Tues., April 30 • 6 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 30-14 overall and second in the Big 12 standings at 14-7 in conference play. Up next, OSU hosts Wichita State on Tuesday night before traveling to Austin for a weekend series at Texas.
• 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 433-233-2 at his alma mater. The Cowboys have earned an NCAA Regional berth each year under his watch.
About Wichita State
• Wichita State is 22-23 which includes a 5-11 mark on the road.
• Brian Green is in his first season as the Shockers' head coach. He also has head coaching stints at Washington State and New Mexico State and owns a career record of 271-224-1 in 10 seasons.
• OSU is 67-36 all time against WSU, including a 16-4 mark under Josh Holliday. The Cowboys won a 3-0 contest on the Shockers' home field on March 26 and were also victorious by a 9-5 count over WSU on April 9 in a game played at Wichita's Riverfront Stadium.
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 fourth-straight week. The Cowboys are as high as No. 14 in the D1Baseball.com poll and are ranked 16th by Baseball America, USA Today and the NCBWA and 18th by Perfect Game.
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 week No. 21 in the official NCAA RPI; WSU is 125th.
Clutch
OSU is hitting .319 with runners in scoring position this season. Jaxson Crull (8-for-20), Aidan Meola (18-for-46), Ian Daugherty (9-for-22), Kollin Ritchie (12-for-31) and Tyler Wulfert (10-for-29) are among the top Cowboy hitters with RISP.
Power Surge
In it four wins last week — midweek at Oral Roberts and series vs. BYU — OSU mashed 16 home runs, tallied 52 runs and racked up 102 total bases, while its pitching staff piled up 58 strikeouts with totals of single-game totals of 13, 16, 16 and 13.
Strong Armed
OSU is second in the Big 12 and 24th nationally with a 4.37 team ERA; six Cowboys own an ERA of 3.79 or under, with Sam Garcia (3.70) and Brian Holiday (3.79) ranking in the top 10 in the conference.
The Cowboys' staff has tossed three shutouts and is fourth nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.29) 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 490 strikeouts in 395.1 innings through 44 games; the Cowboys' rank fourth in the NCAA in strikeouts and are eighth nationally with 11.2 Ks per nine innings. Sam Garcia (82) and Brian Holiday (81) rank second and third in the Big 12 in strikeouts.
The Pokes have reached double digits in strikeouts in 28 games, including their last five and 21 of the last 28 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 22 appearances this season, Cranz is 2-1 with a save and a 1.51 ERA, and he has tallied 43 strikeouts in 35 2/3 innings of work.
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.
After missing 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 is hitting .318 and leads OSU in 10 offensive categories, including homers (11), doubles (18), RBIs (46) and walks (39). In 15 appearances, 14 of those in relief, he has posted a 2.84 ERA and is 1-1 with three saves and 25 strikeouts in 19 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 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 DBU on Feb. 27; since his return to the lineup vs. Missouri State, he is 29-for-83 (.349) with eight homers and 26 RBIs in 24 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 hot hitting into April and leads OSU with 58 hits and 51 runs and a .441 on-base percentage while ranking second in batting average (.335), doubles (15), walks (33) and slugging percentage (.595). His 10 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 .437 in Big 12 play with seven homers, nine doubles and 22 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 6-1 record in 14 relief appearances, Tommy Molsky leads the Cowboys and ranks second in the Big 12 in wins. Four 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 and against BYU.
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.
Swinging A Hot Bat
After splitting time early, Ian Daugherty has established himself as OSU's starting backstop and has been thriving as one of the Cowboys' top hitters of late.
Over his last eight games, Daugherty is hitting .406 (13-for-32) with five homers, three doubles, 14 RBIs and a .969 slugging percentage. He has hit safely in seven of those contests and raised his batting average 68 points from .226 to .294.
Random Fact: Both Daugherty's parents, Derek and Micah, and his brother, Cole, are OSU graduates.
Easy Choice
Carson Benge was named the Big 12 Conference Player of the Week, the D1Baseball Player of the Week and the Perfect Game National Player of the Week for his performance in leading OSU to a win at Oral Roberts and a Big 12 series sweep of BYU.
Benge shined at the plate, batting .471 and hitting safely in all four games, and on the mound, picking up a win in the series opener against the Cougars in his first start of the season. He homered in all four games and finished with five round trippers on the week to go along with a team-high 10 RBIs. He also had two doubles, 25 total bases, a 1.471 slugging percentage, scored 10 runs and walked four times.
