COWBOYS WIN HOME OPENER
Oklahoma State beat Little Rock 8-3 Wednesday in the Cowboys' final home opener at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium
STILLWATER — Not far in the distance, if you're seated in the right spot at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium, you can see the future of Oklahoma State baseball.
Or at the very least, you can see the crane that towers above it, pulling together the pieces of O'Brate Stadium, the Cowboys' palace- inwaiting, that sits to the west of OSU's current home.
The 18 th-ranked Cowboys have one more year on the hallowed dirt of Allie P., and the last home opener in the stadium started right.
First, with Cowboy pitcher C. J. Var el a' s strikeout of Little Rock's leadoff hitter, Christian Reyes; and finally, with an 8-3 OS U victory within the walls of the stadium that has seen an abundance of Cowboy baseball history since it opened in April of 1981.
“This place is just filled with history and the great people, the great names that have come through here,” said Bryce Carter, a senior transfer from Stanford who grew up in Tulsa. “It's gonna be really exciting all year to see all the ex-players and coaching staff and everybody come back.
“(Coach Josh Holliday) preached on it before, that it' s not everyday you get to walk into such a historic place for the last time on an opening day like this.”
A day after a winter storm wiped out the scheduled home opener, fans braved Wednesday's chilly weather to see coach Josh Holli day' s Cowboys on t he home turf.
"That's a great, loyal fan to come out on a day like today,” Holliday said of the listed attendance of 1,382. “I've grown up here. This place is like a second home. This is where we come to get to do what we love. It's where I came to play as a kid. It's where my own son comes to play now as a kid.”
After scratching out a pair of early runs, OSU took control with a fiverun fourth inning. One run scored on an error, and two more came in on infield grounders by Colin Simpson and Christian Funk. Then Carter drove in two more with a line drive to right field for a 7-0 lead.
Carter finished 2-for-4 with three runs batted in. Funk drove in two, and Andrew Navigato had two hits and two walks, scoring three times.
Jake Lyons threw two shut out innings with three strikeouts to earn the win. Var el a took advantage of the opportunity to be the guy on the mound to start the stadium' s final home opener. The junior gave up four hits in four shutout innings, walking two and striking out six — a strong start to what he believes will be an enjoyable season honoring the home field.
“I'm really looking forward to it,” Varela said. “I think we should go out on a bang, and hopefully we do.”
Holliday doesn't expect the idea of celebrating the stadium's final season to be a regular talking point for his team throughout the year, though they'll obviously be part of it. The coach sees a better way for his team to pay tribute to its historic home.
“What would be more meaningful for everyone is if we play well each time we come out here,” Holli day said .“That's a way to honor what we love about this facility.”