MICHAEL ADAM RAY

GAME STORY:

(originally printed in The Daily O’Collegian on April 24, 2008)

A storm blew over Allie P. Reynolds Stadium on Wednesday night, and for a few innings it looked like it might have taken Oklahoma State’s offense with it.

No. 13 OSU took a one-run lead into a rain delay that lasted an hour and 19 minutes, but the team’s momentum seemed to be drained like the water on the field when the tarp was finally removed.

Then Jordy Mercer stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the seventh.

Mercer got just enough of a Logan Hoch pitch to send it bouncing off the top of the wall in left-center field for a two-run homer to put OSU ahead en route to a 5-3 victory against No. 7 Wichita State.

After a two-run inning in the bottom of the third to put the Cowboys up by one, the rains came. For a while, it seemed like the weather might have gotten the best of the Cowboys (29-11).

“[The delay] took the momentum out of us a little bit,” Mercer said. “We had things rolling right there after that big inning we had, and the rain delay was not a good thing for us. You sit around and then you’ve got to get re-started.”

Senior pitcher Matt Gardner gave up a home run to WSU designated hitter Andy Dirks, but he settled down and held the Shockers (31-8) to two hits before the delay.

When he came back out more than an hour later to start the fourth inning, things changed. Gardner gave up a double to Dusty Coleman and then threw two wild pitches, allowing Coleman to score from second, tying the game at 2.

OSU coach Frank Anderson he should not have let Gardner go back out after the delay.

“It wasn’t fair to Matt, probably, to go out there like that,” Anderson said. “We probably should have gone ahead and made the switch, but he’s such a competitor and wanted to go back out.”

Anderson said he was concerned about how his team would perform coming out of the delay.

“I was a little worried about that because you never know how you’re going to come out of one of those things,” Anderson said. “It’s an informal stretch. Our game is a game of routines and you’re kind of out of your element right there.”

Despite the delay hurting the Cowboys’ momentum, Anderson said the worst thing about the rain was the effect it had on the crowd.

Before the rain swept in, Reynolds Stadium was filled with a capacity crowd of 4,000, but many of them left during the storm.

“That was the worst thing,” Anderson said. “That was so neat to see all of those people here, but I was really happy with the number of people that came back after the rain delay.”

The win was OSU’s eighth over a top-10 team this season, and extended the team’s winning streak to six games, matching its season high. The Cowboys also won their first six games of the year.

Anderson said the stretch of games has been tough, but said the team has played at a high level that he hopes it can maintain as the season progresses.

Aside from Mercer’s home run, Anderson said freshman second baseman Tom Belza’s defensive stop in the top of the eighth was the biggest play of the game.

With the Cowboys nursing a one-run lead and a runner on third with two outs, Belza barely got his glove a ground ball while running hard to his left and made a throw on the run to retire Mitch Caster at first, holding the score at 4-3.

“That play that Belza made right there was really the defensive play of the game,” Anderson said. “We’ve come to expect him to make some of those plays.”

Anderson said the routine nature with which Belza seemed to make the play impressed him.

“He made it look pretty easy and he’s started to do that quite a bit,” Anderson said.

Senior right-hander Robbie Weinhardt picked up his second save of the season for the Cowboys without allowing a hit in his two innings of work. He also struck out the side to end the game.

Mercer said the team expects good performances from Weinhardt, and needs his help during the rest of the season.

“He’s a big guy for us,” Mercer said. “He’s a big guy down the road and we need him the whole way.”

Anderson said the win over the Shockers was great, but said the team doesn’t have much time to enjoy it.

“When we start practice tomorrow, it needs to be over with,” Anderson said. “You’ve got less than 24 hours to enjoy it before you have to start preparing for conference play.”

Mercer echoed his coach’s comments, saying Big 12 games are important regardless of how well the team is playing.

“Conference is the biggest,” Mercer said. “It’s what we look forward to. It’s bigger games than anything we play and every conference game is a big game. We’ve just got to come ready to play.

The Cowboys returns to conference action Friday when the Kansas Jayhawks visit Reynolds Stadium for the first game of a three game set. Friday’s first pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

SIDEBAR 1 (Jordy Mercer):

(originally printed in The Daily O’Collegian on April 24, 2008)

With his team trailing by one in the bottom of the seventh on Wednesday night, junior shortstop Jordy Mercer put the Cowboys ahead for good with one swing of the bat.

Mercer knocked a Logan Hoch pitch over the left-center field wall to give the Cowboys the lead en route to a 5-3 victory against No. 7 Wichita State at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.

OSU coach Frank Anderson said the clutch homer was one more step in Mercer’s development process into the team’s leader.

“It was a big hit right there to separate us because [Wichita State] had the momentum,” Anderson said. “When you’re talking this age kids, 20-year-old kids, momentum shifts are huge.”

Mercer was forced into the leadership role coming into this season. He and senior first baseman Rebel Ridling are the only two position players returning from last year’s regular starting lineup.

Anderson said Mercer’s adjusted well to the role, despite not having a choice on being thrust into the situation.

“He’s only one of two guys that we have back,” Anderson said. “Whether you want to take on that role or not, it’s one that you kind of have to tackle and he’s done a good job with it.”

Mercer finished the night 3-for-4 with three RBIs, and is now tied with Ridling for second on the team with 40 RBIs, one behind team-leader Matt Hague.

Not only is Mercer among the team leaders in most offensive categories, but he also leads the team in saves with seven.

Mercer, who spent the summer traveling with team USA, said the experience he gained has helped him become a leader this season.

He also said the stress of traveling every night and playing in different countries each day helped him prepare for the every day grind of the college season.

Despite not having a choice on becoming a leader, Mercer said he didn’t feel any pressure coming into the season to do anything differently than he has in previous years, but he feels that he is handling his role well.

“I’m just trying to do whatever the team needs to win,” Mercer said. “This is me and Rebel’s year to step up and we’re kind of taking it on our shoulders if we don’t do good or the team doesn’t do good.”

Anderson agreed that Mercer has adjusted well to his new leadership position.

“I thought early in the year he kind of felt a little bit of pressure with it,” Anderson said, “but he’s worked through that. When you haven’t had to do that with some of the older guys that we’ve had [in previous years], at the start it’s a little tough.”

Anderson said Mercer’s ability to make good decisions at the right moment, both at the plate and in the field, makes him one of the most valuable players on the team.

“He separates the good [moments] from the bad,” Anderson said. “That’s the mark of a good player.”

SIDEBAR 2 (The Rivalry):

(originally printed in The Daily O’Collegian on April 24, 2008)

The Oklahoma State and Wichita State baseball teams met for the 79th time on Wednesday, but the regional rivalry is as strong as it as ever been.

No. 13 OSU beat the 7th-ranked Shockers 5-3 at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium on Wednesday to extend OSU’s all-time series lead to 50-29, but the rivalry has been a virtual deadlock over the past three decades.

While OSU leads the all-time series by 21 games, Wichita State leads the series 27-25 since coach Gene Stephenson took over the Shockers 31 years ago.

The Shockers’ media relations department made it a point to state that fact in the team’s game notes. Even the media contacts are into the rivalry.

OSU coach Frank Anderson said he was happy with the Cowboys’ win on Wednesday, especially since it came against the Shockers (31-8).

“It was a good game,” Anderson said. “We need to continue this rivalry, it’s a great regional rivalry and they’re always going to have a good club.”

Anderson said OSU (29-11) always looks forward to playing Wichita State because the two schools are always ranked among the top teams in the nation. He said both teams like the rivalry so much that they’re trying to expand it past one game a year in the future.

“We talked today about maybe going twice a year,” Anderson said. “I don’t think we can do it next year, but we might go in 2010 and start doing this twice a year. Go one [in Wichita] and one [in Stillwater]. If we can get it where we can fit it in, we might do that.”

With the college baseball season beginning later starting this year, Anderson said getting quality teams to come to town for midweek games is difficult. He said that is one of the reasons he likes the idea of a two-game series with the Shockers each year.

“The way our schedule is now pushed back, it’s a nightmare to try to get people,” Anderson said. “Obviously, they’re always going to be good and it’s always going to be a good RPI game.”

Junior shortstop Jordy Mercer agreed with his coach that the annual rivalry is one of the biggest non-conference games of the year.

“Anytime these guys come in it’s a battle,” Mercer said. “It’s a rivalry and they bring a lot of fans and our stands were packed today. It was awesome to see.”

Mercer said the Cowboys look forward to playing Wichita State every year because the two teams are usually evenly matched.

“It’s just one of those things that’s fun to play in,” Mercer said.

Despite the back-and-forth history between the two teams, one thing has always been certain: the rivalry is always viewed in kinder light by the team that wins.

“You get excited for these games and you want to play,” Mercer said. “We came out with a win and made it even better.”