Cowboy Baseball Ranked No. 22 In Preseason Coaches Poll

Josh Holliday and the Oklahoma State baseball team check in at No. 22 in the preseason Coaches Poll released today.

The Cowboys finished the 2016 season ranked No. 4. The 18-spot difference was the largest drop of any ranked team.

Big 12 conference rival TCU claimed the top spot with Florida and LSU ranked second and third respectively. Defending NCAA champ Coastal Carolina is No. 9 and Texas Tech, which joined the Pokes and Horned Frogs in Omaha last year, comes in at No. 19.

Oklahoma State lost ace Tyler Hatch from last year’s 43-22 season, but Holliday returns preseason All-American Tyler Buffett along with senior Trey Cobb and sophomore Jensen Elliott.

The area of concern is run production. The Cowboys lost their top three run-scorers in J.R. Davis, Donnie Walton and Corey Hassel as well as batting champion Conor Costello. Third baseman Garrett Benge (40 RBI) is back as is first baseman Dustin Williams (42 RBI), so OSU gets back two of its top three in RBI.

Experienced outfielders Jon Littell and Ryan Sluder bring back excellent defense and a combined 381 at-bats from 2016.

Oklahoma State opens the 2017 season with a three-game road series at Grand Canyon on Feb. 17-19. The Pokes will face seven teams from last year’s NCAA tournament in their quest for back-to-back College World Series appearances.