Four months later, we’ve made it to regional play.
The season has been eventful and filled with surprises, thrilling moments and no-so thrilling ones.
Nonetheless, you’ve all stuck with us, and we appreciate it. Here’s another edition of The O’Colly baseball beat’s weekly mailbag.
This weekend, O’Brate Stadium will host its second consecutive regional as OSU faces Oral Roberts to open play in the Stillwater Regional. First pitch is set for Friday at 6 p.m.
From Kenzie Pittman: “What is the status of O’Toole?”
Evan O’Toole missed the Big 12 Tournament with tendinitis. There has been no clear update on his progression. However, according to The Mayo Clinic, recovery from tendinitis lasts anywhere from two to three weeks.
From The Traveling Poke: “We’ve played DBU and ORU, but can we get an insight on Washington?”
I hate cliches, but Washington’s season has been that of a rollercoaster.
The Huskies dropped two out of four on the road to Santa Clara, lose a midweek home contest to Tulane – yes, that 19-40 Tulane team – yet, went 17-12 in the PAC-12, featuring sweeps of Oregon and USC. Last week, they went 1-2 in their conference tournament, featuring a 17-4 run-rule loss to UCLA.
They’re a difficult team to pinpoint.
One thing is certain: they’re well-deserving of the Field of 64, their first appearance since 2018. Washington was in the Pac 12 regular season title race for the majority of the year under first-year coach Jason Kelly.
The defense of freshman second baseman Sam DeCarlo is up there with the best in the nation among freshmen.
Righthander Kiefer Lord, who OSU will likely face should both teams win their regional openers, throws a steady 98-99 mph fastball with a high-end breaking ball. His ERA may be high at 5.60, but when he’s hot, he’s hard to touch up.
In terms of starting pitching, however, the Huskies’ numbers aren’t too alluring. Ace pitcher Stu Flesland is the lone starting arm holding an ERA below the 4.00 mark (3.92). The offense has been the most dangerous for opposing teams. Still, if the Cowboys were to get into a shootout, I like OSU’s chances.
Oh, and fun fact, Beau Sylvester was previously committed to UW.
From The Orange and Black: “What does our bullpen look like in terms of injuries/who’s available?”
O’Toole will still likely be out with tendinitis. Brian Hendry is missing the remainder of the year for personal issues.
As far as I know, the rest of OSU’s bullpen should be available for the Stillwater Regional.