By Wendell Barnhouse
Big12Sports.com Correspondent
Forces beyond Oklahoma State's control helped the Cowboys host an NCAA baseball super regional last season. OSU won its regional and was matched against the winner of the Corvallis Regional, feature overall No. 1 seed Oregon State. When the Beavers were upset, the Cowboys wound up playing in Stillwater.
Good fortune could again smile on Oklahoma State. The winner of the Stillwater Regional is matched with the winner of the Springfield Regional; the No. 1 seed there is Missouri State. If the seeds hold, Missouri State would be unable to host a super regional because it shares its facility with the Springfield Cardinals, who are home June 2-7.
Oklahoma State coach Josh Holliday has no interest in speculation or looking past his team's regional opener against No. 4 seed St. John's Friday.
"We're just looking at this one here," he said. "You've got to win the one in front of you. It starts with St. John's first and foremost, preparing for the first game of the tournament. That's the only thing you know at this point.
"If you win a regional, my experience is you do it one day at a time."
St. John's, the Cowboys' first opponent faced a 1,500 mile drive. No. 2 seed Arkansas (180 miles from Fayetteville) and No. 3 seed Oral Roberts (60 miles from Tulsa) make three quarters of the Stillwater Regional … well, regional.
"Well we've got some really good teams coming in here," he said. "When you see St. John's name pop up there and they've got close to 40 wins, and knowing the type of baseball they've historically played, that's a really, really good four-seed.
"And we've seen Oral Roberts, who is a really good ball club. And then you've got Arkansas who has been a really competitive team the last 30 games and in the SEC, that makes for a great tournament. It's a statement of the good baseball that is played in this area with ORU and Arkansas and ourselves. It's a really strong regional."
And before Oklahoma State can start thinking about hosting a super regional for the second consecutive season, it needs to take care of business this weekend.
Stillwater Regional
Allie P. Reynolds Stadium
Friday's games
Noon: No. 2 Arkansas vs. No. 3 Oral Roberts
6 p.m.: No. 1 Oklahoma State vs. No. 4 St. John's
What's next: Winner of this regional faces the winner of the Missouri State Regional in a best-of-three super regional.
Oklahoma State Update: The Cowboys opened the season with seven games in the Phoenix area, taking on Arizona State in a three-game series, before playing four games in the Big 12/Pac-12 Challenge. Their last eight games were also away from home: at Dallas Baptist for one, then three at Michigan and four in the Big 12 Tournament in Tulsa. … Michael Freeman, a 6-8 lefty, was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year. He's 10-2 with a microscopic ERA of 1.05. … The Cowboys' 40 homers ranked third in the Big 12 and have four players who have stolen 10 or more bases. … Oklahoma State ranks in the top 20 in Division I in walks (268) and sacrifice bunts (74).
Arkansas Update: The No. 20 Razorbacks received an at-large bid after finishing third in the SEC West. … Arkansas won 20 of its last 27 games and is making its 14th straight NCAA appearance and 28th overall. … With South Carolina not making the field, Arkansas now has the SEC's longest active NCAA Tournament appearance streak. … Arkansas is one of just five teams in the nation to advance to the NCAA Tournament each of the last 14 years. … Arkansas sophomore center fielder Andrew Benintendi is a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award that goes to the nation's top player. He's hitting .391 with 18 homers, 52 RBI and a .738 slugging percentage)
Oral Roberts Update: The Golden Eagles claimed the automatic bid from the Summit League, winning the regular season and conference tournament. This is ORU's first NCAA appearance since 2012 and its 25th overall…. Oral Roberts' top pitcher is Xavier Altamirano. He has 81 strikeouts in 85.2 innings. … The Golden Eagles have seven shutouts. … Oral Roberts (41-14) is second in the country with a team batting average of .321. … The last time the Golden Eagles played in Stillwater they knocked off Oklahoma State, 15-5, on April 15. … The Golden Eagles have won six in a row and winners in 13 of their last 14 games.
St. John's Update: Ryan McCormick was selected as the Big East Pitcher of the Year. Conference opponents only hit .168 against McCormick. He has a 9-1 record and went 6-0 in Big East games. … St. John's has posted a 32-2 record this season when holding the opposition to five runs or less. … The Red Storm has won 15 in a row. … They captured the Big East Conference tournament and automatic NCAA bid by defeating Creighton, 8-7, on the Bluejays' home field – T.D. Ameritrade Park, the site of the College World Series. … St. John's has won eight Big East titles and is making its 35th NCAA tournament appearance; that's ninth on the all-time list.