https://uncwsports.com/news/2021/4/8/bas...state.aspx
Baseball 4/8/2021 9:53:00 PM Tom Riordan
Baseball Preview: at #13 Oklahoma State
STILLWATER, Okla. – It took about 35 hours in the estimation of UNCW Head Coach Randy Hood to make things work so UNCW and Oklahoma State will take the field this weekend for a three-game series beginning on Friday at 6 p.m. CST.
This series is the result of a pair of pair of series that were canceled or postponed when teams were forced to take a Covid pause. UNCW's series at James Madison was postponed while the same happened with OSU's set with visiting Central Arkansas.
The Cowboys carry an 18-7-1 record and a national-ranking of 13 into the weekend and are coming off a series win over Big 12 rival West Virginia.
The Seahawks, meanwhile, stand at 15-9 following their series win over Elon in a rematch of the 2019 Colonial Athletic Association championship series. UNCW has defeated its only ranked opponent of the season thus far with a 10-2 win over East Carolina.
UNCW will stay with its rotation of Landen Roupp, Luke Gesell and Ryan Calvert.
Roupp was named CAA Pitcher of the Week for the second time in as many weeks on Tuesday.
The series continues Saturday with another 6 p.m. and concludes on Sunday with a 1 p.m. CST first-pitch.
https://seahawkperch.substack.com/p/oppo...s-for-uncw
Opportunity Knocks for UNCW
Seahawks head to Oklahoma State for three
Brant Wilkerson-New
7 hr ago
UNCW (15-9) at No. 11 Oklahoma State (18-7-1)
Fri. 7 p.m. (ESPN+) | Sat. 7 p.m. (ESPN+) | Sun. 2 p.m. (OSU Stream) | Listen
It doesn’t get any better than this.
The disappointment of having a conference series cancelled this weekend didn’t linger for long as Coach Randy Hood and the Seahawks went out and found themselves one heck of a series this weekend, visiting a sparkling new stadium to meet a national title contender.
Not a bad for a plan that came together on Tuesday and had UNCW on the field at O’Brate Stadium for a workout on Thursday evening.
Here’s what we’ll be watching for this weekend.
Meet the Cowboys
Starting pitchers: LHP Parker Scott (5-1, 1.79 ERA); RHP Justin Campbell (3-0, 0.55); TBA.
Top hitters: Christian Encarnacion-Strand (.356, 6 2B, 9 HR, 30 RBI), Nolan McLean (.276, 6 2B, 6 HR, 14 RBI, .438 OB), Brock Mathis (.270, 5 2B, 7 HR, 13 RBI), Caeden Trenkle (.216, 7 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 16 RBI), Max Hewitt (.224, 4 2B, HR, 17 RBI).
The Seahawks won’t see a better 1-2 punch this season than the fifth-year starter Scott on Friday followed by Campbell, a big righthander, on Saturday night.
You don’t consistently win 40 games unless you’ve got talent up and down the roster, but pitching is certainly the strength for this OSU team, which ranks second nationally with five shutouts, 12th nationally with 292 strikeouts and ninth with 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings.
Overall, opponents are hitting .239 against a Cowboy staff that has had seven different pitchers start at least one game this season.
Brett Standlee (3-0, 3 saves, 0.57) has been absolutely dominant out of the bullpen, allowing two runs and striking out 26 in 15.1 innings.
OSU can occasionally be prone to strikeouts (10.1 per game), but it more than makes up for it with power, ranking 22nd nationally with 33 total home runs, led by Encarnacion-Strand, who has already blasted nine in his first season in Stillwater.
A former junior college All-America selection, Encarnacion-Strand hit .410 with 31 doubles and 33 homers in 81 games at Yavapai College.
Since Coach Josh Holliday returned to his alma mater in 2012, the Cowboys are 302-163-2 with an appearance in the 2016 College World Series and two Super Regional appearances.
Regional Feeling
A weekend series vs. a Power Five opponent in April just doesn’t happen for UNCW, as conference schedules just don’t break that way.
Charleston and Northeastern are obviously great programs at the CAA level, but they just don’t have the depth or talent that a program like OSU can put on the field — especially the mound — for three straight games.
For the Seahawks to take the next step as a program and break through to a Super Regional, they’re going to have to beat a team like the Cowboys at least twice in a weekend.
Typically, UNCW only gets this opportunity in February, when teams are still feeling out their lineups in cold weather and waiting for bats to heat up.
This is as big a chance as the Seahawks have had for a true measuring-stick series against a CWS-quality program in the regular season.
UNCW should come into this one with plenty of confidence from the midweek destruction of another top-10 team in East Carolina.
Win, lose, draw or sweep — Hood leaves Stillwater with an idea of how his club stacks up against one of the nation’s best.
The Seahawks either leave with a massive series victory and more confidence than ever or an idea of what needs to happen between now and late May.
Different Route, Same Results
No doubt, OSU has put up some intimidating pitching stats this season.
But what the UNCW staff lacks in gaudy numbers, it’s getting the job done where it counts as the teams have the exact same ERA at 3.74.
Landen Roupp (3-2, 2.95) has been unhittable as of late, while Luke Gesell (2-2, 3.89) has had some tough luck spoil some strong outings. What a chance for him, as a senior leader of this team, to make a statement on Saturday night.
Where plenty of opponents could fall behind the Cowboys early and panic, that won’t happen for a UNCW team that has seen its bullpen give it a chance time and again with shutdown innings late.
Led by Adam Smith, Seahawk relievers put together another strong weekend vs. Elon, allowing four runs — three earned — on four hits over eight innings, as Smith was stellar in earning two saves over 4.1 innings.
Given the light workload and four days off, the bullpen should be ready for whatever gets thrown their way.
Win in the Margins
OSU is too good to help out with silly mistakes, and UNCW mostly took care of business last weekend vs. Elon, allowing just three unearned runs while going 7-for-7 on stolen-base attempts.
To come home with a series victory, the Seahawks just have to be the team we’ve largely seen at Brooks Field — the team that finishes the routine play, turns the double play and finishes an inning after getting two outs.
The Cowboys, fielding .972 on the season, will commit a few errors here and there, and UNCW certainly has the bats to take advantage.
The Seahawks, fielding .978 on the season, have committed a few, too, and OSU has more than enough firepower to take advantage.
Mistakes will be costly both directions this weekend.
Tip of the Cap
What an awesome weekend for UNCW baseball, and a big tip of the cap for Director of Operations Josh Stott for pulling it off along with Hood and the staff for taking on a challenge instead of scheduling something closer to home.
Not only do the Seahawks get a big opportunity on a national stage with couple of games on ESPN+, but these players get a chance to experience the annual roadtrip that was left off the schedule this season due to the regionalized model necessitated by COVID-19.
About 3,000 fans were in the stands last weekend for OSU’s games vs. West Virginia, and without a doubt, this will be the biggest crowd to watch a UNCW baseball game to this point in the season.
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Baseball: Series @ # 13 Oklahoma State
