Oklahoma State (10-6) at Oklahoma (9-5)
Tues., March 12 • 6:30 p.m.
L. Dale Mitchell Park (3,180) • Norman, Okla.
Video/TV: ESPN+ (Chris Mycoskie & Rich Hills)
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 10-6 and return to action Tuesday night with a non-conference Bedlam game against Oklahoma in Norman before opening Big 12 Conference play this weekend at UCF.
• OSU is coming off a 41-20 season in 2023 in which the Cowboys earned their 10th consecutive NCAA Regional bid. It marked 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.
• The 2024 season is OSU's 12th under head coach Josh Holliday, who is 413-225-2 at his alma mater. The Cowboys have earned an NCAA Regional berth each year under his watch.
About Oklahoma
• Oklahoma is 9-5 on the season and enters Tuesday's contest on a four-game winning streak.
• Skip Johnson is in his seventh season as head coach at OU and owns a 198-137 record.
• OSU is 185-159 all time against OU, including a 33-13 mark under Josh Holliday. Last season, the Cowboys won four of their six games against the Sooners.
RPI Talk
Oklahoma State entered the week No. 76 in the official NCAA RPI; OU is 10th.
Clutch
Of the Cowboys' 102 RBIs this season, 47 of those have come with two outs. Carson Benge leads OSU with 13 two-out RBIs.
Close Calls
OSU is 92-59 (.609) in one-run games with Josh Holliday at the helm, including a 2-2 mark this season.
Strong Armed
OSU ranks second in the Big 12 with a 3.76 team ERA; 10 Cowboys own an ERA of 3.38 or lower.
Rob Walton's Punchout
The Cowboys' pitching staff under Rob Walton is again putting up big strikeout numbers in 2024.
OSU has recorded 156 strikeouts through 16 games, averaging 9.9 per nine innings. All 15 pitchers who have taken the mound have at least one punchout, and six Pokes have double digits in strikeouts, led by Sam Garcia's 27 and Brian Holiday's 26.
In the three-game series sweep of Central Michigan, nine OSU hurlers combined for 41 strikeouts.
Swinging A Hot Bat
Injuries limited Aidan Meola's playing time over his first two collegiate seasons, but the junior has been a constant in the lineup and the Cowboys' most consistent hitter in 2024.
After starting OSU's first seven games, Meola missed four contests with an injury suffered against Oregon State before returning during the midweek series against Utah Tech.
Meola has reached base safely in all 12 games he's played in while collecting hits in 11 of those, including recording five multi-hit efforts, and he owns a .386 batting average to rank 10th in the Big 12. He ranks second on the Cowboys with 10 RBIs and third with four doubles.
He's also showcased a knack for the clutch hit as he's 7-for-11 with runners in scoring position and has produced four two-out RBIs. He drove in the tying run with a double in the bottom of the ninth inning against No. 2 Arkansas to send the game into extra innings in a contest OSU eventually won in 14.
Primarily a third baseman his first two seasons, Meola has made the move to second base this season, where he has started eight games. He has also started four times at DH.
Random Fact: Meola's dad, Tony, played goalie for the U.S. Men's National Team in the 1990, 1994 and 2002 World Cups, and he was inducted into the United States Soccer Hall of Fame in 2012.
Frosh Showing Out
Kollin Ritchie and Avery Ortiz have been constants in the OSU lineup as true freshmen and the homegrown talents have been productive additions to the Cowboys' offense.
In the series sweep of Central Michigan, Ritchie was 9-for-13 with four RBIs, including a 4-for-6, three-RBI effort in the finale that included his first-career homer.
Ortiz, a Tulsa native, is hitting .326 in 13 games and is tied for the team lead with three homers while ranking second with a .581 slugging percentage.
Random Fact: Ritchie graduated from Atoka High School, whose mascot is the Wampus Cats. What exactly is a Wampus Cat? Descriptions vary - just go ahead and Google it (trust us!).
