Oklahoma State University Men's Baseball

Holliday returned home to take over the Oklahoma State baseball program when he was named the 15th head coach in program history on June 8, 2012.       The Oklahoma State alumnus and native of Stillwater had served the previous three seasons as an assistant coach at Vanderbilt and established himself as one of the nations top assistant coaches over the last decade.       Im very honored and very humbled to be given an opportunity to come back to OSU and return to a place that has meant so much to me and my family over the past 30-plus years, Holliday said. Im excited about the unique opportunity to build a future with a program that celebrates and recognizes its proud history, embraces the current players and works towards a future that everyone will be proud of and unite behind.       Our goal is going to be to approach every day with a tremendous amount of pride and discipline in becoming the best we can be in every facet of our lives, as coaches, as players and anyone involved with our kids. Were going to work to win each day, and over the course of time were going to work to win a national championship. Were going to do that together and do it in a way that enhances our players lives academically, socially and athletically. I hope that plan of attack and approach is going to train our players with an approach that will stay with them the rest of their lives.       Hollidays hire has paid huge and immediate dividends as he has led the OSU program back to national prominence in his first three years at the helm.       Since taking over the reins, Holliday has guided the Cowboys to three-straight NCAA Tournament appearances, the programs first-ever regular season Big 12 Conference championship and its third NCAA Super Regional berth. During Hollidays three-year tenure, the Cowboys have won 127 games, the second-highest win total among Big 12 teams during that span.       Holliday made an immediate impact in his first season, leading the Cowboys to a 41-19 record and the finals of the NCAA Louisville Regional.       OSUs 41 wins in 2013 was its most since 2008, and the Cowboys second-place finish in the Big 12 Conference was also its best in five years.       Under Hollidays direction, the Cowboys won five of their eight Big 12 series, including four in a row to end the season.        Among the other highlights in year one of the Holliday era were:      OSU was nationally ranked for the final 13 weeks of the season. The Cowboys climbed to as high as No. 12 and finished the season with a high ranking of 19th.       The Cowboys had 18 come-from-behind wins.      OSU had 11 players garner All-Big 12 accolades, its most since 2008.      The OSU pitching staff recorded its lowest ERA since 1973, while the Cowboys led the Big 12 in doubles and walks and ranked second in batting average, slugging percentage, home runs and on-base percentage.       OSUs second season under Holliday was even better, and he became the first-ever Cowboy skipper to be named the Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year.       In 2014, the Cowboys went 48-18, marking the most wins for the program since 1994. OSU captured the Big 12 regular season crown with an 18-6 mark, then went on to win the NCAA Stillwater Regional championship and advance to the NCAA Stillwater Super Regional, its first Super Regional appearance since 2007.       OSU was ranked in the national polls throughout the 2014 campaign and finished the year ranked 10th in each of the final national polls, its first top 10 final ranking since 1999.       The 2014 season also saw the Cowboys:      Record 28 come-from-behind wins      Win their final seven Big 12 Conference series       Turn in a 12-game winning streak, its longest since 2008      Host an NCAA Regional at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium for the first time since 2008      Rank in the top 10 nationally in five categories, including home runs, walks, sacrifice bunts and winning percentage.       Further adding to the accolades, 2014 also saw a pair of Cowboys Brendan McCurry and Zach Fish earn All-America honors. Fish was named the Big 12 Player of the Year and was one of 11 Cowboys to garner All-Big 12 accolades, which included a school-record six first-team honorees.       The success continued in year three of the Holliday era as OSU went 38-20 and hosted an NCAA Regional for the second-straight year.       Other 2015 highlights included:      OSU finished second in the Big 12 Conference regular season standings, marking the third consecutive year the Cowboys finished in the top two of the league.      OSU finished as high as No. 17 in the final national polls, earning that ranking from D1Baseball.       The Cowboys were ranked in at least one national poll every week of the 2015 season, running their streak of consecutive weeks in the national rankings to 48 dating back to 2013. They peaked at No. 5 in the polls in 15.      Michael Freeman became the 23rd player in OSU history to be named a first-team All-American and the second to earn Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Year honors.      The Cowboys ranked eighth nationally in ERA. Their 2.84 ERA was the lowest by an OSU pitching staff since 1973.       Holliday is the first former OSU player to serve as the programs head coach. A four-year letterwinner for the Cowboys from 1996-99, Holliday was a starter on Cowboy teams that made four NCAA Tournament appearances and reached the College World Series in 1996 and 1999.       For 11 years, Holliday served as an assistant coach at some of the nations top baseball programs. He started his coaching career at OSU before serving on the staffs at North Carolina State, Georgia Tech, Arizona State and Vanderbilt. He coached on seven NCAA Tournament teams and three of those advanced to the College World Series (Georgia Tech in 2006, Arizona State in 2009 and Vanderbilt in 2011).       We are obviously very excited to welcome Josh back home to Stillwater and Oklahoma State, OSU Vice President for Athletic Programs Mike Holder said. He has seen Cowboy Baseball from just about every angle possible. He grew up at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium and was a terrific student-athlete at Stillwater High School. At OSU, he was an all-conference player and an Academic All-American and is a former staff member. He will bring the enthusiasm, energy, and a competitive fire that comes with being 35 years of age.       He has built a strong national reputation over the years, and I expect him to be on the job as soon as the press conference is completed.       A four-year letterwinner who played in 256 games, which ranks second all time at OSU, Holliday compiled a career .311 batting average to go along with 53 home runs, 62 doubles and 237 RBIs. He was inducted into the OSU Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003.       Hollidays name is prominent throughout the OSU record book. He is OSUs all-time leader in base on balls with 225 and also ranks in the top five on the Cowboys career lists in games, at bats, runs, hits, doubles, total bases, RBIs and hit by pitches. He also ranks seventh all-time in homers.       Holliday was a three-time All-Big 12 performer, earning first-team honors in 1998 (at catcher) and 1999 (at third base). He was a second-team selection as a utility player in 1997 and was named the Big Eight Conference Freshman of the Year and a Freshman All-American in 1996.       Also a standout in the classroom at OSU, Holliday was a first-team academic all-conference honoree in each of his four seasons, earning that distinction in both the Big Eight (1996) and Big 12 (1997-99) Conferences. He was named an Academic All-American and the OSU Male Student-Athlete of the Year in 1999.       Holliday was selected in the 1999 Major League Baseball Draft by Toronto in the ninth round and spent two years in the Blue Jays organization. Following his professional baseball career, Holliday returned to Stillwater and joined the OSU coaching staff, where he served as an assistant for three seasons. He was a student assistant in 2001 before joining the full-time staff the following year.       In 2004, Holliday joined the coaching staff at North Carolina State and helped that team reach an NCAA Regional.       Following that stint, he moved to Georgia Tech and in his first season was part of the Yellow Jackets ACC regular season and tournament championships. During that 2005 season, Georgia Tech ranked in the top five nationally in batting average and runs per game. The following year, the Yellow Jackets reached the College World Series.       In 2008, Holliday was on the staff at Arizona State and helped bring in the top recruiting class in the nation, which helped the Sun Devils reach the 2009 College World Series.       Following two years in Tempe, Holliday joined Tim Corbins staff at Vanderbilt and in three seasons as an assistant and the programs recruiting coordinator, Holliday was a part of three NCAA Tournament teams, including the Commodores 2011 College World Series team.       Holliday once again proved his skill as a recruiter at Vandy as he landed the 12th-ranked incoming class in his first season and signed the top-ranked class in 2011 by bringing in 13 new players.       A prep standout on both the baseball diamond and gridiron at Stillwater High School, Holliday was drafted in the 14th round of the 1995 Major League Baseball Draft by Minnesota. He was the USA Today Gatorade Player of the Year in Oklahoma and a Mizuno/Collegiate Baseball High School All-American. He was also co-valedictorian of his graduating class.       Holliday is the son of Tom Holliday, who served as OSUs assistant coach from 1978-1996 and was the programs head coach from 1997-2003. Hollidays younger brother, Matt, is an All-Star outfielder with the St. Louis Cardinals.       Holliday is married to the former Jenny Moore, and the couple has two children, Olivia and Brady.     Josh Holliday returned home to take over the Oklahoma State baseball program when he was named the 15th head coach in program history on June 8, 2012.  

Walton returned to Stillwater in June 2012 to join Cowboy head coach Josh Hollidays staff as pitching coach.       Waltons tutelage has been a signifcant key to OSUs three-straight NCAA Regional appearances during a span that also includes a Big 12 Conference championship and a Super Regional appearance.       The Cowboys success under Walton includes 12 All-Big 12 pitchers, two first-team All-Americans, a Big 12 Pitcher of the Year and a first-round Major League Baseball Draft pick.       Additionally, OSUs pitching staff led the Big 12 in ERA in conference-only games in 2014 and 2015, and the 15 group turned in the lowest ERA by a Cowboy pitching staff in over 40 years.       Walton made an immediate impact in his first season back in Stillwater. The Cowboys pitching staff finished with a 3.04 ERA, the lowest by an OSU staff since 1973, and ranked in the top 10 nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio.       Under Waltons guidance, six Cowboys earned All-Big 12 accolades in 2013 and a pair of Cowboy hurlers finished in the top 10 in the Big 12 Conference in ERA. He also helped Jason Hursh develop into a first-round draft pick of the Atlanta Braves in the Major League Baseball Draft in June.       In 2014, OSU finished second in the Big 12 in strikeouts and saves, and two Cowboy hurlers Vince Wheeland and Jon Perrin ranked in the top 10 in the league in ERA and wins. Walton also coached a trio of All-Big 12 First Team hurlers (Wheeland, Perrin and Brendan McCurry), while McCurry set OSUs single-season and career saves records and was a consensus All-American.        Waltons third OSU staff also shined. The Cowboys ranked eighth in the NCAA in 2015 with a 2.84 team ERA, the lowest by an OSU group since 1973. In Big 12 Conference play, that ERA dipped to a league-best 2.50.       The 2015 season also saw Walton pupil Michael Freeman blossom into one of college baseballs top pitchers. The southpaw was a consensus All-American and the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year, and he ranked sixth nationally with a 1.31 ERA, the fifth lowest in a single season in OSU history.       Prior to returning to Stillwater, Walton spent the previous 14 years at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, where he was the Golden Eagles head coach for nine seasons. He was a four-year letterwinner as a pitcher at OSU from 1983-86 and played on four College World Series teams for the Cowboys.       This is a really special opportunity for me and my family, Walton said. My wife and I went to school there, and its a chance to come back to our alma mater and help Coach Holliday get the program going in the right direction. Hopefully we can bring it back to prominence.       Ive known Josh (Holliday) for a long time. He has a passion for OSU baseball and so do I, and so were going to team up and do the best job that we can do to put the program back where it needs to be.       In his nine seasons at the helm of ORU, Walton compiled a 367-167 (.687) record and was named the Summit League Coach of the Year five times. Under his direction, the Golden Eagles were an NCAA Tournament team each year and produced five seasons with 40 or more wins, including a 50-win campaign in 2004.       In his 14 seasons in Tulsa, Walton helped ORU produce 16 All-Americans, 14 conference player or co-players of the year and 12 conference pitchers of the year. Additionally, the Golden Eagles had 45 players selected in the Major League Baseball Draft over that span.       In four seasons as a pitcher at OSU, Walton compiled a 20-3 record and 3.74 ERA in 54 appearances. In 204.2 career innings, he collected 147 strikeouts and tossed 10 complete games.       As a senior, Walton led the Cowboys in wins and was 13-2 with a 3.20 ERA in 19 appearances. He also tossed nine complete games, the fourth most in a single season in OSU history.       Were really excited to bring someone of Robs caliber to the program. He possesses the talents and character traits that identify our mission to develop and groom our players in an environment where teaching, discipline, passion, the ability to develop a person in all phases of their life, on the field and off, are the focus, as is the commitment to building a championship team, Holliday said. When this opportunity to bring Rob into our program presented itself, and after sitting and talking with him and his family and sensing the true passion for Oklahoma State, his unique and well-known talents in the game and his desire to team up and pour himself into the kids and help us become great, it was just a tremendous fit.       His history is of great value, added Holliday. He will be as good a mentor and teacher of pitching that any young athlete could hope to find. His reputation and credibility amongst the baseball community in the state of Oklahoma and across the country will enhance our recruiting efforts tremendously. Hes a winner, hes a Cowboy, and hes got a tremendous amount of energy to get started and be a part of what were doing. Its an exciting example of the type of person were going to attract, and this is all about our players having the benefit of an outstanding mind and loyal OSU person that will make our program better instantaneously.       During Waltons tenure, ORU continued its record streak of conference championships, which reached 15 in 2012. With Walton as head coach, the Golden Eagles made nine NCAA Regional appearances and reached a Super Regional in 2006.       Pitching and defense are the keys to winning at any level, Walton said. We want to be able to put together a pitching staff that is in the top 10 in the country year in and year out. We have to recruit really good athletes who have an opportunity to get better and get our pitching staff among the best in the country. If we can, that will give us an opportunity to win every game that we play.       Following his OSU playing career, Walton was drafted by Baltimore in the 25th round of the 1986 Major League Baseball Draft and spent four seasons in the Orioles organization.       After his stint as a player, Walton spent time as an area supervisor for the Cleveland Indians before joining the coaching ranks at Oral Roberts.       In addition to his success at ORU, Walton served as the head coach of the 2008 USA Baseball National Team and led the club to the FISU Gold Medal. He also served as an assistant on the 2005 and 2011 USA Baseball teams.       Walton was a three-sport star at Rutherford (N.J.) High School, earning All-State honors in baseball, basketball and soccer. He was a sixth-round draft pick of the Texas Rangers in 1982.       Walton and his wife, Michelle, have three children -- a son, Davis, a former offensive lineman on the University of Tulsa football team, a son, Donnie, who is a sophomore infielder for Oklahoma State, and a teenage daughter, Cassie.     Former Oklahoma State standout Rob Walton returned to Stillwater in June 2012 to join Cowboy head coach Josh Hollidays staff as pitching coach.