Oklahoma State Cowboys
Overall Rank: #8
Conference Rank: #2 Big 12
Oklahoma State has been very consistent under Coach Josh Holliday. However, the Cowboys have failed to recreate their consistent success of the 1980’s and 1990’s. Since 1996 OSU has just one regular season title. Last year Oklahoma State hosted a regional and cruised through with relative ease. In the Super Regional they had to hit the road and fell in a very tight three game series against conference rival Texas Tech. This time around there are some questions that need to be answered, but there are plenty of newcomers who should be more than ready to fill the holes.
2019: 40-21, 14-9
2019 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: Josh Holliday
Key Departed Players:
Trevor Boone, OF, .290 BA, 21 HR, 57 RBI
Andrew Navigato, IF, .288 BA, 12 HR, 42 RBI
Colin Simpson, C/OF, .245 BA, 17 HR, 57 RBI
Christian Funk, IF, .237 BA, 12 HR, 41 RBI
Jenson Elliott, P, 3.56 ERA, 10-4 W/L, 98.2 IP, 62 SO
Key Returning Players:
Carson McCusker, OF, .311 BA, 6 HR, 40 RBI
Alix Garcia, IF, .294 BA, 8 HR, 25 RBI
Hueston Morrill, IF, .282 BA, 2 HR, 20 RBI, 12 SB
Brett Standlee, P, 4.46 ERA, 3-2 W/L, 72.2 IP, 55 SO
Projection:
Oklahoma State’s offense last year was all about the homerun. They belted 93 on the year, ranking fourth in the country. That should change in 2020 and the Cowboys should find a variety of different ways to score. In the end, that may be more productive and help boost their 6.3 runs per game total. Carson McCusker and Alix Garcia are the top returning hitters. Both are more than capable of hitting the ball out of the park, but they are also consistent hitters who were the top two hitters in terms of batting average last season. Shortstop Hueston Morrill also showed that he could put the ball in play as a freshman and should only be better with a year of experience under his belt. Coach Holliday will also rely heavily on quite a few transfers. Jake Thompson, who spent time at Kentucky and South Dakota State, Kaden Polcovich, a switch-hitter who was very high on many team’s list coming out of the junior college ranks, and former LSU catcher Brock Mathis will all make a big impact in 2020. Add some very talented freshmen like Caeden Trenkle and Blake Robertson, and Oklahoma State will have plenty of options at the plate. On the mound, Brett Standlee and Mitchell Stone both had up and down freshmen campaigns, but will be in the mix for a spot in the weekend rotation. Parker Scott will likely be the ace of the staff if he can stay healthy. He posted a 2.18 ERA in limited action last season. Freshmen Justin Campbell, Kale Davis and Bryce Osmond are expected to be right in the mix for some starting jobs too. Oklahoma State has depth in every facet of the game. Much of it is unproven at this point, but it should not take too long for this to look like a very deep and talented roster and that could be enough to get Oklahoma State back to Omaha for just the second time since 1999.
Projected Postseason: NCAA Baseball Tournament
