OSU Baseball: Cowboys Picked Second in Big 12 Preseason Poll, Have Four Selected on Preseason Team

The coaches predict a tight race for the Big 12’s baseball crown.

Oklahoma State was picked second in the Big 12 Preseason Poll, which released Thursday. The Cowboys are behind TCU by only two points and one first-place vote.

1. TCU (5) – 61
2. Oklahoma State (4) – 59
3. Texas Tech – 48
4. Texas – 43
5. Oklahoma – 38
6. West Virginia – 28
7. Kansas State – 17
8. Kansas – 16
9. Baylor – 14

The Cowboys also had four players selected to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team, including the league’s Preseason Pitcher of the Year. Long Beach State transfer Juaron Watts-Brown takes that honor along with being the conference’s Preseason Newcomer of the Year.

A 6-foot-3 right-hander from Hanford, California, Watts-Brown was a freshman All-American at Long Beach State last season where he had a 3.68 ERA in 15 appearances, recording 111 strikeouts in 73 1/3 innings.

Marcus Brown, Roc Riggio and Nolan McLean were the other Cowboys on the preseason team.

A junior infielder from Arkansas, Brown had a .316 batting average last season to go with 44 runs scored and 31 RBIs.

Riggio, a sophomore infielder from Florida, played outstandingly at the NCAA Regional in Stillwater last season, hitting .556 with four home runs and 17 RBIs in those five games. On the year, Riggio hit .295 with 54 runs scored and 47 RBIs as a freshman.

McLean elected to return to Stillwater after the Baltimore Orioles took him with the 81st pick in last year’s MLB Draft. Selected to the preseason team as a utility player, McLean had a team-best 19 home runs last season while also having a 4.97 ERA on the mound.

Oklahoma State starts its season Feb. 17 in the College Baseball Showdown at Globe Life Field in Arlington. The Cowboys start the three-day event with a game against Missouri before playing Vanderbilt and Arkansas.