NCAA RPI.

• Cowboy Baseball raised its total number of All-America honors to 150.

• Carson Benge collected multiple All-America honors. He was named to the All-America Second Team by the NCBWA, Perfect Game/Rawlings, D1Baseball and Baseball America and was a third-team selection by ABCA/Rawlings.

• Brian Holiday was named to the NCBWA All-America Second Team, the D1Baseball All-America Second Team, the Baseball America All-America Second Team and the ABCA/Rawlings All-America Third Team.

• Nolan Schubart earned All-America Second Team honors from the NCBWA, Perfect Game/Rawlings and Baseball America. He was also named to the D1Baseball All-America Third Team.

• Nolan Schubart became the 13^th player in program history to earn All-America honors in multiple seasons.

• Carson Benge was a finalist for the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award.

• Carson Benge was a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy.

• Three Cowboys were named ABCA/Rawlings All-Central Region, with Carson Benge and Brian Holiday making the first team and Nolan Schubart selected for the second team.

• Nolan Schubart (OF), Zach Ehrhard (OF), Ian Daugherty (C) and Brian Holiday (P) were named to the NCAA Stillwater Regional All-Tournament Team.

• OSU had nine players garner All-Big 12 accolades in 2024, including seven first- and second-team selections.

• OSU had three players named to the All-Big 12 First Team – Carson Benge (OF), Zach Ehrhard (OF) and Brian Holiday (SP).

• The Cowboys placed four on the All-Big 12 Second Team – Nolan Schubart (OF), Colin Brueggemann (INF), Sam Garcia (SP) and Robert Cranz (RP).

• Infielder Aidan Meola and relief pitcher Tommy Molsky were All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selections.

• Carson Benge, Sam Garcia and Nolan Schubart were named to the Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team. Benge was the tourney's Most Outstanding Player.

• The Cowboys collected five Big 12 Conference weekly awards on the season.

Robert Cranz – Big 12 Pitcher of the Week, April 15
Carson Benge – Big 12 Player of the Week, April 29
Nolan Schubart – Big 12 Player of the Week, May 6
Brian Holiday – Big 12 Pitcher & Newcomer, May 20

• Brian Holiday was on the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List.

• Two Cowboys were named NCBWA Hitter of the Week – Carson Benge on April 30 and Nolan Schubart on May 7.

• Carson Benge was named the D1Baseball Player of the Week and the Perfect Game National Player of the Week on April 29.

• OSU smashed 118 home runs. It marked the first time the Cowboys had reached 100 homers in consecutive seasons since 1996-97.

• The Cowboys' 118 homers were the seventh most in a season in program history and their highest total since 1999.

• The OSU pitching staff racked up 663 strikeouts, the second-highest single season total in program history. It marked the third consecutive season the Cowboys topped 600 Ks in a season, which is the only three times in program history it has occurred.

• OSU's pitching staff posted a 4.08 ERA, which led the Big 12 and ranked 11^th nationally.

• The Cowboys ranked eighth nationally with 663 strikeouts and were second with a 3.35 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

• Four regulars in the OSU lineup hit .300 or better, led by Nolan Schubart at .370.

• OSU's 377 walks was its most in a season since 1999.

• OSU ranked prominently in the Big 12 and nationally in a number of statistical categories, including:

Strikeouts: 663 – 1^st in Big 12, 8^th nationally
Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio: 3.35 – 1^st in Big 12, 2^nd nationally
Strikeouts Per Nine Innings: 11.0 – 2^nd in Big 12, 6^th nationally
WHIP: 1.26 – 1^st in Big 12, 6^th nationally
ERA: 4.08 – 1^st in Big 12, 11^th nationally
Hits Allowed Per 9 Inn.: 8.04 – 2^nd in Big 12, 15^th nationally
Walks Allowed Per 9 Inn.: 1^st in Big 12, 11^th nationally
Runs: 498 – 1^st in Big 12, 20^th nationally
Home Runs: 118 – 1^st in Big 12, 9^th nationally
Base on Balls: 377 – 1^st in Big 12, 7^th nationally

• OSU had two pitchers reach 100 strikeouts in the same season for just the fifth time in school history as Brian Holiday (128) and Sam Garcia (115) achieved the feat. They became the 15^th and 16^th Cowboy pitchers to record 100 Ks, a feat that has now been done 20 times in the history of the program.

• Brian Holiday recorded 128 strikeouts, the eighth most in a season in program history and the most in the Big 12 this season. The total ranked seventh nationally in 2024.

• Brian Holiday ranked in the top 10 nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio (7^th at 6.74) and WHIP (8^th at 0.89).

• Both Brian Holiday and Sam Garcia ranked in the top 10 in the Big 12 in ERA – Holiday was second at 2.95 and Garcia sixth at 3.64.

• Brian Holiday led the Big 12 with 113 innings pitched and ranked second in complete games with three and fourth in opponent batting average at .199.

• Sam Garcia ranked 11^th nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.05) and 18^th in strikeouts (115).

• OSU led the Big 12 in home runs (118), runs (498), RBIs (460) and walks (377).

• The Cowboys posted a .402 on-base percentage for the second-straight season.

• Nolan Schubart recorded a slugging percentage of .838, the sixth highest in a season in program history. It also ranked seventh nationally in 2024.

• Nolan Schubart led the Big 12 in home runs (23), RBIs (68), on-base percentage (.513) and slugging percentage (.838) and ranked second with a .370 batting average.

• Nolan Schubart's 23 home runs were the most in a season by a Cowboy since 1999.

• Nolan Schubart set an OSU record and tied a Big 12 record with four home runs in a game against Wichita State. He also set Big 12 and program records with 18 total bases in the game as he went 5-for-5 and also had a double.

• Nolan Schubart became the fourth Cowboy to homer three or more times in a game multiple times in a career.

• Nolan Schubart ranked eighth nationally with 0.47 home runs per game and 14^th with 1.39 RBIs per game.

• Zach Ehrhard hit .404 in Big 12 Conference play, the second-highest batting average in the league.

• Zach Ehrhard's 25 doubles tied for the eighth most in a season in program history. That total ranked seventh nationally in 2024.

• Zach Ehrhard led the Big 12 with 75 runs scored, a total that ranked 19^th nationally, and ranked second in walks (54) and doubles (25).

• Carson Benge tallied 24 doubles, the 10^th most in a season in school history. The total ranked 16^th nationally in 2024.

• Carson Benge led the Big 12 in total bases with 165. He ranked second in runs (72) and third in hits (83).

• OSU ranked 12^th nationally in average home attendance at 5,173 fans per game. In its 28 home dates, O'Brate Stadium counted 144,850 fans, which was 15^th in the nation.

• Gabe Davis and Nolan Schubart competed for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team and helped lead it to a five-game sweep of Chinese Taipei in the International Friendship Series. Schubart was named MVP of the series.

• Carson Benge became the 20^th player in program history to be selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball Draft. Benge was taken No. 19 overall by New York Mets, the highest Cowboy draft pick since 2012.

• The Cowboys had eight players selected in the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft. That total tied for the third most of any college program in the nation.
• Carson Benge, OF, 1^st round, pick 19 – New York Mets
• Brian Holiday, RHP, 3^rd round, pick 80 – St. Louis Cardinals
• Zach Ehrhard, OF, 4^th round, pick 115 – Boston Red Sox
• Janzen Keisel, RHP, 6^th round, pick 186 – Tampa Bay Rays
• Robert Cranz, RHP, 7^th round, pick 200 – Washington Nationals
• Sam Garcia, LHP, 8^th round, pick 245 – Milwaukee Brewers
• Tommy Molsky, RHP, 12^th round, pick 347 – Kansas City Royals
• Ryan Ure, LHP, 19^th round, pick 568 – San Francisco Giants

• OSU's three picks in the first five rounds of the MLB Draft tied for the second-most in program history. A record five Cowboys were top 5 round picks in 1984, and the Pokes also had three selections in the first five rounds in 1967, 1983 and 2007.

• OSU's six picks in the first 10 rounds of the MLB Draft were the second-most in program history. A record seven Cowboys were top 10 round picks in 2022.

• OSU had 13 players earn Academic All-Big 12 honors, with 11 of those on the first team. Making the first-team list were Drew Blake, Ryan Bogusz, Colin Brueggemann, Jaxson Crull, Ian Daugherty, Zach Ehrhard, Evan O'Toole, Brennan Phillips, Nolan Schubart, Riley Taylor and Tyler Wulfert. On the second team for the Cowboys were Gabe Davis and Janzen Keisel.

• Nolan Schubart earned CSC Academic All-America Second Team honors. He became the sixth Academic All-American in program history.

• Zach Ehrhard was named the Big 12 Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the first-ever Cowboy to win the award.

• Zach Ehrhard and Nolan Schubart were named to the CSC Academic All-District Team and were CSC Academic All-America finalists.

• OSU earned the ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award for the fifth consecutive year. The award honors teams with a cumulative 3.00 or higher grade point average.