The Sports Journal

The Colorado Rockies won their eighth straight game Sunday, pulling within one game of the San Diego Padres and Philadelphia Phillies in the wild card and setting a franchise record with 84 wins.

The Rockies have been held out of the playoffs for 11 consecutive seasons, last making the postseason as a wild card in 1995. This will be just the fifth time in Colorado’s 15-year existence that the team finishes above .500.

Obviously, with so much losing in their history, it would be monumental for the Rockies if they could close sneak into the playoffs this year. The face of the franchise, first baseman Todd Helton, has been with the team his entire 10-year career. During his time in the majors, Helton has won a batting title, three Gold Gloves and been selected to five All-Star games, yet he has never been in the playoffs.

Now, the Rockies have finally built a good team around Helton, despite having the fourth lowest payroll in all of baseball.

Outfielder Matt Holliday leads the team with a .337 batting average, 36 HRs and 131 RBIs, and is regarded as one of the leading candidates for the National League Most Valuable Player. Outfielder Brad Hawpe and third baseman Garrett Atkins each have more than 100 RBIs, and shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, in addition to playing outstanding defense, is second in the majors in home runs and RBIs among rookies.

Furthermore, the Rockies, known for years for their poor pitching, have built up a fairly good rotation and bullpen. The starting rotation has no true ace by most teams’ standards, but Jeff Francis’s 17 wins have tied the franchise record, and Aaron Cook and Rodrigo Lopez add solid depth. The bullpen has been a source of strength, led by young closer Manny Corpas and veteran left-hander Brian Fuentes.

After an off-day Monday, Colorado returns to action tonight, traveling to Los Angeles to take on the Dodgers. The Dodgers are out of the playoff race but still dangerous, starting Cy Young-candidate Brad Penny tonight in an effort to break the Rockies’ winning streak. Colorado will counter with Ubaldo Jimenez, a rookie who has pitched well in 13 starts this year for the Rockies, posting a 4.14 ERA.

Colorado has six games remaining, including tonight’s. After three games against the Dodgers, the Rockies finish the season at home against division-leader Arizona. Colorado currently trails by 4 games, but by closing the season with three games against the Diamondbacks, the team still stands a chance at winning the National League West for the first time.

The two teams Colorado trails in the wild card have difficult finishes ahead. The Padres have six games left against last-place San Francisco and the sputtering Milwaukee Brewers, but will have to manage without two of their best hitters, Milton Bradley and Mike Cameron, who will both miss the remainder of the season. The Phillies start a tough series tonight against the hot Atlanta Braves before wrapping up against Washington.

The Rockies looked out of the race just a week ago, but by getting hot at just the right time have put themselves in position to be competing for a spot in the postseason at the end of September, a rare sight for their fans. If the team can just put together one more good week, then playoff baseball may be coming to Colorado for just the second time ever.

The following story will appear in the September 24th edition of The O’Colly . Also check out the O’Colly site for a full recap of Saturday’s game.

Oklahoma State won a thrilling Big XII opener Saturday against Texas Tech, 49-45, surviving the shootout by calling time and again on a dominating running game.

The two teams combined for 1,328 yards of total offense, and Tech quarterback Graham Harrell’s 646 passing yards were the fourth most in a game in NCAA history, but at the end of the day, the Cowboy runners led the team to victory.

In losses to Georgia and Troy, the Cowboys had to abandon the running game in an attempt to play catch-up, but against Tech, OSU ran well throughout the game. Quarterback Zac Robinson and running backs Dantrell Savage and Kendall Hunter all rushed for more than 100 yards, the first time in school history that three players hit that mark in a single game, as OSU piled up 366 yards on the ground.

“We always have felt like we can run the football,” offensive coordinator Larry Fedora said. “It’s still based on taking what people give us. They didn’t stop us from running the football.”

Leading the way for the Pokes was Savage. The senior back missed the last two games with a groin injury, but returned against Tech to carry 25 times for 130 yards, the highest rushing total by a Cowboy this season, and a touchdown.

“Dantrell is an unbelievable player and definitely having him back was huge,” Robinson said. “We have a ton of running backs that can run the ball, but when he’s got the ball in his hands, I wouldn’t trade him for anybody in the country.”

Savage was quick to praise Hunter, a true freshman who ran 14 times for 113 yards and a touchdown and has a running style very similar to Savage’s. Savage said Hunter is a better back than he already, adding that Hunter would only get better with more experience.

Robinson was making just his second career start, and in addition to 211 yards passing with two touchdowns, he ran 13 times for 116 yards and a pair of scores, including a 48-yard scramble for a touchdown that was the Cowboys’ longest run of the year.

“Going in, I didn’t know just how much I’d run, but it ended up that’s what we did, and it worked out well,” Robinson said. “The offensive line played great—they were moving guys all day, doing a great job with the blitz.”

The play of the offensive line was crucial to OSU’s success. Questions about how the line would perform were swirling all week with the news that starting center David Washington would miss the rest of the season after breaking his leg in the Troy, but the line answered any doubts by opening huge holes for the Cowboy runners.

The Pokes moved players around to find a working combination on the line. Andrew Lewis moved from left guard to center, David Koenig moved from right to left guard, and Steve Denning came off the bench to start at right guard. In addition to paving the way for the big day for the running game, the offensive line never allowed a sack.

“That’s something that some people tend to overlook because of the way the game went, but we had a new center in there starting the first game of his career,” Fedora said. “We had just lost a three-year starter, but Andrew Lewis did a heck of a job. He was pretty dang solid the whole game, and that’s huge for us.

“The kid’s been getting reps from spring, and he’s a smart kid. He’s intelligent, and he knew what to do. There was never a question in the game where he didn’t know what to do.”

Even Brandon Pettigrew got in on the act. While Cowboy fans will surely remember the tight end best for his remarkable game-winning 54-yard touchdown catch, he had been held without a catch until that point and was making his biggest impact as a blocker. Pettigrew said that Tech was probably his best game ever blocking.

The running game gave the offense its most productive day of the season and more confidence going forward. With a pivotal victory under their belts, the Cowboys will look to continue improving and try to make some noise in the Big XII.

The following article will appear in the September 21th edition of The O’Colly .

Oklahoma State will open Big XII play Saturday when it hosts Texas Tech in a pivotal game for the Cowboys.

Off to a disappointing 1-2 start, the Cowboys need a victory at home to get their season back on track. If the Pokes win tomorrow, they can still get on a roll and make some noise in the Big XII South. If they lose, then even making a bowl game could become challenging with a brutal schedule still ahead.

In order to gain that key victory, the Cowboy offense will have to step up and play better against Tech (3-0). Tech’s high-powered offense will be difficult to stop, so the Pokes will have to put up points of their own.

“They are very similar to what they’ve been in the last few years, so it will be a great challenge for us,” coach Mike Gundy said. “Hopefully, offensively our game plan will be in place and we can run the ball effectively, throw the ball and limit our turnovers.”

Oklahoma State’s offense has been unable to live up to its preseason hype to this point, but the good news for the Cowboys is that Tech’s defense has traditionally been a weak point for the team. Tech has held its opponents to a respectable 21 points per game this year, but the three teams it’s played thus far have a combined record of 2-7.

Leading the offense will be sophomore quarterback Zac Robinson, who made his first career start last week in the loss at Troy. Robinson was impressive after coming in for an injured Bobby Reid in the Florida Atlantic victory, but struggled in his first game after winning the starting job, turning the ball over three times.

Robinson will need support Saturday from the players at the skill positions, who, other than receiver Adarius Bowman, have been fairly quiet this season. Tight end Brandon Pettigrew set career highs for receptions and receiving yards in the opener against Georgia, but since then has just three catches in two games. The receiver starting opposite Bowman, sophomore Jeremy Broadway, has five catches for 33 yards in three games.

The Pokes will again be without senior running back Dantrell Savage, who’s been out since the Georgia game with a groin injury. In his absence, sophomore Keith Toston and freshman Kendall Hunter will split time. Hunter is coming off a career-high 125 rushing yards against Troy, OSU’s only 100-yard rushing game of the season.

“Kendall played pretty good,” Gundy said. “He put the ball on the ground once, but I was proud of the way he played as a true freshmen. He stepped in and he got a little tired at times, but for the most part he did a nice job.”

Two reasons the offense has struggled to get on track this season are turnovers and penalties. The Cowboys have turned the ball over eight times in three games, tying them with Iowa State for the most turnovers in the Big XII.

Penalties have been particularly frustrating for Gundy, as OSU has averaged 72 penalty yards per game.

“We have to be smarter,” Gundy said. “That’s why we’re struggling on third downs, because we are in third-and-longs, not third-and-mediums or third-and-shorts. All that stuff kind of comes together and those are the things that have to be corrected.”

If they can fix these problems and get in a groove offensively, the Cowboys have the fire power to be able to win a shootout against Texas Tech. If they can’t, it may be a rough day for the Pokes and their fans.

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