Published: May 02, 2008 11:33 am            

Pokes taking a Big 12 break

Oklahoma State is getting a break from its Big 12 schedule ... and the timing is impeccable.

The ninth-ranked Cowboys will be coming off final exams this weekend when they host Utah Valley State. OSU’s practice has been limited this week — the team had to take Monday and Tuesday off, and managed to squeeze in about an hour of workouts on Wednesday night.

“You kind of worry going into this weekend because of the organization you’re used to and now it’s kind of hit and miss,” said O-State coach Frank Anderson. “Obviously they’re here to get an education and it’s very important that they do well in finals.”

The Cowboys (32-11) entered finals week on a high note after sweeping Kansas last weekend and moving into the Top 10 national rankings for the first time since 1999, which marked the last time they appeared in the College World Series.

In addition, OSU has the nation’s fifth-best RPI, trailing Arizona State, North Carolina, Florida State and Miami. This weekend will be the first meeting between the Cowboys and UVSC, which has an RPI that ranks 262nd out of 296 clubs.

In fact, it will mark the first time in Utah Valley’s five seasons as a Division-I squad that the Wolverines have matched up against a Big 12 opponent. UVSC (12-28-1) is led by coach Steve Gardner, who recently announced he will be retiring at the end of the season.

Eric Madsen, who has been an assistant at the school since 2004, will take over on July 1.

The Wolverines are coming off Tuesday’s doubleheader split against Northwestern Nazarene, a Division-II club out of Nampa, Idaho, and are led by Jace Brinkerhoff — who leads the team in batting average (.343), hits (60), doubles (19), RBIs (37) and home runs (six).

“It’s always interesting to see how they’ll react (the weekend after finals),” Anderson said. “Sometimes it’s been good and sometimes it’s bad. We’ve got a lot of unknowns going into this weekend.”

After this weekend, OSU heads to Houston for a showdown with No. 7 Rice on Wednesday. The Cowboys, who are third in the Big 12, then close the regular season with back-to-back weekend series against Texas Tech and Bedlam rival Oklahoma.

Friday’s first pitch against UVSC is set for 6:30 p.m. The series resumes with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday, and will conclude at 1 p.m. Sunday.



Looking ahead

The Cowboys are projected to host an NCAA Regional — with No. 14 Wichita State, Arkansas and Southern California coming to town — by Baseball America, which also predicts OSU will be a No. 7 national seed.

National seeds earn the right to host Super Regionals if they make it past the NCAA’s first round. Rivals.com also projects O-State as a national seed, and ESPN.com has Stillwater listed as a possible Regional host, welcoming in-state foe Oral Roberts, Arkansas and Louisiana-Monroe.

        

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