Cowboys Get Ready for Opener at Sam Houston State on Saturday
STILLWATER – Friday (Feb. 19) Oklahoma State head baseball coach Josh Holliday will load up his team on a bus and head south so they can play some baseball. The question begs is Huntsville, Texas and the artificial turf diamond at Sam Houston State University far enough south to play. Checking the weather forecast and Huntsville has a high on Friday of 38 degrees with a low of 18, so we’ve been told already that the series has shifted to a Saturday-thru-Monday schedule. Saturday is much better as the high will be 46 degrees and the low 37. Sunday will be downright balmy at 52 degrees with a low of 37. Monday will be 52 degrees and a low of 33.
Just in case you are wondering the high in Stillwater for Tuesday and the first scheduled game in O’Brate Stadium is 58 degrees.
Holliday admits with the artic weather being around for the past week to 10 days, he and his veteran staff have worked hard and thought deep on how to have this Oklahoma State team prepared to “play ball.”
“It’s been a chore just modifying what we thought would be a week outside preparing for opening weekend,” Holliday said of the final preparation for later this week. “We’re just trying to make sure that we are doing everything we can inside to be ready. All of the excitement for the opening of the season is good.”
The Cowboys are likely to be careful with arms and hope to play a number of players. As far as we know, this looks like the starting line-up or very close.
| No. | Player | Position | Class | Ht. | Wt. | Home/School |
| 15 | Cade Cabbiness | RF | Sr. | 6-4 | 232 | Bixby, Okla. |
| 28 | Caden Trenkle | CF | Fr. | 5-10 | 179 | Hillsboro, Tex. |
| 12 | Carson McCusker | LF | Sr. | 6-8 | 250 | Sparks, Nev./Folsom Lake C.C. |
| 42 | Alix Garcia | 1B | Sr. | 6-2 | 222 | Othello, Wash. C. Arizona C.C. |
| 1 | Hueston Morrill | 2B/SS | So. | 6-0 | 165 | Like Oak, Fla./Suwannee H.S. |
| 8 | Matt Golda | 2B/SS | Jr. | 5-11 | 190 | Acushnet, Mass./Kentucky |
| 24 | Christian Encanarcion-Strand | 3B | So. | 6-0 | 224 | Pleasant Hill, Calf./Yavapai J.C. |
| 7 | Max Hewitt | C | Sr. | 6-0 | 197 | Midhurst, Ont., Canada/Connors State C.C. |
| 17 | Jake Thompson | DH | Jr. | 6-0 | 210 | Albert Lea, Minn./Kentucky |
Here is a look at the expected starting rotation for the Cowboys.
| No. | Player | Pitches | Class | Ht. | Wt. | Home/School |
| 3 | Bryce Osmond | RHP | Fr. | 6-3 | 181 | Jenks, Okla |
| 6 | Parker Scott | LHP | Jr. | 6-1 | 174 | Flower Mound, Texas |
| 32 | Justin Wrobleski | LHP | So. | 6-1 | 194 | Canton, Ga./Clemson |
| 27 | Justin Campbell | RHP | Fr. | 6-7 | 221 | Simi Valley, Calf. |
A huge key for the Cowboys out of what shapes up to be a very good bullpen is sophomore Brett Standlee, a 6-4, 223-pound right-handed pitcher that doesn’t rattle in big situation. A former high school quarterback at Jenks H.S., Standlee is used to pressure situations and has showed that in his OSU career. Josh Holliday feels he is the likely closer.
The Bearkats are a perennial NCAA Tournament team and are picked to win Southland Conference again this season. The Bearkats play in spacious Don Sanders Stadium, which has an all articficial turf surface and seat 1,163 fans.