OSU Makes NCAA Tourney For First Time Since 2011

Oklahoma State earned its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2011 on Monday and will play in the Louisville regional starting on Friday.

Monday, May 27th 2013, 4:50 pm

By: News 9

OSU Makes NCAA Tourney For First Time Since 2011

Oklahoma State was awarded an at-large bid to the 2013 NCAA Baseball Championship and will be competing in this week's NCAA Louisville Regional in Louisville, Ky., it was announced on Monday.

The Cowboys are 39-17 on the season and are the No. 3 seed in the Louisville Regional. Host Louisville is the top-seeded club, while second-seeded Miami (Fla.) and No. 4-seed Bowling Green round out the regional field. OSU will open play Friday at 1 p.m. against Miami.

The winner of the Louisville Regional will advance to the NCAA Super Regionals and face the winner of the Nashville (Vanderbilt) Regional.

This year's NCAA Tournament berth marks the 39th in OSU baseball history, a total which ranks fourth all time. It marks the Cowboys' first NCAA tourney appearance since 2011.

"I'm excited for these players because of how hard this group has worked to put themselves in this position," said OSU first-year head coach Josh Holliday. "This is something I've wanted to see for these kids because it's their team, it's their year and they played really well all year long. I wanted them to have this opportunity to extend our season.

"When you get into a regional, the slate is clear, and everybody is starting fresh. We've got a chance to go in there and play good baseball, and that's all we were asking for is an opportunity. I'm really grateful that we got it."

Louisville brings a 46-12 mark into the tourney, and the Cardinals are making their sixth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last seven years and eighth overall. OSU is 1-2 all time against UL, with all three meetings coming in the 2007 NCAA Super Regional in Louisville.

Miami is 36-23 this season and will be making its 41st all-time NCAA appearance. OSU is 3-4 all time against the Hurricanes.

Bowling Green earned an NCAA berth thanks to its Mid-American Conference championship. The Falcons are 24-29 on the season. OSU is 4-0 all time against BGU.

"I'm proud for the program and for all the people that care about it," Holliday said. "One of the things we talked about doing was restoring that expectation. The next step now is to go out and start winning some of these postseason games."