Oklahoma State Preps for Midweek Showdown With Wichita State
STILLWATER – No. 4 Oklahoma State is fresh off taking a best-of-three road series against Kansas State this past weekend to move to 20-8 on the season. Up next for the Pokes is a midweek showdown with Wichita State.
This marks the first of three non-conference matchups between the two programs, the first of two taking place up in Wichita. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. CT and will be streamed on ESPN+.
The Cowboys have had a lot of success against the Shockers over the years, especially under Josh Holliday. The Cowboys have a 62-35 record all-time, and 10-3 under Holliday.
“We’ve played [Wichita State] twice a year since I’ve been here because getting good midweek games is hard,” said Josh Holliday. “It’s really hard to get good baseball in this region of the country where teams can afford to travel. Really, you don’t want to travel a two-day trip, you want to get up and down if you can. So, we agreed to go there this year and they agreed to come here this year, then we agreed to a third game this year at their new double-A stadium in Wichita as a way to try and grow a little bit of visibility. It was a good mid-week game, and we were still short [non-conference] games. Next year, Wichita State will come to Stillwater twice and we’ll go to Wichita once.”
The Shockers are having a bit of a down season as they enter this contest at 12-15 on the season, including sitting at 6-5 at home. They’re hitting .245 as a team, while the pitching staff is sitting with a 5.34 ERA through the first 27 games.
Head coach Eric Wedge is expected to start Jace Miner, a left-handed pitcher Tuesday evening. He’s sitting at 0-1 on the season with a 14.14 ERA in six appearances. He’s recorded four strikeouts and eight walks in 7.0 innings.
This is an important game for the Pokes as they’ll be looking to bounce back following a 7-2 loss in the final game against the Wildcats this past weekend. It’s also a buffer game before a three-game Big 12 home stand against Bedlam rivals, Oklahoma, who recently beat the Pokes in a 7-6 non-conference walk-off in Tulsa last Tuesday.