Austin Peay (2-6) at #12 Oklahoma State (5-3)
Fri., March 3 • 4 p.m. / Sat., March 4 • 1 p.m. / Sun., March 5 • 1 p.m.
O'Brate Stadium (8,000) • Stillwater, Okla.
Video/TV: okstate.com/watchbsb-ap (Fri.)
Big 12 Now on ESPN+ (Sun.)
(Dave Hunziker & Tom Holliday)
Radio: KSPI 93.7 FM (Fri.) & Pete 94.3 FM (Sat.-Sun.)
The Varsity Network - okla.st/GetVarsity
Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
Twitter In-Game Updates: @OSUBaseball
About Oklahoma State
• OSU is 5-3 and opens a 10 games in 12 days homestand Friday at O'Brate Stadium when the Cowboys host Austin Peay in the first of a three-game series.
• The Cowboys are coming off a 42-22 season in 2022 in which they made their ninth consecutive NCAA Regional appearance. OSU finished tied for second in the Big 12 standings with a 15-9 conference mark, one game out of first place.
• OSU was the No. 7 national seed in last year's NCAA Championship, the program's highest ever tourney seeding, and was an NCAA Regional host for the fourth time under Josh Holliday; the Pokes advanced to the NCAA Regional finals for the sixth time under Holliday.
• Led by Nolan McLean and Roc Riggio, OSU returns six position starters and 13 letterwinners from '22.
• The 2023 season is OSU’s 11th under head coach Josh Holliday, who is 366-202-2 at his alma mater. The Cowboys have earned an NCAA Region berth each year under his watch.
About Austin Peay
• Austin Peay is 2-6 and on a four-game losing streak.
• Roland Fanning is in his first season as APSU's head coach. Fanning served two stints on Josh Holliday's staff at OSU, first as volunteer assistant in 2013 and 2014 then as director of player development from 2019-22.
• This will mark the first-ever time OSU and APSU have met on the diamond.
• APSU's starting pitching rotation vs. the Cowboys is expected to be:
Friday: LHP Nick James — 1-1, 4.66 ERA in two starts; 12 K, 3 BB in 9.2 IP
Saturday: RHP Lyle Miller-Green — 0-1, 13.50 ERA in two starts; 6 K, 7 BB in 6.0 IP
Sunday: RHP Jacob Kush — 0-0, 10.50 ERA in two starts; 8 K, 6 BB in 6.0 IP
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
OSU was ranked as high as No. 8 in the preseason national polls, getting that ranking from USA TODAY Sports. This week, the Cowboys are ranked No. 12 by D1Baseball, 13th by USA Today, 18th by the NCBWA, 21st by Baseball America, 23rd by Collegiate Baseball and 24th by Perfect Game.
OSU has been nationally ranked for 40 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.
From March 4, 2013 to April 3, 2017, a streak of 77 consecutive weeks, OSU was ranked in at least one national poll. During that time, the Cowboys spent 18 weeks in the Top 10, climbing as high as No. 3. They have finished in the top 10 in the final polls twice under Josh Holliday — 10th in 2014 and fourth in 2016.
No-No, No-No
OSU achieved one of the rarest of baseball feats when it tossed no-hitters in consecutive games last week, first in a midweek contest against California Baptist followed by the opening game of a doubleheader with LMU.
At this point, it's only the third confirmed time in NCAA Division I history that a team has thrown a no-hitter in back-to-back games and the first time it's been accomplished in two nine-inning games. On March 27, 1968, Florida State tossed consecutive no-hitters against Springfield College (7 innings) and Wake Forest (9 innings); in 1971, Vanderbilt had back-to-back, seven-inning no-hitters in a doubleheader against Louisville.
OSU also became the first team in Big 12 history to record two no-hitters in the same season.
The no-hitter against CBU was the 12th in Cowboy Baseball history as five OSU pitchers combined for the feat. Janzen Keisel worked the first 5 1/3 innings, striking out 11 along the way, before Isaac Stebens tossed two innings in relief. Drew Blake and Evan O’Toole both recorded outs in the eighth, and Nolan McLean earned the save with a perfect ninth.
It was the program's first no-hitter since Justin Campbell achieved the feat against Kansas on May 8, 2021. It was also the third combined no-hitter by OSU and the first since Jason Bell, Brent Nichols, Rob Gaiko and Marcus Cuper no-hit Missouri Southern on March 16, 1993.
Just four days later, OSU's Juaron Watts-Brown teamed with O'Toole and McLean to no-hit LMU. Watts-Brown worked six innings and struck out eight before O’Toole spelled him to begin the seventh. After two innings, O'Toole yielded to McLean, who came on in the ninth to secure the no-no.
OSU now counts six no-hitters in games that went nine innings as last week's efforts joined the 1993 combined no-no, Campell’s in 2021 and no-hitters by Bob Richardson in 1968 and Jim Wixson in the 1960 College World Series.
Counting the final out against Arkansas on Feb. 19 and the first two outs of the doubleheader nightcap against LMU, the Cowboys went a combined 19 innings over a four-game stretch without allowing a hit.
Inside The Numbers
• Nolan McLean is tied with Georgia Tech's Terry Busse for the NCAA saves lead with four.
• McLean also ranks fifth nationally by having drawn 13 walks.
• Juaron Watts-Brown ranks second in the Big 12 with 14 strikeouts.
• Evan O'Toole's two wins, both of which came in relief, are tied for the Big 12 lead and also tied for sixth nationally.
Freshman Swinging A Hot Bat
Eight games into his first collegiate season, Nolan Schubart has proven to be a powerful addition to the OSU lineup.
The left-handed hitting outfielder has hit safely in the Cowboys' last five games and boasts a .375 batting average. He was 4-of-10 with two homers and three RBIs in the LMU series, and his seventh inning round-tripper provided the lone run in OSU's series opening win.
Schubart followed that with a 3-for-6 effort in a win at Missouri State in which he slugged two tape-measure homers en route to six RBIs.
The frosh leads the Big 12 with four homers and is second with an .875 slugging percentage.
Random Fact: Schubart was originally committed to play at Michigan before a coaching change there led to him signing with the Cowboys.
Holding Down The Hot Corner
Aidan Meola battled injuries throughout his freshman season in 2022 but has been a standout for the Cowboys through the first two weeks of the season.
Meola leads OSU with a .379 batting average and has hit safely in seven consecutive games. He has four multi-hit games and is tied for the team lead with three doubles.
He has also flashed the leather at third base, where he has not committed an error and had a pair of stellar defensive plays - one of them in the ninth inning - to help the Cowboys record a no-hitter against California Baptist.
Random Fact: Aidan is the son of Tony Meola, the former goalkeeper for the United States Men’s National Soccer Team who played in the 1990, 1994 and 2002 World Cups and was inducted into the United States Soccer Hall of Fame in 2012.
