Oklahoma State Cowboys baseball

Oklahoma State Cowboys baseball is the NCAA Division I varsity intercollegiate baseball team of Oklahoma State University, based in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The team competes in the Big 12 Conference. The Cowboys' current head coach is Josh Holliday.

Oklahoma State is a historically elite program, with the fifth-best win percentage, 14th-most wins, sixth-most College World Series wins, sixth-most College World Series appearances, and fourth-most NCAA Tournament appearances in college baseball history, as of June 14, 2021. The program has accumulated a better all-time win percentage and more wins, regular season conference championships, conference tournament championships, All-Americans, NCAA Tournament appearances, NCAA Tournament wins, College World Series appearances, College World Series Finals appearances, College World Series wins, and College Baseball Hall of Famers than any school in the Big 12 besides Texas. Oklahoma State has won 24 conference championships and 25 conference tournament championships as of the end of the 2021 season. The Cowboys have also earned 46 NCAA Tournament bids and have played in 20 College World Series, including a still-standing NCAA record seven straight CWS appearances from 1981 to 1987.

The Cowboys have four players/coaches in the College Baseball Hall of Fame: Gary Ward (who coached the program to 16 consecutive conference titles from 1980 to 1996), Tom Borland (1955 College World Series Most Outstanding Player), Pete Incaviglia (the all time home run king in college baseball history), and Robin Ventura (holder of an NCAA record 58-game hitting streak and widely regarded as the greatest hitter in college baseball history).

Oklahoma State won the national championship in 1959, led by star pitcher Joel Horlen, who would later author the 12th no-hitter in Chicago White Sox history in 1967. Former OSU pitcher Allie Reynolds also threw two no-hitters with the New York Yankees in 1951, which is still tied as an MLB record for most no-hitters in a single season by one player. Former Cowboys Pitcher Daymon Thomas pitched a no hitter in his short 6 game season in 2002 , with his last game pitched striking out 11 batters only to be upset by a late 7th inning HR to stop from tiring the record set by Allie Reynolds.Former Cowboy pitcher John Farrell managed the Boston Red Sox to two World Series championships in 2007 and 2013.

History

1959 national championship

The 1959 Cowboys baseball team entered the season not expected to do much. Only four players, left fielder Don Soergel, and pitchers Roy Peterson, Joel Horlen, and Dick Soergel, were on the roster from the previous season. The preseason prospectus for 1959 read, "The baseball outlook for coach Toby Greene's 16th edition of Cowboy baseball is quite questionable. Despite the return of key members from last year's pitching staff, it's hard to consider the Pokes much of a threat with graduation, grades and the pros robbing the veteran OSU mentor of all but one of his starters." The team compiled a 17–3 conference record, winning the Big Eight conference title.

OSU opened the 1959 national tournament with a 10–2 victory over Western Michigan behind a Joel Horlen five-hitter. They had to rally for three runs in the seventh in its next game against Penn State and won 8–6 with eleven team hits. In their next game, the Cowboys lost to Arizona by a score of 5–3, as Soergel lost his first career game in twelve decisions. In the losers bracket, the Pokes found themselves down 3–2 in the ninth, but scraped across two runs to earn the 4–3 victory. A Fresno State victory over Arizona that night left three teams with one loss each. Arizona won the coin toss and became the odd man out as Oklahoma State and Fresno State met for the chance to play the Wildcats for the national championship. The Cowboys beat the Bulldogs 4–0 to advance to the championship game.

In the championship game, Jim Dobson, who was voted the Most Valuable Player, opened the O-State scoring with a towering home run over the left-field fence in the fourth inning. Arizona picked up single runs in the fourth and fifth and led 2–1. Bancroft tied the score with a solo home run in the top of the sixth, but the Wildcats added a run of their own in the bottom of the sixth to lead 3–2. It was another sophomore, Bruce Andrew, who sparked the game-winning three-run rally in the top of the seventh, and OSU led 5–3. Soergel shut out the Wildcats in the final three innings and OSU had its first NCAA Baseball Championship.

Four Cowboy players were named to the College World Series All-Tournament team, including third baseman and MVP Dobson. Also selected were Bruce Andrew at second base, Connie McIlvoy in the outfield and Horlen at pitcher.

Head coaches

Conference affiliations

*Independent (1901–1914, 1956–1960)
*Southwest Conference (1914–1924)
*MVIAA (1924–1927)
*Missouri Valley Conference (1927–1956)
*Big Eight Conference (1960–1996)
*Big 12 Conference (1996–present)

Facilities

The Cowboys planned to open the new O'Brate Stadium, located one block northwest of the team's current home of Allie P. Reynolds Stadium, on March 20, 2020 for the Cowboys' Big 12 opener against TCU. The Cowboys played their first 11 of a planned 14 home games of the 2020 season at Reynolds Stadium. Named for major donor Cecil O'Brate, the new ballpark has a permanent capacity of 3,500 but is expandable to 8,000.

Reynolds Stadium is named after the former OSU player Allie Reynolds, who went on to play professionally for the Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees. The park, with a capacity of 3,821, opened in 1981 at a cost of $2.2 million.

Year-by-year results

Rivalries

Oklahoma Sooners

Oklahoma State's series against Bedlam rival Oklahoma has featured more games played than any other OSU baseball series. As of the end of the 2021 season, the Cowboys lead the overall series with the Sooners 179–155 and hold a 56–40 lead in games played since the inception of the Big 12. Oklahoma State has dominated the rivalry in recent years, winning 23 of 30 contests since 2013, head coach Josh Holliday's first season.

Former Cowboy Major Leaguers

Player awards

The following Cowboys were given the following awards, as voted on by the American Baseball Coaches Association, Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, and Sporting News:

National awards

* Dick Howser Trophy
:Robin Ventura, 1988
* Golden Spikes Award
:Robin Ventura, 1988
* Sporting News College Baseball Player of the Year
:Robbie Wine, 1982
:Robin Ventura, 1987, 1988
* College World Series Most Outstanding Player
:Tom Borland, 1955
:Jim Dobson, 1959
:Littleton Fowler, 1961

First-Team All-Americans

* 1951
:Joe Buck (C), ( ABCA)
* 1955
:Ron Bennett (OF) (ABCA)
:Tom Borland (P) (ABCA)
* 1960
:Dick Soergel (P) (ABCA)
* 1961
:Jim Wixson (P) (ABCA)
* 1967
:Tony Sellari (C) (ABCA)
* 1968
:Danny Thompson (SS) (ABCA)
* 1982
:Robbie Wine (C) (ABCA)
* 1983
:Dennis Livingston (P) ( BA)
* 1984
:Pete Incaviglia (DH) (ABCA, BA)
* 1985
:Pete Incaviglia (OF) (ABCA, BA)
* 1986
:Robin Ventura (3B) (BA)
* 1987
:Robin Ventura (3B) (ABCA, BA)
:Jim Ifland (DH) (ABCA)

* 1988
:Robin Ventura (3B) (BA)
:Monty Fariss (SS) (BA)
* 1991
:Michael Daniel (DH) (BA, CB)
* 1993
:Ernesto Rivera (3B) ( NCBWA)
* 1994
:Jason Bell (P) (BA, NCBWA)
* 1995
:Tal Light (3B) (NCBWA)
:Peter Prodanov (SS) (NCBWA)
* 1996
:Jeff Guiel (OF) (ABCA, CB)
* 1997
:Jeff Guiel (OF) (ABCA, CB)
* 2012
:Andrew Heaney (P) (ABCA, BA, NCBWA)
* 2014
:Brendan McCurry (P) (NCBWA)
* 2015
:Michael Freeman (P) (ABCA, BA, NCBWA)
* 2016
:Thomas Hatch (D1 Baseball)
* 2017
:Garrett McCain (OF) (ABCA)

All College World Series

*1955
:Tom Borland (P)
*1959
:Bruce Andrew (2B)
:Jim Dobson (3B)
:Connie McIlvoy (OF)
:Joel Horlen (P)
*1961
:Bruce Andrew (2B)
:Don Wallace (3B)
:Littleton Fowler (P)
*1966
:Bob Toney (3B)
:Wayne Weatherly (OF)
*1968
:Danny Thompson (SS)
:Wayne Weatherly (OF)
*1981
:Ray Echtebarren (2B)
:Mickey Tettleton (OF)

*1983
:Tim Knapp (OF)
:Pete Incaviglia (OF)
*1984
:Randy Whisler (2B)
:Gary Green (SS)
:Pete Incaviglia (DH)
*1986
:Robin Ventura (3B)
*1987
:Adam Smith (C)
:Jimmy Barragan (1B)
:Brad Beanblossom (2B)
:Pat Hope (P)
*1990
:Michael Daniel (C)
:Brad Beanblossom (SS)
:Bobby Carlsen (3B)
*1993
:Hunter Triplett (1B)
:Jason Heath (OF)

Hall of Fame

The Oklahoma State Cowboy baseball program has produced four National College Baseball Hall of Famers, who were inducted in the first three years of its existence. Oklahoma State baseball has its own Hall of Fame, in which players and coaches have been inducted.Cowboy Baseball Hall of Fame
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National College Baseball Hall of Famers

*Robin Ventura, 2006
*Pete Incaviglia, 2007
*Gary Ward, 2008
*Tom Borland, 2013

Cowboy Baseball Hall of Famers

*Class of 1992
:Joe Buck, C, 1950–51
:Pete Incaviglia, OF, 1983–85
:Allie P. Reynolds, RHP, 1936–38
:Mickey Tettleton, OF/C, 1979–81
:Jim Traber, 1B, 1980–82
*Class of 1993
:Darren Dilks, LHP/DH, 1979–81
:Danny Doyle, C, 1938–40
:Mike Henneman, RHP, 1983–84
:Joel Horlen, RHP, 1958–59
:Robbie Wine, C, 1981–83
*Class of 1994
:Larry Burchart, RHP, 1966–67
:Michael Daniel, C, 1990–91
:Monty Fariss, SS, 1986–88
:John Farrell, RHP, 1981–84
:Dick Soergel, RHP, 1958–60
*Class of 1996
:Jeff Bronkey, RHP, 1984–86
:Jeromy Burnitz, OF, 1988–90
:Littleton Fowler, LHP, 1961–63
:Bill Platt, Radio Announcer, 1958–95
:Jim Wixson, RHP, 1960–62
*Class of 1997
:Bruce Andrew, IF, 1959–61
:Mike Day, C, 1982–85
:Tim Pugh, RHP, 1986–89

*Class of 1998
:Tom Borland, LHP, 1953–55
:Bill Dobbs, LHP, 1967–69
:Jim Ifland, 1B/DH, 1986–87
:Robin Ventura, 3B, 1986–88
*Class of 1999
:Jimmy Barragan, 1B, 1985–87
:Gary Green, SS, 1981–84
:Wayne Weatherly, OF, 1966–68
*Class of 2000
:Jim Dobson, 3B/OF, 1959–61
:Dennis Livingston, LHP, 1982–84
:Mitchel Simons, 2B/OF, 1988–90
*Class of 2001
:Jerry Adair, IF, 1957–58
:Jason Bell, RHP, 1993–95
:Dan Massari, 1B, 1972–75
*Class of 2002
:Doug Dascenzo, OF, 1984–85
:Tony Sellari, C, 1965–67
*Class of 2003
:Brad Beanblossom, IF, 1987–90
:Josh Holliday, C/INF, 1996–99
:Frank Kellert, P/1B, 1947–49

*Class of 2004
:Gary Ward, Coach, 1978–96
*Class of 2014
:Josh Fields, 3B, 2002-04
:Billy Gasparino, SS, 1997-99
:Danny Thompson, SS, 1967-68
*Class of 2015
:Jeff Guiel, OF, 1996-97
:Rusty McNamara, OF, 1995-97
*Class of 2016
:Corey Brown, OF, 2005-07
:Tom Holliday, Coach, 1978-2003
*Class of 2017
:Toby Greene, Coach, 1943-64
:Jordy Mercer, SS/RHP, 2006-08
:Ty Wright, OF, 2004-07
*Class of 2018
:Tyler Mach, IF, 2006-07
:Rob Walton, RHP 1983-86, Coach 2013-pres.
*Class of 2019
:Andrew Heaney, LHP, 2010-12
:Peter Prodanov, INF/OF, 1992-95
:Matt Smith, LHP, 1998-2000

See also

*List of NCAA Division I baseball programs

References

External links

*

{{Big12Baseball