Oklahoma State Cowboysbaseball is the NCAA Division I varsity intercollegiate baseball team of Oklahoma State University, based in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The team competes in the Big 12 Conference. The Cowboys' current head coach is Josh Holliday. Oklahoma State is a historically elite program with the sixth-most wins, sixth-most College World Series wins and sixth-most College World Series appearances in college baseball history. OSU ranks in the top ten all-time in most statistical categories. They own the head-to-head record in the Bedlam rivalry with Oklahoma. Oklahoma State is among the most storied, successful and history rich college baseball programs of all time. The program has accumulated a better all time win percentage and more wins, regular season conference titles, conference tournament titles, All-Americans, NCAA Tournament appearances, NCAA tournament wins, College World Series appearances, College World Series Finals appearances, College World Series wins and College Baseball Hall of Famers than any school in the Big 12 besides Texas. They have the sixth-most wins, sixth-most College World Series wins and sixth-most College World Series appearances in the history of the sport. They have won 31 conference championships and 21 conference tournament championships as of the end of the 2019 season. The Cowboys have also earned 46 NCAA Tournament bids and have played in 20 College World Series, including a still-standing NCAA record seven straight from 1981 to 1987. They own the head-to-head all time series against in-state rival Oklahoma. The Cowboys have four players/coaches in the College Baseball Hall of Fame: Gary Ward, Tom Borland, Pete Incaviglia and Robin Ventura. They won the national championship in 1959 led by star pitcher Joel Horlen, who would later author the 12th no-hitter in Chicago White Sox history in 1967. Former OSU pitcher Allie Reynolds also threw two no-hitters with the New York Yankees in 1951, which is still tied as an MLB record for most no-hitters in a single season by one player.
History
1959 national championship
The 1959 Cowboys baseball team entered the season not expected to do much. Only four players, left fielder Don Soergel, and pitchers Roy Peterson, Joel Horlen, and Dick Soergel, were on the roster from the previous season. The preseason prospectus for 1959 read, "The baseball outlook for coach Toby Greene's 16th edition of Cowboy baseball is quite questionable. Despite the return of key members from last year's pitching staff, it's hard to consider the Pokes much of a threat with graduation, grades and the pros robbing the veteran OSU mentor of all but one of his starters." The team compiled a 17–3 conference record, winning the Big Eight conference title. OSU opened the 1959 national tournament with a 10–2 victory over Western Michigan behind a Joel Horlen five-hitter. They had to rally for three runs in the seventh in its next game against Penn State and won 8–6 with eleven team hits. In their next game, the Cowboys lost to Arizona by a score of 5–3, as Soergel lost his first career game in twelve decisions. In the losers bracket, the Pokes found themselves down 3–2 in the ninth, but scraped across two runs to earn the 4–3 victory. A Fresno State victory over Arizona that night left three teams with one loss each. Arizona won the coin toss and became the odd man out as Oklahoma State and Fresno State met for the chance to play the Wildcats for the national championship. The Cowboys beat the Bulldogs 4–0 to advance to the championship game. In the championship game, Jim Dobson, who was voted the Most Valuable Player, opened the O-State scoring with a towering home run over the left-field fence in the fourth inning. Arizona picked up single runs in the fourth and fifth and led 2–1. Bancroft tied the score with a solo home run in the top of the sixth, but the Wildcats added a run of their own in the bottom of the sixth to lead 3–2. It was another sophomore, Bruce Andrew, who sparked the game-winning three-run rally in the top of the seventh, and OSU led 5–3. Soergel shut out the Wildcats in the final three innings and OSU had its first NCAA Baseball Championship. Four Cowboy players were named to the College World Series All-Tournament team, including third baseman and MVP Dobson. Also selected were Bruce Andrew at second base, Connie McIlvoy in the outfield and Horlen at pitcher.
Head coaches
Conference affiliations
Independent
Southwest Conference
MVIAA
Missouri Valley Conference
Big Eight Conference
Big 12 Conference
Facilities
The Cowboys planned to open the new O'Brate Stadium, located one block northwest of the team's current home of Allie P. Reynolds Stadium, on March 20, 2020 for the Cowboys' Big 12 opener against TCU. The Cowboys played their first 11 of a planned 14 home games of the 2020 season at Reynolds Stadium. Named for major donor Cecil O'Brate, the new ballpark has a permanent capacity of 3,500 but is expandable to 8,000. Reynolds Stadium is named after the former OSU player Allie Reynolds, who went on to play professionally for the Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees. The park, with a capacity of 3,821, opened in 1981 at a cost of $2.2 million.
The Oklahoma State Cowboy baseball program has produced four National College Baseball Hall of Famers, who were inducted in the first three years of its existence. Oklahoma State baseball has its own Hall of Fame, in which players and coaches have been inducted.
