Mix of new faces, key returners make up 2018 OSU baseball team

STILLWATER — With a mix of new faces and returning key pieces, the Oklahoma State baseball team begins its 2018 season Friday at Texas State.

After becoming the first No. 8 seed to win the Big 12 Tournament, the Cowboys will try to have the same success they did in 2016, when they made their first visit to the College World Series since 1999.

Here are three storylines for OSU’s baseball season.

Youthful rotation, Teel in the ’pen

The Cowboys will begin the year without an upperclassman in its weekend rotation.

After starting and closing in 2017, sophomore Jonathan Heasley gets OSU’s season-opening start. A pair of lefties, sophomore Brady Basso and freshman Mitchell Stone, will follow him.

Junior left-hander Carson Teel begins the year as a relief weapon.

“He’s gonna have the ball at times when it matters the most,” OSU coach Josh Holliday said. “You’ve got to have good starting pitching, but you also have to have the ability to close games out when you do have the lead. Carson’s shown the ability to do both those things.”

Teel, a Stillwater native, returned to the program after he was the 27th-round pick of Boston Red Sox.

“I really wanted one more year at Oklahoma State to just make a big impact on this university,” Teel said.

New-look infield

Among the best traits of OSU’s College World Series team was consistency in the infield. Donnie Walton, J.R. Davis, Garrett Benge and Dustin Williams made Holliday’s lineup decisions easy.

Those four players are gone. Ryan Cash, Andrew Rosa and Cameron Dobbs are OSU’s only returning middle infielders. Cash and Rosa will compete for at-bats at second base, while Dobbs and newcomer Max Hewitt will get looks at shortstop. Playing time at first base will go to redshirt freshman Daniel DeSimone or junior college transfer Christian Funk.

“We still have a lot of competition among our team,” Holliday said. “The line between the guy that gets his name in the lineup first and the guy that gets a chance next isn’t real thick.”

Matt Kroon, a former Oregon infielder, will man third base. Colin Simpson, OSU’s leader in home runs last season, will catch. Veterans in the outfield One place where OSU brings plenty of experience from a year ago is in the outfield.

From right to left, sophomores Cade Cabbiness and Trevor Boone and senior Jon Littell will be OSU’s primary outfield. Cabbiness has “a traditional right-field arm,” Holliday said, adding Boone is “fearless” as a center fielder.

Littell suffered a shoulder injury in an outfield collision as a left fielder last season, but he enters his senior year healthy.