Cincinnati (20-13, 7-5) at #20 Oklahoma State (22-11, 7-5)
Fri., April 12 • 6 p.m. / Sat., April 13 • 6 p.m. / Sun., April 14 • 12 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 21-11 overall and tied for third in the Big 12 standings at 7-5 in conference play. OSU hosts Cincinnati this weekend 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 425-230-2 at his alma mater. The Cowboys have earned an NCAA Regional berth each year under his watch.
About Cincinnati
• Cincinnati is 20-13 and tied with OSU, Kansas State and Texas in the Big 12 standings at 7-5.
• Jordan Bischel is in his first season as the Bearcats' head coach. He also has head coaching stints at Central Michigan, Northwood and Midlance and owns a career record of 334-169 in 12 seasons.
• OSU is 3-1 all time against Cincinnati. The last meeting came in 1997 at the Big Ball Classic in Houston, with the Cowboys winning, 13-3. The two also faced off in the 1967 NCAA District V in Stillwater, with OSU winning twice in three games to advance to the College World Series.
• UC's starting pitching rotation vs. the Cowboys is expected to be:
Friday: LHP Brenden Garula — 2-0, 1.78 ERA in 14 appearances (5 starts); 29 K, 11 BB in 30.1 IP
Saturday: RHP Tommy Boba — 3-3, 6.28 ERA in 10 appearances (8 starts); 35 K, 16 BB in 38.2 IP
Sunday: RHP Nathan Taylor — 6-1, 5.89 ERA in 10 appearances (9 starts); 44 K, 19 BB in 36.2 IP
And We're Back
OSU re-entered the national rankings this week for the first time since the preseason. The Cowboys are as high as No. 20 in the Perfect Game poll and are ranked 21st by D1Baseball.com, 23rd by Baseball America and 25th by USA Today.
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 enters the week No. 24 in the official NCAA RPI; Cincinnati is 69th.
Clutch
OSU is hitting .316 with runners in scoring position this season. Jaxson Crull (8-for-18), Aidan Meola (13-for-38), Avery Ortiz (10-for-26), Zach Ehrhard (10-for-30), Kollin Ritchie (9-for-25) and Tyler Wulfert (10-for-29) are among the top Cowboy hitters with RISP.
Close Calls
OSU is 93-61 (.604) in one-run games with Josh Holliday at the helm, including a 3-4 mark this season.
Shoving
OSU is 10-3 over its last 13 games, including series wins over TCU, West Virginia and Oklahoma, and a big reason why is its pitching.
During that stretch, the Cowboys have posted a 3.97 ERA over 118.0 innings, while also racking up 150 strikeouts, including 10 games in which they struck out 10 or more.
The Pokes' six opponents over the 13-game span — Missouri State, TCU, Wichita State, West Virginia, Oral Roberts and Oklahoma — hit just .216.
Strong Armed
OSU leads the Big 12 and ranks 19th nationally with a 4.10 team ERA; nine Cowboys own an ERA of 3.68 or under, with Brian Holiday (2.98) and Sam Garcia (3.12) ranking in the top 10 in the conference.
The Cowboys' staff ranks 15th in the NCAA with three shutouts and is ninth nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.02) and 14th in WHIP (1.28).
Rob Walton's Punchout
The Cowboys' pitching staff under Rob Walton is again putting up big strikeout numbers in 2024.
OSU has recorded 347 strikeouts in 294 innings through 33 games; the Cowboys' rank ninth in the NCAA in strikeouts and are 18th nationally with 10.6 Ks per nine innings. Sam Garcia (61) and Brian Holiday (60) have each eclipsed 60 strikeouts and rank second and third in the Big 12 in strikeouts.
The Pokes have reached double digits in strikeouts in 19 games, including 12 of the last 17 outings.
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 has been dominant. Opponents are hitting just .193 against Holiday, which ranks third in the Big 12, and he is fifth in the league in ERA at 2.98, having allowed only 18 earned runs in a conference-high 54 1/3 innings pitched.
He ranks eighth nationally in WHIP (0.85) and is 19th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.67).
Holiday is also third in the Big 12 with 60 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 sophom*ore.
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 30 RBIs and and 14 doubles and is second in homers (6) while hitting .331. In 11 relief appearances, he has posted a pair of saves to go along with 14 strikeouts while allowing only three runs in 11 innings of work.
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; since his return to the lineup vs. Missouri State, he is 13-for-44 with four homers and 12 RBIs.
Random Fact: Schubart originally committed to play at Michigan before a coaching change there led to him signing with the Cowboys.
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 eight outings, the southpaw is 4-3 with a 3.12 ERA, and he ranks second in the Big 12 with 61 strikeouts. He has struck out six or more batters in six 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 sophom*ore 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.
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 a .354 batting average, 45 hits and 35 runs while ranking second in doubles (13), walks (24) and slugging percentage (.575).
Ehrhard is hitting a conference-best .531 in Big 12 play with three homers, seven doubles and 12 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 11 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.
