Cowboy Tennis Set for Bedlam in Regular Season Finale

 

 

The Basics

The 33rd-ranked Oklahoma State men’s tennis team (16-7 overall; 3-3 Big 12) will head into the regular season finale after defeating No. 31 Baylor, 4-2, on April 7 at the Greenwood Tennis Center. The Cowboys will face No. 9 Oklahoma in the Phillips 66 Bedlam Series on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT in Norman, Oklahoma.

Following the Action

For the match, live stats can be viewed at: https://okla.st/4aGFNqY, with a viewing option at: https://okla.st/3qHDNY3. All Big 12 matches can be streamed on Cracked Racquets' Crosscourt Cast on ESPN+.

In The Rankings

Oklahoma State was again slotted at No. 33 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's latest rankings, announced on April 9. It marks the eighth week OSU appeared in the top 35 this season. With a 16-7 record, the Pokes hold the most wins since the 2019 campaign.

Tyler Zink and Isaac Becroft jumped up to No. 19, 11 spots higher than last week's ranking and four spots above their previous best. It is the program's first top-20 doubles ranking since Zink and Sebastian Nothhaft in 2022. After earning a ranking in the fall with a win at the Stillwater ITA Fall Regional, the pairing got right back on track in 2024 with a 2-0 overall start, both in conference play. The duo commanded a pair of ranked wins over Texas' 62nd-ranked Eliot Spizzirri and Siem Woldeab and Baylor's No. 29 Tadeus Paroulek and Zsombor Velcz, both leading to an OSU doubles point.

Zink checked in at No. 20, his third highest this season. He notched his seventh-consecutive ranking in the top 30, with the highest at No. 15 on Feb. 20. The graduate leads the team in wins with 15, all on court one.

Alex Garcia was ranked 83rd, landing in the rankings in all six spring season polls. Eight of his 11 wins have come on court two, including a victory over MTSU's No. 47 Marcel Kamrowski.

No. 86 Becroft earned a singles ranking for the third-consecutive week. He began 2024 13-0 in singles, the best OSU start to a season since Lucas Gerch in 2014. He has a winning record against ranked opponents, including a victory over Illinois' No. 30 Karlis Ozolins.

Series History

Oklahoma State is 42-36 all time against Oklahoma. The series started in 1965, seeing 78 total dual matches between the two. OSU's longest winning streak was from 1996 to 2009 when the Cowboys won 20 straight. The last OSU victory came in 2021, a 4-2 affair in Stillwater.

Streaks & Trends

  • Oklahoma State is 16-7
  • In OSU wins, it is outscoring opponents, 82-17
  • The Cowboys are second in the Big 12 Conference in overall wins
  • The Pokes are 80-38 in singles matchups
  • All six courts have a .579 or better winning percentage
  • Ten Cowboys tallied a win in singles play
  • In singles, four Cowboys beat ranked opponents
  • Five Cowboys have double-digit wins
  • OSU collected seven out of eight doubles points from Feb. 3 to Feb. 25
  • Oklahoma State is 35-22 in doubles matchups
  • In doubles, courts one and two have a .696 or better winning percentage
  • Ten different doubles pairings have notched a win
  • Alessio Basile and Isaac Becroft hold the team lead with 11 doubles wins
  • Tyler Zink and Alex Garcia are 9-4 on court one in doubles, with all four losses to ranked opponents

An Oklahoma State Win Would...

  • Improve its record to 17-7
  • Be its third top-15 win of the season
  • Give it the most wins in program history since 2019
  • Make it 43-36 all time against Oklahoma
  • Be its fourth in conference play
  • Make OSU 3-2 over Oklahoma in the Dustin Taylor Era

Becroft Brilliance

  • Senior Isaac Becroft started 13-0 in singles, the best start to a season since Lucas Gerch in 2014
  • He tallied six victories on court two and eight wins on court three
  • The New Zealand native dropped two ranked opponents, including Illinois' No. 30 Karlis Ozolins
  • Becroft and Alessio Basile hold a team-high 11 wins in doubles, all on court two

E. Schiesty

  • Freshman Erik Schiessl is 11-4 in singles
  • He started the season 8-0
  • He is 8-4 on court four and 3-0 on court five
  • Nine out of his 11 wins have come in straight-set fashion
  • He has two ranked victories over Texas' No. 82 Cleeve Harper and Illinois' No. 55 Kenta Miyoshi