pretty good article....and pretty accurate.
STILLWATER — A most perplexing Oklahoma State baseball season came to an end last Sunday night in the thick humidity of Georgia’s Foley Field with a loss to Duke in the Athens Regional.
That ended a weekend of highs and lows that fit the tone of OSU’s entire spring.
A quick recap: Expected starting pitcher Sean Youngerman became unavailable after pregame warmups for the regional opener, chopping one of the legs out of OSU’s stellar starting pitching staff. Thrown into a horrible situation, Mario Pesca got roughed up and the Cowboys fell into the loser’s bracket.
The Cowboys gathered themselves and used an offensive explosion to eliminate Binghamton, then rallied to take down No. 7 national seed Georgia with a pair of ninth-inning home runs.
Freshman pitcher Noah Wech, who hadn’t recorded more than 11 outs in any appearance all season, gave the Pokes an incredible start against Duke with six shutout innings, but the bullpen ran out of gas and Duke rallied to win the regional.
The Cowboys rode a rollercoaster all year, rising as high as the top 20 in national polls, and falling so far it looked at one point like they wouldn’t make the Big 12 Tournament, much less the NCAA field.
While the starting pitching staff was among the best around, especially late in the year, and the offense had its core of power hitters, the Pokes were ultimately doomed by a bullpen that gave up too many runs and hitters who whiffed on too many pitches.
Let’s take an assessment of where the program stands entering the offseason:
What are OSU’s immediate priorities?
Pitching coach Rob Walton announced his retirement before the NCAA Tournament began, so head coach Josh Holliday will go to work filling that void for the first time in his OSU tenure.
And of course, the transfer portal will be picking up steam shortly.
OSU had a small senior class of six players, three of whom were regular contributors.
First baseman Colin Brueggemann and catcher Ian Daugherty will leave a gap in the middle of the batting order, but Aidan Meola will have one more year of eligibility after another injury ended his season.
As usual, the MLB Draft could lure some players away early, with the likes of power-hitting outfielder Nolan Schubart and left-handed ace Harrison Bodendorf among the candidates.
So Holliday has holes to fill in the lineup, and like every year at every college program, there’s a need for more pitching.
Young players emerging
The late-season surge, and more specifically, the regional, cast a light on some young players who could step into more prominent roles next season.
Kollin Ritchie tops the list. The sophomore was already in a fairly prominent role, batting cleanup and playing center field. But he showed capabilities of taking a step forward next year. Not only did his incredible performance bring some national attention to his hometown of Atoka — which led to a fun conversation among ESPN commentators about the high school’s Wampus Cat nickname — but he generated as much excitement as any individual player in the regional. He hit five home runs in four days and made one of the most impressive defensive plays, running into left-center field and making a leaping catch to rob a home run against Duke on Sunday.
Ritchie hit safely in 15 of the final 16 games with a .377 average, nine home runs and 19 RBIs.
The Cowboys got some crucial contributions from freshmen at the regional as well. In addition to Wech, Matthew Brown had a key relief appearance against Georgia in Sunday’s first elimination game. He struck out all three hitters he faced after entering with two runners on base and Georgia looking to extend its lead in the top of the ninth inning.
Of course, after Ritchie’s game-tying home run moments later, it was freshman Brock Thompson who won the game with a walk-off homer.
Going beyond regional performances, young players like Garrett Shull, Alex Conover and Drew Culbertson showed their ability to contribute in a variety of ways this season.
There’s no way to predict which players will return and which will depart for the transfer portal, but the Cowboys have a developing core of young players to blend with what needs to be an impactful group of transfers.
Postseason success continues to elude the Cowboys, having fallen short of the Men’s College World Series in their last eight opportunities, with losses in the regional round in the last four.
That makes the next few weeks, as Holliday picks a pitching coach and attacks the transfer portal, one of the most critical periods in his 13-year tenure.
Just to add a little info, the Cowboys have no players from the Big All City first team selects this year, which may be a good thing. 1 kid goes to arky and another to tennessee. Also, no players from the Little All City first team as well. I think ou got 1. We have a junior kid from Newcastle (pitcher) who is committed supposedly, but with Walton leaving that probably changes. Leaves more room for the transfer portal.
STILLWATER — A most perplexing Oklahoma State baseball season came to an end last Sunday night in the thick humidity of Georgia’s Foley Field with a loss to Duke in the Athens Regional.
That ended a weekend of highs and lows that fit the tone of OSU’s entire spring.
A quick recap: Expected starting pitcher Sean Youngerman became unavailable after pregame warmups for the regional opener, chopping one of the legs out of OSU’s stellar starting pitching staff. Thrown into a horrible situation, Mario Pesca got roughed up and the Cowboys fell into the loser’s bracket.
The Cowboys gathered themselves and used an offensive explosion to eliminate Binghamton, then rallied to take down No. 7 national seed Georgia with a pair of ninth-inning home runs.
Freshman pitcher Noah Wech, who hadn’t recorded more than 11 outs in any appearance all season, gave the Pokes an incredible start against Duke with six shutout innings, but the bullpen ran out of gas and Duke rallied to win the regional.
The Cowboys rode a rollercoaster all year, rising as high as the top 20 in national polls, and falling so far it looked at one point like they wouldn’t make the Big 12 Tournament, much less the NCAA field.
While the starting pitching staff was among the best around, especially late in the year, and the offense had its core of power hitters, the Pokes were ultimately doomed by a bullpen that gave up too many runs and hitters who whiffed on too many pitches.
Let’s take an assessment of where the program stands entering the offseason:
What are OSU’s immediate priorities?
Pitching coach Rob Walton announced his retirement before the NCAA Tournament began, so head coach Josh Holliday will go to work filling that void for the first time in his OSU tenure.
And of course, the transfer portal will be picking up steam shortly.
OSU had a small senior class of six players, three of whom were regular contributors.
First baseman Colin Brueggemann and catcher Ian Daugherty will leave a gap in the middle of the batting order, but Aidan Meola will have one more year of eligibility after another injury ended his season.
As usual, the MLB Draft could lure some players away early, with the likes of power-hitting outfielder Nolan Schubart and left-handed ace Harrison Bodendorf among the candidates.
So Holliday has holes to fill in the lineup, and like every year at every college program, there’s a need for more pitching.
Young players emerging
The late-season surge, and more specifically, the regional, cast a light on some young players who could step into more prominent roles next season.
Kollin Ritchie tops the list. The sophomore was already in a fairly prominent role, batting cleanup and playing center field. But he showed capabilities of taking a step forward next year. Not only did his incredible performance bring some national attention to his hometown of Atoka — which led to a fun conversation among ESPN commentators about the high school’s Wampus Cat nickname — but he generated as much excitement as any individual player in the regional. He hit five home runs in four days and made one of the most impressive defensive plays, running into left-center field and making a leaping catch to rob a home run against Duke on Sunday.
Ritchie hit safely in 15 of the final 16 games with a .377 average, nine home runs and 19 RBIs.
The Cowboys got some crucial contributions from freshmen at the regional as well. In addition to Wech, Matthew Brown had a key relief appearance against Georgia in Sunday’s first elimination game. He struck out all three hitters he faced after entering with two runners on base and Georgia looking to extend its lead in the top of the ninth inning.
Of course, after Ritchie’s game-tying home run moments later, it was freshman Brock Thompson who won the game with a walk-off homer.
Going beyond regional performances, young players like Garrett Shull, Alex Conover and Drew Culbertson showed their ability to contribute in a variety of ways this season.
There’s no way to predict which players will return and which will depart for the transfer portal, but the Cowboys have a developing core of young players to blend with what needs to be an impactful group of transfers.
Postseason success continues to elude the Cowboys, having fallen short of the Men’s College World Series in their last eight opportunities, with losses in the regional round in the last four.
That makes the next few weeks, as Holliday picks a pitching coach and attacks the transfer portal, one of the most critical periods in his 13-year tenure.
Just to add a little info, the Cowboys have no players from the Big All City first team selects this year, which may be a good thing. 1 kid goes to arky and another to tennessee. Also, no players from the Little All City first team as well. I think ou got 1. We have a junior kid from Newcastle (pitcher) who is committed supposedly, but with Walton leaving that probably changes. Leaves more room for the transfer portal.
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