2023 Oklahoma State Cowboys baseball team

2023 Oklahoma State Cowboys baseball
2023 Oklahoma State Cowboys baseball
Big 12 Regular season champions
Stillwater Regional, 0–2
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 13
CB	No. 14
Record	41–20 (15–9 Big 12)
Head coach	Josh Holliday (11th season);
Assistant coaches	Rob Walton (11th season); Robin Ventura (1st season); Justin Seely (6th season);
Home stadium	O'Brate Stadium

2023 Big 12 Conference baseball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 14 Texas ‍†‍‍^y	15	–	9	.625	42	–	22	.656
‍†‍‍^y	15	–	9	.625	41	–	20	.672
West Virginia ‍†‍‍^y	15	–	9	.625	40	–	20	.667
No. 5 TCU ‍‍‡‍^y	13	–	11	.542	44	–	24	.647
Kansas State ‍‍‍	13	–	11	.542	35	–	24	.593
Texas Tech ‍‍‍^y	12	–	12	.500	41	–	23	.641
Oklahoma ‍‍‍^y	11	–	13	.458	32	–	28	.533
Kansas ‍‍‍	8	–	16	.333	25	–	32	.439
Baylor ‍‍‍	6	–	18	.250	20	–	35	.364

† – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 25, 2023^[1] Rankings from D1baseball

The 2023 Oklahoma State Cowboys baseball team represented Oklahoma State University during the 2023 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Cowboys played their home games at O'Brate Stadium as a member of the Big 12 Conference. They were led by head coach Josh Holliday, in his eleventh season at Oklahoma State.

Previous season

The 2022 team finished the season with a 42–22 record and a 15–9 record in the Big 12. In the 2022 Big 12 Conference baseball tournament, the fourth-seeded Cowboys made a run to the semifinals where they fell to fifth-seeded Texas in Game 7, 2–9. They earned an at-large bid into the 2022 NCAA Division I baseball tournament, where they were seeded seventh overall and the top seed in the Stillwater Regional. There, the Cowboys were eliminated by second-seeded Arkansas.

Preseason

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Award	Player	Position	Year	Source
Big 12 Preseason Pitcher of the Year	Juaron Watts-Brown	RHP	Sophomore	^[2]
Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year	Juaron Watts-Brown	RHP	Sophomore	^[2]
Golden Spikes Award watchlist	Nolan McLean	U	Junior	^[3]
Golden Spikes Award watchlist	Juaron Watts-Brown	RHP	Sophomore	^[3]

Big 12 media poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
Big 12 media poll
1	TCU	61 (5)
2	Oklahoma State	59 (4)
3	Texas Tech	48
4	Texas	43
5	Oklahoma	38
6	West Virginia	28
7	Kansas State	17
8	Kansas	16
9	Baylor	14

Source:^[4]

Preseason Big 12 awards and honors

Player	No.	Position	Class
Preseason All-Big 12 Team^[2]
Marcus Brown	19	INF	Junior
Nolan McLean	13	U	Junior
Roc Riggio	7	INF	Sophomore
Juaron Watts-Brown	23	RHP	Sophomore

Preseason All-Americans

Player	No.	Position	Class	Selector(s)
Second Team All-Americans
Nolan McLean	13	U	Junior	Collegiate Baseball D1Baseball
Juaron Watts-Brown	23	SP	Sophomore	Baseball America D1Baseball

Player	No.	Position	Class	Selector(s)
Third Team All-Americans
Nolan McLean	13	U	Junior	Baseball America NCBWA
Roc Riggio	7	INF	Sophomore	Baseball America D1Baseball
Juaron Watts-Brown	23	SP	Sophomore	NCBWA

Sources:^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]

Schedule and results

2023 Oklahoma State Cowboys baseball game log

Regular season (37–16)

February (5–3)
Date	Opponent	Rank	Site/stadium	Score	Win	Loss	Save	TV	Attendance	Overall record	B12 Record
State Farm College Baseball Showdown
February 17	vs. Missouri*	No. 9	Globe Life Field Arlington, TX	W 5–3	Drew Blake (1–0)	Chandler Murphy (0–1)	Nolan McLean (1)	FloSports	15,721	1–0	—
February 18	vs. No. 10 Vanderbilt*	No. 9	Globe Life Field	L 9–11	Andrew Dutkanych IV (1–0)	Brennan Phillips (0–1)	Nick Maldonado (1)	FloSports	20,295	1–1	—
February 19	vs. No. 8 Arkansas*	No. 9	Globe Life Field	L 1–18⁷	Hunter Hollan (1–0)	Bayden Root (0–1)	—	FloSports	17,567	1–2	—

February 21	Cal Baptist*	No. 15	O'Brate Stadium Stillwater, OK	W 2–0	Evan O'Toole (1–0)	Brandon Downer (1–1)	Nolan McLean (2)	B12N/ESPN+	4,928	2–2	—
February 24	Loyola Marymount*	No. 15	O'Brate Stadium	W 1–0	Evan O'Toole (2–0)	Diego Barrera (0–1)	Nolan McLean (2)	B12N/ESPN+	4,562	3–2	—
February 25	Loyola Marymount*	No. 15	O'Brate Stadium	L 8–10¹⁰	Merrick Baldo (2–0)	Gabe Davis (0–1)	—		4,562	3–3	—
February 26	Loyola Marymount*	No. 15	O'Brate Stadium	W 11–1⁷	Brennan Phillips (1–1)	Owen Hackman (0–1)	—	B12N/ESPN+	4,326	4–3	—
February 28	at Missouri State*	No. 12	Hammons Field Springfield, MO	W 12–10	Bayden Root (1–1)	Scott Youngbrandt (0–2)	Nolan McLean (4)	B12N/ESPN+	1,031	5–3	—

March (15–4)
Date	Opponent	Rank	Site/stadium	Score	Win	Loss	Save	TV	Attendance	Overall record	B12 Record
March 3	Austin Peay*	No. 12	O'Brate Stadium	W 19–2⁷	Juaron Watts-Brown (1–0)	Nick James (1–2)	—		4,729	6–3	—
March 4	Austin Peay*	No. 12	O'Brate Stadium	W 2–1	Isaac Stebens (1–0)	Lyle Miller-Green (0–2)	Nolan McLean (5)		5,348	7–3	—
March 5	Austin Peay*	No. 12	O'Brate Stadium	W 12–4	Bayden Root (2–1)	Jacob Kush (0–1)	—	B12N/ESPN+	5,006	8–3	—
March 7	Arizona State*	No. 13	O'Brate Stadium	W 8–4	Isaac Stebens (2–0)	Blake Pivaroff (0–1)	—	B12N/ESPN+	4,233	9–3	—
March 8	Arizona State*	No. 13	O'Brate Stadium	W 7–4	Ben Abram (1–0)	Owen Stevenson (0–1)	Nolan McLean (6)	B12N/ESPN+	4,086	10–3	—
March 10	Utah Tech*	No. 13	O'Brate Stadium	W 11–1⁷	Juaron Watts-Brown (2–0)	Brett Porthan (2–2)	—		4,312	11–3	—
March 11^[a]	Utah Tech*	No. 13	O'Brate Stadium	W 10–4	Bayden Root (3–1)	Ryan Hardman (0–4)	—		5,095	12–3	—
March 11^[a]	Utah Tech*	No. 13	O'Brate Stadium	W 9–3	Brian Hendry (1–0)	Jake Dahle (0–3)	—		5,095	13–3	—
March 12	Utah Tech*	No. 13	O'Brate Stadium	W 9–4	Isaac Stebens (3–0)	Carsten Herman (2–1)	—		4,304	14–3	—
March 14	Dallas Baptist*	No. 12	O'Brate Stadium	W 20–4⁷	Ben Abram (2–0)	Zach Heaton (1–1)	—	B12N/ESPN+	5,167	15–3	—
March 17	at Texas Tech	No. 12	Rip Griffin Park Lubbock, TX	L 7–8¹⁰	Ryan Free (2–1)	Nolan McLean (0–1)	—	B12N/ESPN+	3,713	15–4	0–1
March 18	at Texas Tech	No. 12	Rip Griffin Park	W 9–4	Ben Abram (3–0)	Mason Molina (2–1)	—	B12N/ESPN+	4,021	16–4	1–1
March 19	at Texas Tech	No. 12	Rip Griffin Park	L 1–12⁷	Brandon Beckel (3–0)	Juaron Watts-Brown (2–1)	—	B12N/ESPN+	3,746	16–5	1–2
March 22	at Wichita State*	No. 20	Eck Stadium Wichita, KS	W 10–1	Carson Benge (1–0)	Cameron Bye (0–3)	—	B12N/ESPN+	1,835	17–5	—
March 24	Baylor	No. 20	O'Brate Stadium	W 11–9	Nolan McLean (1–1)	Hambleton Oliver (2–2)	—	B12N/ESPN+	4,776	18–5	2–2
March 25	Baylor	No. 20	O'Brate Stadium	W 15–8	Ben Abram (4–0)	Mason Marriott (1–3)	—	B12N/ESPN+	6,556	19–5	3–2
March 26	Baylor	No. 20	O'Brate Stadium	W 13–2⁷	Juaron Watts-Brown (3–1)	Will Rigney (2–1)	—	B12N/ESPN+	4,736	20–5	4–2
March 28	at Dallas Baptist*	No. 17	Horner Ballpark Dallas, TX	L 0–8	Zach Heaton (2–1)	Carson Benge (1–1)	—		1,376	20–6	—
March 31	No. 21 Texas	No. 17	O'Brate Stadium	L 3–5	Lucas Gordon (3–0)	Ben Abram (4–1)	Zane Morehouse (4)	B12N/ESPN+	5,876	20–7	4–3

April (10–6)
Date	Opponent	Rank	Site/stadium	Score	Win	Loss	Save	TV	Attendance	Overall record	B12 Record
April 1	No. 21 Texas	No. 17	O'Brate Stadium	W 4–1	Juaron Watts-Brown (4–1)	Travis Sthele (2–3)	Isaac Stebens (1)	B12N/ESPN+	6,489	21–7	5–3
April 2	No. 21 Texas	No. 17	O'Brate Stadium	W 4–3	Isaac Stebens (4–0)	Zane Morehouse (4–1)	—	B12N/ESPN+	5,655	22–7	6–3
April 4	Wichita State*	No. 16	O'Brate Stadium	L 6–13	Matt Boyer (4–0)	Ryan Bogusz (0–1)	—	B12N/ESPN+	5,273	22–8	—
April 6	at TCU	No. 16	Lupton Stadium Fort Worth, TX	W 7–6	Evan O'Toole (3–0)	Chase Hoover (1–1)	Isaac Stebens (2)	B12N/ESPN+	3,728	23–8	7–3
April 7	at TCU	No. 16	Lupton Stadium	L 3–7	Kole Klecker (6–2)	Ben Abram (4–2)	—	ESPNU	3,996	23–9	7–4
April 8	at TCU	No. 16	Lupton Stadium	L 5–12	Garrett Wright (2–1)	Evan O'Toole (3–1)	—	B12N/ESPN+	4,385	23–10	7–5
April 11	Oral Roberts*	No. 18	O'Brate Stadium	L 5–8	Caleb Isaacs (5–0)	Gabe Davis (0–2)	Cade Denton (8)	B12N/ESPN+	4,781	23–11	—
April 14	West Virginia	No. 18	O'Brate Stadium	L 3–6	Ben Hampton (3–1)	Juaron Watts-Brown (4–2)	Carlson Reed (3)	B12N/ESPN+	5,055	23–12	7–6
April 15	West Virginia	No. 18	O'Brate Stadium	L 5–9	Aidan Major (2–2)	Isaac Stebens (4–1)	—	B12N/ESPN+	5,817	23–13	7–7
April 16	West Virginia	No. 18	O'Brate Stadium	W 11–6	Brian Hendry (2–0)	David Hagaman (0–1)	—	B12N/ESPN+	4,576	24–13	8–7
Bedlam Series
April 18^[b]	Oklahoma*		O'Brate Stadium	W 19–8	Evan O'Toole (4–1)	Gray Harrison (0–2)	Isaac Stebens (3)	B12N/ESPN+	6,769	25–13	—

April 21	at Kansas		Hoglund Ballpark Lawrence, KS	W 15–10	Evan O'Toole (5–1)	Collin Baumgartner (3–1)	—	B12N/ESPN+	682	26–13	9–7
April 22	at Kansas		Hoglund Ballpark	W 14–3	Ben Abram (5–2)	Sam Ireland (4–5)	Gabe Davis (1)	ESPNU	893	27–13	10–7
April 23	at Kansas		Hoglund Ballpark	W 8–3	Bayden Root (4–1)	Ethan Bradford (2–4)	—	B12N/ESPN+	964	28–13	11–7
April 25	Wichita State*		O'Brate Stadium	Canceled due to weather conditions
April 28	at Michigan*		Ray Fisher Stadium Ann Arbor, MI	Canceled due to weather conditions
April 29	at Michigan*		Ray Fisher Stadium	W 5–3	Bayden Root (5–1)	Connor O'Halloran (7–3)	Isaac Stebens (4)	BTN	1,619	29–13	—
April 30	at Michigan*		Ray Fisher Stadium	W 8–5	Ben Abram (6–2)	Noah Rennard (6–3)	Isaac Stebens (5)	BTN	1,410	30–13	—

May (7–3)
Date	Opponent	Rank	Site/stadium	Score	Win	Loss	Save	TV	Attendance	Overall record	B12 Record
May 2	at Oral Roberts*		J. L. Johnson Stadium Tulsa, OK	L 7–9	Jacob Widener (2–2)	Brian Hendry (2–1)	—		2,273	30–14	—
May 5	East Tennessee State*		O'Brate Stadium	W 7–4	Juaron Watts-Brown (5–2)	Colby Stuart (1–4)	Isaac Stebens (6)	B12N/ESPN+	5,007	31–14	—
May 6	East Tennessee State*		O'Brate Stadium	W 17–7	Bayden Root (6–1)	Nathanial Tate (6–4)	—	B12N/ESPN+	5,435	32–14	—
May 7	East Tennessee State*		O'Brate Stadium	W 20–7⁷	Ryan Bogusz (1–1)	Cade Carlson (3–1)	—	B12N/ESPN+	4,620	33–14	—
May 12	Kansas State		O'Brate Stadium	L 9–10	Owen Boerema (7–1)	Juaron Watts-Brown (5–3)	Tyson Neighbors (10)	B12N/ESPN+	4,990	33–15	11–8
May 13	Kansas State		O'Brate Stadium	W 19–5	Bayden Root (7–1)	German Fajardo (3–3)	—	B12N/ESPN+	4,816	34–15	12–8
May 14	Kansas State		O'Brate Stadium	W 12–2⁷	Carson Benge (2–1)	Mason Buss (4–3)	—	B12N/ESPN+	4,599	35–15	13–8
Bedlam Series
May 18	at Oklahoma	No. 25	L. Dale Mitchell Baseball Park Norman, OK	W 13–2	Evan O'Toole (6–1)	Braxton Douthit (4–5)	—	ESPN+	2,571	36–15	14–8
May 19	at Oklahoma	No. 25	L. Dale Mitchell Baseball Park	L 0–5	Braden Carmichael (7–0)	Juaron Watts-Brown (5–4)	—	ESPN+	3,044	36–16	14–9
May 20	at Oklahoma	No. 25	L. Dale Mitchell Baseball Park	W 11–1	Ben Abram (7–2)	James Hitt (5–1)	—	ESPN+	3,371	37–16	15–9

Postseason (4–4)

Big 12 Tournament (4–2)
Date	Opponent	Rank	Site/stadium	Score	Win	Loss	Save	TV	Attendance	Overall record	B12T Record
May 24	vs. (7) Oklahoma	(2) No. 18	Globe Life Field	L 5–9	James Hitt (6–1)	Carson Benge (2–2)	Carter Campbell (2)	B12N/ESPN+	7,406	37–17	0–1
May 25	vs. (3) No. 21 West Virginia	(2) No. 18	Globe Life Field	W 3–2	Juaron Watts-Brown (6–4)	Carlson Reed (2–1)	—	B12N/ESPN+	6,325	38–17	1–1
May 26	vs. (7) Oklahoma	(2) No. 18	Globe Life Field	W 8–3	Ben Abram (8–2)	Will Carsten (1–3)	—	B12N/ESPN+	10,745	39–17	2–1
May 27	vs. (6) Texas Tech	(2) No. 18	Globe Life Field	W 8–1	Brennan Phillips (2–1)	Zane Petty (3–1)	Bayden Root (1)	B12N/ESPN+	—	40–17	3–1
May 27	vs. (6) Texas Tech	(2) No. 18	Globe Life Field	W 6–5	Gabe Davis (1–2)	Brandon Beckel (5–2)	—	B12N/ESPN+	13,532	41–17	4–1
May 28	vs. (4) TCU	(2) No. 18	Globe Life Field	L 5–12	Luke Savage (3–3)	Ben Abram (8–3)	—	ESPN2	14,673	41–18	4–2

Stillwater Regional (0–2)
Date	Opponent	Rank	Site/stadium	Score	Win	Loss	Save	TV	Attendance	Overall record	NCAAT record
June 2	(4) Oral Roberts	(1) No. 16	O'Brate Stadium	L 4–6	Caleb Isaacs (7–0)	Nolan McLean (1–2)	Cade Denton (13)	ESPN+	5,423	41–19	0–1
June 3	(2) No. 18 Dallas Baptist	(1) No. 16	O'Brate Stadium	L 4–18	Zach Heaton (5–1)	Juaron Watts-Brown (6–5)	—	ESPN2	5,033	41–20	0–2

Legend: = Win = Loss = Canceled
Bold = Oklahoma State team member

"*" indicates a non-conference game.
"#" represents ranking. All rankings are based on the team's current ranking in the D1Baseball poll.
"()" represents postseason seeding in the Big 12 Tournament or NCAA Regional, respectively.

^[9]

Statistics

Team batting

As of March 24, 2023^[10]

Team	AB	Avg.	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB
Oklahoma State	738	.310	229	55	4	40	167	107	201	20
Opponents	704	.246	173	32	5	21	100	82	224	7

Team pitching

Team	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	SV	ERA
Oklahoma State	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Opponents	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Final
Coaches'^[11]	8	8*	13	14	13	15	13	13	16
Baseball America^[12]	15	21	21	18	17	20	17	11	14
Collegiate Baseball^^[13]	12	16	23	24	18	19	14	12	18
NCBWA†^[14]	14	19	18	15	13	16	13	15	17
D1Baseball^[15]	9	15	12	13	12	20	17	16	18

^ Collegiate Baseball ranked 40 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranked 30 teams weekly during the season.
† NCBWA ranks 35 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 30 teams weekly during the season.
* A new poll was not released for this week, so for comparison purposes, the previous week's ranking is inserted in this week's slot.

Notes

^ ^a ^b Part of a doubleheader.
^ Non-conference game.

References

^ "2022–23 Baseball Standings". Big 12 Conference. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c "TCU's Taylor, OSU's Watts-Brown Lead Big 12 Baseball Preseason Awards". Big 12 Sports.
^ ^a ^b "Cowboy Baseball Duo Lands On Golden Spikes Watch List". okstate.com. February 10, 2023. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
^ "TCU Picked As Favorite In Big 12 Baseball Preseason Poll". Big 12 Sports.
^ "Collegiate Baseball announces 2023 Preseason All-American teams". NCAA.com. December 19, 2022. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
^ Carter, Bo. "NCBWA unveils 2023 Preseason All-America Team". sportswriters.net. NCBWA. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
^ "2023 D1Baseball Preseason All-Americans". d1baseball.com. January 30, 2023. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
^ Collazo, Carlos (January 30, 2023). "2023 Preseason College All-American Teams". Baseball America. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
^ "2023 Baseball Schedule". okstate.com. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
^ "2023 Cowboy Baseball Cumulative Statistics - Team Statistics". okstate.com. Oklahoma State University Athletics. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
^ "NCAA Baseball - Coaches Poll". USA Today. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
^ "College Top 25". Baseball America. February 10, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
^ "2023 Collegiate Baseball Polls". baseballnews.com.
^ "NCBWA Division I Poll". sportswriters.net. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
^ "D1 Baseball: Rankings". d1baseball.com. Retrieved February 10, 2023.

External links

OK State Baseball

[Doubleheader-9] Part of a doubleheader.

[Bedlam-10] Non-conference game.

[1] "2022–23 Baseball Standings". Big 12 Conference. Retrieved May 21, 2023.

[B12_preseason_awards-2] "TCU's Taylor, OSU's Watts-Brown Lead Big 12 Baseball Preseason Awards". Big 12 Sports.

[golden_spikes_preseason-3] "Cowboy Baseball Duo Lands On Golden Spikes Watch List". okstate.com. February 10, 2023. Retrieved February 11, 2023.

[B12_preseason_rankings-4] "TCU Picked As Favorite In Big 12 Baseball Preseason Poll". Big 12 Sports.

[CB_preseason_all-americans-5] "Collegiate Baseball announces 2023 Preseason All-American teams". NCAA.com. December 19, 2022. Retrieved February 11, 2023.

[NCBWA_preseason_all-american-6] Carter, Bo. "NCBWA unveils 2023 Preseason All-America Team". sportswriters.net. NCBWA. Retrieved February 11, 2023.

[d1baseball_preseason_all-americans-7] "2023 D1Baseball Preseason All-Americans". d1baseball.com. January 30, 2023. Retrieved February 11, 2023.

[BA_preseason_all-americans-8] Collazo, Carlos (January 30, 2023). "2023 Preseason College All-American Teams". Baseball America. Retrieved February 11, 2023.

[11] "2023 Baseball Schedule". okstate.com. Retrieved February 10, 2023.

[12] "2023 Cowboy Baseball Cumulative Statistics - Team Statistics". okstate.com. Oklahoma State University Athletics. Retrieved March 24, 2023.

[coaches_poll-13] "NCAA Baseball - Coaches Poll". USA Today. Retrieved February 10, 2023.

[14] "College Top 25". Baseball America. February 10, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2023.

[15] "2023 Collegiate Baseball Polls". baseballnews.com.

[16] "NCBWA Division I Poll". sportswriters.net. Retrieved February 10, 2023.

[17] "D1 Baseball: Rankings". d1baseball.com. Retrieved February 10, 2023.

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Oklahoma State Cowboys baseball
Venue	University Park (?–1980) Allie P. Reynolds Stadium (1981–2020) O'Brate Stadium (2021–present)
People	Head Coaches List of MLB players
Seasons	1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2024 2025
National championships in bold; College World Series appearances in italics