BYU (16-21, 6-15) at #19 Oklahoma State (27-14, 11-7)
Thurs., April 25 • 6 p.m. / Fri., April 26 • 6 p.m. / Sat., April 27 • 1 p.m.
O'Brate Stadium (8,000) • Stillwater, Okla.
Video/TV: Big 12 Now on ESPN+
(Dave Hunziker & Tom Holliday)
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 27-14 overall and tied for second in the Big 12 standings at 11-7 in conference play. Up next, OSU hosts BYU in a Thursday-Saturday series at O'Brate Stadium.
• 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 430-233-2 at his alma mater. The Cowboys have earned an NCAA Regional berth each year under his watch.
About BYU
• BYU is 16-21 and tied for 12th in the Big 12 with a 6-15 mark.
• Trent Pratt is in his third season as BYU’s head coach and owns a 56-58 career record.
• OSU is 14-5 all time against BYU, including a 5-1 mark under Josh Holliday. They last met at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, in 2022, with the Pokes winning the final two games of the three-game series.
• BYU's starting pitching rotation vs. the Cowboys is expected to be:
Thursday: TBA
Friday: RHP Bryce Robison — 2-4, 5.04 ERA in nine starts; 38 K, 13 BB in 50.0 IP
Saturday: RHP Ben Hansen — 4-4, 7.48 ERA in 10 starts; 39 K, 23 BB in 49.1 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 third-straight week. The Cowboys are as high as No. 19 in the D1Baseball.com and Baseball America polls and are ranked 22nd by USA Today and Perfect Game and 25th by the NCBWA.
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; BYU is 122nd.
Clutch
OSU is hitting .309 with runners in scoring position this season. Jaxson Crull (8-for-20), Aidan Meola (18-for-46), Ian Daugherty (6-for-18), Kollin Ritchie (11-for-29) 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.
Strong Armed
OSU is second in the Big 12 and 25th nationally with a 4.32 team ERA; six Cowboys own an ERA of 3.53 or under, with Sam Garcia (3.42) and Brian Holiday (3.53) ranking in the top 10 in the conference.
The Cowboys' staff has tossed three shutouts and is fourth nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.32) and 17th in WHIP (1.30).
Rob Walton's Punchout
The Cowboys' pitching staff under Rob Walton is again putting up big strikeout numbers in 2024.
OSU has recorded 445 strikeouts in 368.1 innings through 41 games; the Cowboys' rank sixth in the NCAA in strikeouts and are 11th nationally with 10.9 Ks per nine innings. Sam Garcia (75) and Brian Holiday (71) rank second and third in the Big 12 in strikeouts.
The Pokes have reached double digits in strikeouts in 25 games, including 18 of the last 25 outings.
Big 12's Best
Robert Cranz was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week on April 15 after making a pair of relief appearances to help lead the Cowboys to a series sweep of Cincinnati.
In the series opener, Cranz picked up the win with a career effort as he worked four shutout innings and posted a career-best eight strikeouts, doubling his previous high. He also pitched in Sunday’s series finale, entering in the eighth inning and retiring both batters he faced to help preserve OSU’s lead.
In a team-high 21 appearances this season, Cranz is 2-1 with a save and a 1.59 ERA, and he has tallied 40 strikeouts in 34 innings of work.
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 3-3 and ninth in the Big 12 with a 3.53 ERA, and opponents are hitting just .217 against Holiday, which ranks eighth in the league. He has a conference-high 66 1/3 innings pitched and has lasted at least six innings in nine of his 10 starts.
He ranks ninth nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.10) and 18th in WHIP (0.95).
Holiday is also third in the Big 12 with 71 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 10 outings, the southpaw is 4-3 with a 3.42 ERA, and he ranks second in the Big 12 with 75 strikeouts; he is seventh nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 8.33. He has struck out six or more batters in eight 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 as a utility player while earning second-team honors as an outfielder.
After redshirting in 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 leads OSU with 17 doubles, 40 RBIs and 35 walks while hitting .303. In 14 relief appearances, he has posted a 3.21 ERA, three saves and 19 strikeouts in 14 innings.
Random Fact: Carson's older brother, Garrett, was a two-time All-Big 12 infielder for OSU in 2016-17.
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 on Feb. 27; since his return to the lineup vs. Missouri State, he is 22-for-71 (.310) with five homers and 18 RBIs in 21 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 tear into April and leads OSU with 52 hits, 44 runs and a .563 slugging percentage while ranking second in batting average (.325), doubles (14) and walks (32). His eight 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 .432 in Big 12 play with five homers, eight doubles and 16 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.
Tommy Boy
With a 5-1 record in 13 relief appearances, Tommy Molsky leads the Cowboys and ranks third in the Big 12 in wins. Three of those wins have come in conference play as the right-hander picked up a victory in each of OSU's first three league series.
Following a career-high eight strikeouts against Oklahoma on March 12, Molsky was electric out of the bullpen over his next four outings. During that span, which included games against UCF, TCU, West Virginia and Oral Roberts, he tossed 9 2/3 shutout innings and struck out 15 while allowing just three hits, all singles, and he earned a win in each appearance.
Random Fact: In 2022 and 2023, Molsky played for the Chatham Anglers in the Cape Cod League. The Anglers were managed by former OSU head coach and current ESPN+ analyst Tom Holliday.
Halfway There
Brian Holiday is one of 45 players on the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List.
Additionally, Holiday was named to the Perfect Game Midseason All-America Second Team and the D1Baseball.com Midseason All-America Second Team.
Carson Benge is also on the Perfect Game Midseason All-America Second Team as a two-way player.
Swinging A Hot Bat
Injuries limited Aidan Meola's playing time throughout his collegiate career, but the junior has played in a career-high 30 games this season and established himself as one of OSU's top hitters.
Meola has reached base safely in 26 games while collecting hits in 23 of those, including recording 13 multi-hit efforts. He leads the Cowboys with a .342 batting average and is second with 33 RBIs.
He's also showcased a knack for the clutch hit as he's 18-for-46 (.391) 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.
Big 12 Bashing
With a .306 batting average, Colin Brueggemann is OSU's second-leading hitter in Big 12 play, and he had smacked six of his team-high 10 home runs, as well as four of his five doubles, against league foes.
Brueggemann started 31 games a year ago in his first season in Stillwater and posted a .330 batting average, six home runs, 11 doubles and 36 RBIs en route to earning All-Big 12 Second Team accolades.
Random Fact: Brueggemann's dad, Dean, was a two-time MLB Draft pick (1995 & 1996), and the southpaw pitched in nearly 250 games over seven seasons in the Colorado Rockies organization.
