Cowboys Baseball Preview: OSU Hosts Final Big 12 Series Against Arizona

The Oklahoma State baseball team has three more games left to play on the Big 12 schedule, all against the Arizona Wildcats.

Oklahoma State players greet Oklahoma State Cowboys infielder Kollin Ritchie. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Oklahoma State baseball team has three more Big 12 games to try and improve its seeding in the Big 12 Tournament next week in Arizona.

The Arizona Wildcats will be OSU’s opponent when their series starts on Thursday in Stillwater, Okla.

The Cowboys are locked in quite the race for Top 6 seeds in the Big 12 Tournament. Kansas (20-7) and West Virginia (19-8) have enough of a cushion to end up as the first two seeds. Arizona State (17-10), UCF (17-10), Oklahoma State (16-11), TCU (16-11) and Cincinnati (15-12) and in a fight for seeds Nos. 3-6. The reason OSU wants one of those seeds is because it means the Cowboys won’t have to play on either Tuesday or Wednesday in Arizona.

OSU probably needs to win two out of three to ensure it doesn’t end up playing on Wednesday.

Here is a preview of the series, with the schedule, TV information and more.

Arizona at Oklahoma State

Oklahoma State's Colin Brueggemann (12) celebrates his home run with teammates. | SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Where: O’Brate Stadium, Stillwater, Okla.

Schedule

Game 1: 6 p.m. CT Thursday, ESPN+

Game 2: 6 p.m. CT Friday, ESPN+

Game 3: 12 p.m. CT Saturday, ESPN+

Radio: Cowboy Radio Network (93.7 KSPI-FM) and The Varsity Network App (okla.state/GetVarsity)

Records: Oklahoma State, 34-18 (16-11 in Big 12); Arizona, 18-32 (8-19)

National Rankings: Oklahoma State, No. 21; Arizona, not ranked.

Last Big 12 Series: Oklahoma State beat Arizona State, 2-1; Arizona lost two out of three to Houston.

At Stake: The Cowboys need to remain in the Top 6 teams in the Big 12 to avoid having to play on the first two days of the Big 12 Tournament.

Previewing Oklahoma State

The Cowboys are coming off a victory over Oral Roberts in which they hit four more home runs, pushing their total for the season to 128, which is second to most in the country by a wide margin. The way the Cowboys have won games of late, the home run is going to be a significant factor in how they do against Arizona.

Kollin Ritchie now has 28 home runs to lead the team and now has 50 for his OSU career, which puts him among the Top 10. Five other OSU players have hit 10 or more home runs. There should be a lot of foot traffic at O’Brate as the softball team is hosting its regional this weekend.

Previewing Arizona

The Wildcats opted not to play a mid-week game after taking on the Cougars. So they come into the series with nearly a full week of rest. It’s been a rough season for the Wildcats, as they have lost seven of their last nine Big 12 games coming into Stillwater. Arizona last won a Big 12 series at TCU on April 10-11.

Three Arizona qualifying hitters enter the series batting .300 or better — Beau Sylvester (.345), Tony Lira (.341) and Nate Novitski (.312). Carson McEntire leads the Wildcats with nine home runs, a far cry from the production the Cowboys have in that area.

What’s Next: The Big 12 Tournament begins on Tuesday at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Ariz.