As fans enter the gates of Allie P. Reynolds Stadium and look at the playing surface, there is a lot of grass to maintain.

It’s not the average patch of grass from the front yard.

It’s 90,000 square feet of bermuda grass seeded with perennial rye grass.

For Todd Tribble and his staff of 16 workers, the playing surface at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium is one of their biggest priorities while maintaining the athletic fields at Oklahoma State.

            “Baseball is 75 to 80 percent of what we do,” Tribble said.

            Tribble, OSU’s athletic field superintendent, is in his 11^th year at OSU. Of his sixteen workers, eight are full-time staff and the others consist of student workers. His department manages the playing surfaces at Allie P. Reynolds stadium, Cowgirl Stadium, Neal Patterson Stadium and the track’s field event area’s and a new 100-acre cross country course.

            A typical day for the athletic grounds crew staff begins early in the morning about 8 and can stretch to as late as 11 p.m., depending on what events the crew has to staff.

            “We’ll start our day over at softball,” Tribble said. “A little less to manage, we’ll clean up the grass edges around the dirt and clean up the synthetic turf while also managing the moisture on the dirt. The same goes for baseball. We’ll check our areas and manage the moisture and then give the grass a mow. After that, we just set up for practice.”

            Game days are easier for Tribble’s staff but also present a longer work day.

“If it’s a 6:30 p.m. game, we are here by 8 a.m. and won’t leave until around 11 p.m. or until our post game work is done,” Tribble said. “We figure that (coach) Josh (Holliday) comes out four hours before first pitch to start the team’s pregame routine, so we are trying to get most of our work done before 2 p.m. It’s about an hour’s worth of post-game work to get cleaned up.”

The preparation for a game day is not something that is started the day before a game, but a few days in advance. Tribble and his staff decide on a field pattern for a game and begin to mow it.

            “We usually try to start setting a pattern three days before the fans will see it,” Tribble said. “The initial time the pattern begins to get cut in, the lines are not normally straight. As we get up to Friday first pitch, the lines have progressively come along. The more time it gets mowed, the brighter it gets and the easier it is for the operators to mow.”

            Tribble said the patterns in the outfield are normally a more traditional pattern, and he does not attempt to get too fancy with it.

            The mowers are equipped with rollers, which help give the mow pattern more definition.

            “Each mower has rollers,” Tribble said. “The roller is what presses the grass down. A light-colored stripe is mowed towards the wall from home plate. A dark colored stripe is mowed away from the wall towards the infield.”

            T the outfield grass is not the biggest time consumer for Tribble’s staff.

            Among with the detail of the grass and mow pattern, the clay areas on the field are the most worked on areas for the field.

            “All the dirt areas are the biggest time consumer,” Tribble said. We try to make sure they are not too wet or too dry and making sure our edges are crisp. We make sure there is enough conditioner on it and there are no low spots. The grass itself is pretty easy for us. It’s a day-to-day task as the clay is a three-to-four times a day task.”

            When it comes to maintaining an athletic field, Tribble encourages his workers to take pride in their work.

            “We try to maintain a high attention to detail, “Tribble said. “The small stuff is what makes the difference for us. We try to take no shortcuts and treat each day like it is a game day. We never know when someone is going to walk through our facility and judge whether we are good at our jobs or not based on how the field looks.”

            The attention to detail does not go unnoticed.

            Victor Romero, OSU baseball’s volunteer assistant coach, has spent all of his time either playing or coaching on a field maintained by Tribble while at OSU.

            Romero played catcher for OSU during the 2012-13 seasons. After a brief stint with the San Diego Padres, Romero returned back to OSU to begin coaching.

            He attributes the attention to detail to helping the players play on a good surface.

            “Those guys spend a lot of their time setting up and working on the field,” Romero said. “For ground ball work, not having choppy grass or an uneven dirt surface makes it the world of difference when we practice. It’s a top of the line condition.”

            When Tribble and his staff are not maintaining Allie P. Reynolds Stadium, they can be tending to other athletic facilities.

            This past fall, they inherited Neal Patterson Stadium, the new home of Cowgirl Soccer. The surface is the same grass as the baseball and softball fields, but has added a new field for the staff to upkeep.

            Adam Pope, the associate athletic field superintendent, said there are only a few issues that come along with the new soccer field.

            “I think the biggest thing is making sure areas do not get burnt out or overused,” Pope said. “Besides that, we just have to keep the field measured out and come paint lines when needed.”

            Along with Neal Patterson Stadium, Tribble and his staff are now beginning to inherit a new cross-country course. The land sits behind the Morrison housing community off of McElroy Road. It presents a challenge that his staff has not faced before.

            “With cross country, it is the additional acreage,” Tribble said. ”We have never had to maintain acreage of that matter. We spent a lot of money to be able to host NCAA regionals this year and NCAA championships next year. It’s a little bit of unknown for us with over 100 acres and it’s not completed yet. We are trying to figure out how to maintain that at a high level and will be interesting the first few years.”

            Along with all of their grass fields they maintain, Tribble says one of the biggest problems they face is rain.

            At Allie. P Reynolds Stadium, the field does not have the modern-day drainage such as the soccer stadium. Tribble said this is called a USGA type construction. The way it is constructed at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium is surface drainage.

            “When it comes to rain, it’s our biggest issue,” Tribble said. “If you have a field that is drained properly, it consists of a layer of sand that meets the natural soil. Underneath the sand sits gravel and four inches of drain pipe. So as it rains, the moisture sinks into the sand and gravel, making it drain faster. Here at Allie P., we have to drain it across the field. That’s called surface drainage, making the field a little more suspect to wet conditions.”

            But, with most of their time dedicated to Allie P. Reynolds Stadium, their effort does not go unnoticed by the OSU baseball players.

            Cade Cabbiness, a junior outfielder, said there have been times where Tribble has asked him to move spots in the outfield to avoid killing grass.

            “I like to play in a certain spot,” Cabbiness said. “After standing in that spot over and over, it can kill grass over time. Todd always asks me to move. At first, I was confused because it was my positioning, but looking at it now, it’s something they take pride in and they did not want another dead spot in the outfield.”

            With Romero, he has his own nickname though for the manicurists of the grass at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.

            “I call them the barbers,” Romero said. “They trim up the lines, fade them up and make them pinpoint. It’s something they obviously take pride in.”

Most college athletes strive to play for a championship ring.

Heading into his first semester in the fall as a transfer student-athlete at Oklahoma State, Alix Garcia had another commitment to uphold alongside his commitment to play baseball at OSU.

The other commitment presented Garcia his first ring. It was not a ring earned on the playing field.

It was a wedding ring.

Days before his wedding in August, Garcia had to leave the final wedding preparations behind in his hometown of Othello, Washington. With his truck packed with belongings and his soon-to-be wife’s car in tow. He began a 27-hour journey to Stillwater. Looking back, Garcia felt hurried.

“I thought we had more time originally,” Garcia said. “I came down with a friend, drove the 27 hours over two days, went to new student orientation the next day and got back on a flight early the next morning to go back for the wedding.”

After returning home, Garcia finished the final wedding preparations and married Kylee Hawley on Aug. 18. They had been together since their junior year of high school. Hawley’s grandmother babysat Garcia, creating a family friendship during the span of their lives.

Getting married at 20, Garcia received support from his family. His father, Charles Garcia, said he recognized what Hawley meant to his son.

“It came as no surprise to me and my wife because they had dated for several years,” Charles Garcia said. “It was easy to see she was the ying to his yang and wanted to be there to support him in his journey moving forward.”

 Instead of spending their first days as a couple on a honeymoon, they packed began again. A day after the wedding, the newlyweds loaded up a U-Haul truck and Garcia began the 27-hour drive for the second time in a week.

The move to Stillwater was not the first time the couple had lived together. Hawley had joined Garcia as he attended Central Arizona College and played baseball. Hawley, also from Othello, Washington, played volleyball at a Yakima Valley College in Yakima, Washington. At the semester break, she looked to go play volleyball at Central Arizona College until her phone rang.

“I had played a semester up at Yakima (Washington),” Hawley said. “After that one semester, Alix asked me to come live with him down in Arizona. My parents were very supportive. I was going to play volleyball at Central and then one day we got a phone call that the volleyball program was being shut down.”

            With the news of the volleyball program shutting down, Hawley decided to stay in Arizona after settling in. She lost her scholarship and ended up paying out-of-state tuition to go to school.

            She looked at the program shutting down as as a positive.

            “Sure, I went to go play volleyball, but I decided to stay,” Hawley said. “I had never been to Arizona, so it was cool for me to stay down there, spend time with Alix and our friends and get to enjoy a new place.”

            Originally, Garcia never intended on going to Central Arizona College. Out of high school, Garcia had committed to Washington State University to play baseball. Late into his senior year, all of the coaches at WSU were fired. When the new coaching staff came in, it told Garcia he was not going to have a scholarship. Garcia decided to attend Central Arizona College, where he had a previous relationship with the coaching staff who had watched him play.

            During his first year at Central Arizona College, Garcia hit .333 with 42 RBIs. His numbers offensively caught the eyes of OSU assistant coach James Vilade. Although he was not looking for a first baseman, Vilade was primarily recruiting Garcia’s teammate, Matt Kroon. An Oregon transfer, Kroon signed with OSU and was the 2018 Big 12 Baseball Newcomer of the Year.

            Vilade continually followed Garcia during his second season at CAC. Garcia produced better offensive numbers than the year before, hitting .368 with six home runs and 66 RBIs.  After talking with his coaches at CAC, Vilade reached out to Garcia and had him on an official visit to OSU last spring, where he eventually committed. Vilade was impressed with Garcia’s makeup not only as a player, but also as a person.

            “I had talked to all of his junior college coaches about what he brought to the table,” Vilade said. “All of them were impressed on his maturity as a player and a person. He carries himself well now, and now being able to see him work on a daily basis, it shows the maturity he possesses.”

            Entering into another new town last fall, Garcia knew it could be a daunting task. This time, he had his wife by his side.

            Although they had been married for such a short time before moving to Stillwater for the next step of his baseball journey, his father realized Garcia had nothing to worry about on this move or transition.

            “With Alix being married, it enabled him to adjust at an easier pace to a different environment because he brought his support system with him,” Charles Garcia said. “It allowed him to ease into the transition of a new school, a new home and playing atmosphere. I wasn’t as worried from a baseball standpoint because he has had to adjust to new atmospheres while traveling and playing baseball.”

            The rings on their fingers were the only thing different about this transition.

            With already living together for 1 ½ years at Central Arizona College, Hawley said it has helped them with the move to Stillwater.

            “At first in Arizona, it was tough,” Hawley said. “We fought a lot in the beginning. We knew what quirks could get one another mad. For example, he could leave a trail of clothes from the front door heading into the bathroom. Instead of getting mad, I just could pick them up. Eventually, we just got used to each other and our bad habits, so it’s pretty smooth now.”

            During the fall, Garcia was not sure how his new teammates would be accepting of a wife. Both he and his wife did not know anyone in Stillwater and looked to make friends.

            Joe Lienhard, a senior pitcher, said the team did not hesitate in involving both in its social group.

            “You know, we all have something unique,” Lienhard said. “For him, he’s married. In my four years playing here, I’ve had engaged teammates but none that were married. I remember the first time we had a cookout last fall. Alix looked at us and said, ‘Is it cool if I bring my wife?’, and we laughed and said absolutely. She’s been cool to have around as well.”

            As Lienhard said, he has teammates who are engaged but never has had someone who has been married.

            It is also a rarity for the coaching staff as well.

            “It’s something we don’t encounter often,” Vilade said. “It’s good for him though that he found someone he wanted to marry and spend the rest of his life with at a young age. We were really excited to for Alix and Kylee, and were really happy to add them to our baseball family this year.”

            With the season in full swing, Garcia is on the road quite often, leaving Hawley in Stillwater with their blue Doberman/Rottweiler dog.

            She has had to adapt some herself without Garcia by her side. In Arizona, she was able to drive to games when Garcia played on the road. At OSU, the travel can be farther and not in a drivable distance.

            “In Arizona, the farthest place he played was in Vegas, which was like four hours away,” Hawley said. “Here, he buses to most places, but they have trips where they have to fly. I did make the Los Angeles trip. When he is gone, I’ve made some friends, mostly at the dog park, but I do that and my online classes, too.”

            As the OSU baseball team is going to spend the next three weekends on the road, Hawley is going to go back home for three weeks, which is the longest period they have been separated in awhile.

            With their first year of being married being in Stillwater, Garcia has had to balance his time with school, baseball and also spending time with Hawley.

            There are days where school and baseball take up most of his time, but Garcia always attempts to make time for his wife.

            “In between class and practice, she’ll come pick me up and we will go to lunch or something like that,” Garcia said. “On those days where school is busy and I get home and am tired, we try to talk or watch one a TV show we are in to just to spend time with each other.”

            Both have enjoyed spending their first year of marriage in Stillwater. Although both admit the weather was better in Arizona at times, the college town atmosphere and being around people have been a positive for the newlyweds.

            “We still try to do things like normal college kids,” Hawley said.

            “Really the only thing that has changed is the ring on both of our fingers.”

Things were looking up as Parker Scott entered the fall of 2017.

After missing most of his freshman season with ulnar nerve damage in his throwing arm, the left-handed pitcher was happy to be back on the mound.

He had a healthy fall and threw the ball well. He began to feel comfortable as he did before the injury. He even worked hard enough to earn the start in the only fall exhibition game versus Northeastern State.

But the start put him back at phase one.

Scott would start the game. Everything was feeling right and began to regain his mound presence. That soon changed.

“After getting through the first few batters that inning, I felt my arm begin to tighten up,” Scott said. “I threw my last pitch and felt a pop. I knew something had happened and I was done.”

Scott tore his ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) and would need to undergo surgery, infamously known as Tommy John surgery. The rehabilitation was slated to take 12-18 months, taking Scott away from the game once again.

Going through the strenuous rehabilitation process of Tommy John, Scott knew it was going to take a toll on his mental and physical health. At times, he thought the best solution was to walk away from the game.

“I went through a really tough time,” Scott said. “After coming back from my first surgery freshman year and beginning to throw and feel good and be back to normal, I get Tommy John. I was afraid to reinjure it after the second one and was really hesitant to throw after having the second surgery. I thought about giving it up because I kept getting hurt and thought baseball wasn’t for me.”

As he struggled with the idea of whether he would be able to play at a high level again, Scott turned to his support group. This time, he was not looking for advice from his family or a doctor, but found his teammates as his support group in this time.

Of the 35 members of the 2018 OSU Cowboy baseball team, five had undergone Tommy John surgery. They knew the pain and the struggles this injury presented and looked to use their experiences to help a teammate who was going through the exact process.

***

            In 2014 at Southlake Carroll High School in Dallas, Texas, Ben Leeper was developing into a promising young pitcher.

            The junior had put up an 11-1 record with a 0.90 earned run average. He had committed to Stanford University.

            His future went into jeopardy with one pop.

            Leeper was throwing in the state playoffs and had gotten deep into the game. In the sixth inning, his arm began to tighten up. He threw a fastball and felt an instant pop. With adrenaline rushing, he took six steps off the mound and collapsed. His arm was done.

            Rather than tearing his ulnar collateral ligament, Leeper had pulled it off of the bone. He would undergo Tommy John surgery to reattach his ligament to his elbow and also had a graph pulled from his left wrist to reinforce the ligament.

            After undergoing this surgery. Leeper missed his senior year of high school baseball. Stanford lost interest in him and he eventually committed to Oklahoma State.

            Coming into his freshman year, Leeper was fully recovered and looked help the Cowboys’ pitching staff. He started twice for the Cowboys in the 2016 season but every time he pitched, Leeper felt a sharp pain. After a MRI, it showed he had a calcification in the ligament, causing a microtear every time he threw. Leeper needed a second reconstructive surgery to his throwing arm. Although he knew what to expect, Leeper did not have a positive outlook towards his baseball future.

            “I thought about quitting multiple times,” Leeper said. “After my first surgery, I came back and felt great. And then I get hit with another surgery. It really put things into perspective. Is baseball something that I was meant to do or do I find something else.”

            Deciding to stick with it, Leeper used it as a learning process. He had surgery in April 2016 and missed all of the 2017 spring season until he finally began to pitch that fall. He went 21 months with no in-game action.

            As he returned to the mound in fall 2017, Leeper doubted himself at first. Once he began a routine, he felt more relieved.

            “After the second surgery, I would feel pain and doubted my strength,” Leeper said. “As I kept throwing, I wondered if it was really fixed. I would keep going to doctors and they said it was fine. I felt like I was holding myself back but once I let myself go, I began to feel normal again.”

            As he began to regain his mound presence that fall, Leeper began to step into a leadership role among the pitching staff. At this time, the Cowboys had three players in the process of recovering from Tommy John: redshirt sophomore Jensen Elliott, redshirt freshman Parker Scott and Tanner Sparks, who entered the program fresh off of Tommy John in high school.

Leeper and transfer right-handed pitcher, Reza Aleaziz, who underwent Tommy John surgery in junior college, began to relay their experiences to help the young pitchers out.

***

            Right as Leeper was returning from his injury, Scott got injured.

            Leeper and Aleaziz both realized what Scott was going through. They were the only two members on the team who had completed the rehabilitation process. From his previous experience as a freshman, Leeper did not really have a solid person to talk to in regards to his injury. Knowing that he was a veteran player, he knew he needed to pick up his teammate when he was down.

            “When I was a freshman, we had some older guys who had gone through it but they had left,” Leeper said. “It was hard to relate to the other pitchers because they did not know what the struggles I had gone through. Knowing that I had failed to comprehend some stuff early on in my process, I was able to guide Parker (Scott) in the right direction.”

            Seeing Leeper step up, Aleaziz also stepped in. Entering the program as a transfer, Aleaziz was not familiar with the team to begin with. He spent his first month in Stillwater waiting to join the team due transcript problems from his community college. As he joined the team, Aleaziz’s outgoing personality clicked with Scott. The two became friends after he joined the team. A month after he joined the team, Scott got injured. Aleaziz knew he needed to step in and help his new teammate out in this time of need.

            “The biggest thing I had to elaborate to him was the mental side of the surgery,” Aleaziz said. “People forget that it takes a toll on you mentally and it’s something we all struggled with. You look at it and realize you are going to be out for a season so really I stuck by his side and encouraged him to stay strong.”

            The three pitchers began to support each other. Aleaziz said it wasn’t a “pow wow” but they all looked to each other in the time of need because all of them had gone through it.

            ***

            Entering the program last fall, Tanner Sparks came in as a two-way player recovering from Tommy John surgery in the summer of 2018. In the fall, he didn’t spend much time around Aleaziz, Leeper or Scott as he worked with the position player groups. As he began to transition into solely being a pitcher, he was able to begin to learn more from the three veteran pitchers on the process as a whole.

            Sparks wanted to get back as quickly as possible. He wanted to rush through it but Leeper stepped in and told him to take it easy.

            “At first, he said to be positive,” Sparks said. “I think I was worried about being back to 100 percent but after watching Ben (Leeper), I knew I could do it. It was going to take time and I just had to deal with it. “

            As the 2018 season came around in the spring, Leeper was on the travel roster. Scott and Sparks were not as they were still in the process of recovering. Doing so, Sparks spent time on the weekends when the team was away with Scott, learning about the process as a whole but also helping transition into the life of a college baseball player.

            Both were away from the team and missed out on travel and spending time with teammates. It helped them build relationships on a more personal level.

            “We spent a lot of time in the training room,” Sparks said. “On the level of the group as a whole, I didn’t get to build much of a relationship but on an individual level, I was able to bond with Parker because we spent all that time together, creating a good relationship.”

***

            Following the 2018 season, Aleaziz was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Leeper, Scott and Sparks all are returning to the Cowboys pitching staff in 2019.

            As new players joined the team, Sparks began to relate to Logan Gragg, a transfer junior college pitcher. Gragg struggled at first as he began to socialize with his teammates. He wasn’t familiar in his new place, but Sparks learned Gragg had gone through Tommy John surgery previously. The four-inch scar that both had on their throwing elbows helped Gragg transition into the Cowboys’ clubhouse.

            “When I first got here, I didn’t know many people,” Gragg said. “I met Sparky, and he had TJ too so we talked about it and it transitioned into more of a conversation. It created an appreciation because I knew how hard it was to come back from this, so it was cool to see someone who had done the same thing.”

            Teammates spend time a lot of time together, whether it is on the practice field, dugouts, charter buses or in the locker room. Relationships are made, but these guys have a bond most can’t understand; a bond held together by a scar and a surgically repaired ligament.

Christian Funk’s baseball future appeared to be bright.

A center fielder, he was fully recovered from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear to his right knee. College coaches were beginning to contact him to gauge interest to their universities. One school stuck out to Funk: Oklahoma State University.

In the 2016 fall season, Funk was eight months removed from surgery and OSU pitching coach Rob Walton traveled to Fresno, California, to see Funk play. Walton was impressed. OSU offered Funk a scholarship. Funk knew all he had to do was have a healthy and complete season and he would make the 1,515-mile journey to Stillwater.

Then it happened.

In a game in late March at West Hills Coalinga College, Funk started the game in center field. In the bottom of the fourth, a ball was hit into the left-center field gap. The left fielder, Eddie Pena, and Funk were running to make a play. To avoid collision as both approached the ball, Funk planted his foot and his knee buckled.

“I knew I had done it again,” Funk said.

Funk had torn his left ACL and missed the rest of the season. His future was uncertain.

“At that point, Oklahoma State had seen me,” Funk said. “I hadn’t signed anything, so it wasn’t official. All I had to do was play the season and I would be able to get to go to OSU. After I tore it, I got back to the dugout. I knew it wasn’t going to be good. Why would they take me? I’m no good to them.”

To that point, Funk thrived as an athlete. A three-sport athlete at Clovis West High School, he excelled as a quarterback, played on the soccer team and played shortstop. Funk had offers to play college soccer but chose baseball instead. Facing his second ACL injury in a year’s span, how would he react? Would this affect his future?

His father realized the injury happened at a time they were talking to schools to evaluate Funk’s future.

“It was a period of time of talking to schools and seeing what scenario was best for him,” Michael Funk said. “Of course, the opportunity at Oklahoma State was there. Here’s all that excitement and then the injury happens and then especially for him it is now wondering, ‘Am I going to have a place to play next year and if so, where’s that going to be?’ and with it happening in that recruiting period, it was very tough for him.

With the lingering thoughts of what Funk’s baseball career brought next, Michael Funk knew the recovery process Funk was no stranger to was going to be a test.

“The toughest thing really is seeing someone like him who has been active his whole life whether it was baseball, golf, soccer or even pickup basketball is now barely be able to do any of those activities,” Michael Funk said. “In regards to baseball, there was uncertainty of the recovery. He had put his whole life into baseball but now couldn’t be out on the field and couldn’t swing the bat. We were really unsure of how well he was going to be able to run coming back from surgery as well.”

His active lifestyle turned into an inactive lifestyle.

            “It was brutal sitting on the couch for months not being able to do anything,” Funk said. “The pain, going through rehab was awful and I never wanted to go because of it but you have to go.”

            Knowing his future depended on his will to go, Funk began to evaluate his rehabilitation and treatment process. Along with beginning to build more of a motivation to his process, he also had to make his college decision as he had exhausted his time and eligibility at Fresno City Community College.

            His will to work harder and his ability to do so came knowing an opportunity was there. His father said he had the options to go play at smaller schools, but when OSU coach Josh Holliday called, the motivation to take rehabilitation was becoming more serious.

            “A year ago, he didn’t know what to expect,” Michael Funk said. “When Coach Holliday called him and said I want you to come to Oklahoma State and we rehab that knee, we’re gonna have a place for you on this team, I think it showed him that this coach is invested in me, this program is invested in me so I (Christian) am gonna work my butt off for this team.”

            The stipulations were a little different after his second surgery. Funk would join the Cowboys as a preferred walk-on instead of a scholarship player. Still, Funk decided to pack up and head halfway across the country. He saw what he had in front of him before the injury. He also realized what struggles he would soon face moving to Stillwater to pursue a dream.

            “You show up and you don’t know anybody,” Funk said. “You don’t even know if you are going to make the team. It was tough knowing that I had a scholarship right in front of me and then something like that happens.”

            The second rehabilitation process was utterly different from his first. This time, he was not familiar with who was performing his treatment or even familiar with the town.

            As he arrived in Stillwater, Funk became close with two people; the baseball athletic trainer, Eli Williams, and his roommate, Matt Kroon.

            Williams had gotten word the team had signed a player with two ACL injuries. He knew he would need to evaluate Funk as soon as he got on campus to begin to develop a treatment plan.

            “I get a heads up and hear that he’s tore both ACLs, so you soon think, ’What do we have coming in here and what is going on with this guy?’ Williams said. “The fact that it was separate ACLs and that it was odd circumstances really helped me have more of a positive outlook on it.”

            After Funk arrived and met with Williams, the plan was simple. His treatment was going to be more urgent than most who come in with a knee injury.

            “With being a transfer, it changes the way we do it,” Williams said. “If it was a freshman, we may look at rehabbing slowly into a redshirt role. When we have a transfer that has a window closing rapidly like Christian’s and to fill a specific void in our lineup, I knew there was a little more urgency in his rehab process.”

            Funk arrived in Stillwater in July and participated in Summer Bridge, when incoming freshmen athletes can take summer courses and train with their new staff. Funk was an exception. Although he was a redshirt junior, Funk began his rehabilitation process with Williams during Summer Bridge. Funk said his first few weeks he took his treatment lightly until one night it finally clicked with him it was time to take it seriously.

            “I was with the incoming freshmen and we all got together and decided to go hit,” Funk said. “We get the HitTrax on and Jake Taylor is hitting 100-something off of the bat and then there’s me, a redshirt junior and I’m like I’m old enough to be the kid’s dad and he is hitting it twice as hard as I can. I got in my room that night and was like, ‘Am I really going to be able to do this’? That’s a freshman hitting it twice as hard as me and I can barely move. That’s when it hit me that it’s the real deal.”

            Realizing his lacking strength, Funk began to take his rehabilitation more seriously. Being from California, Funk did not have a car in Stillwater. He would frequently miss treatments because of his lack of transportation. Kroon realized this. He sat down and told Funk he could be good but he needed to begin to take things more seriously and show up for treatment.

            “We came to the agreement that if he needed to borrow my car in the morning to take my car or if you need a ride, wake me up and I’ll take you to treatment,” Kroon said. “I knew making myself more available to him because he didn’t have the means of transportation. I knew he wanted to be healthy. I saw how much he wanted to play. He needed help to get to where he needed to get and also needed a kick in the butt at times.”

            That kick in the butt fueled Funk throughout the fall and into the spring. Funk took on an early role as a designated hitter and transitioned into a first baseman. He wasn’t a fan of his new position but knew it was going to help his team tremendously. He ended up hitting .245 with 33 runs batted in. His infield coach, James Vilade, envisioned his agility was soon getting back to what he used to be.

            “I remember last year when we were in Iowa, I was talking to Jimmy V and he told me he wanted me to move to third base next year,” Funk said. “He told me I had to lose weight and also get my knees back to where they needed to be. I used that as motivation to do workouts harder and take things more seriously in my development.”

Envisioning himself back in a position where he once played, Funk spent the fall of 2018 working with Chris Sobonya, first-year strength coach, on improving his lower body strength to prepare for the move to third base this spring. It has included monitoring volume and reps but building endurance for the upcoming season.

            “The approach to any guy that is coming off of an injury is that you have to monitor the volume and workload of whatever we are doing,” Sobonya said. “His testing lets us know where he was and where he is today. He has improved since the fall. His ability to change directions, load the knee, to burst and create power from the knee. He’s more explosive and faster.”

            In the opening games of the 2019 campaign, Funk has started all 11 games, nine of which have been at first base and has two starts at third base. Funk is tied for second on the team in walks, which he has eight.

Funk feels normal again. He no longer worries about tweaks.  The only rehabilitation is his work ethic.

“I’m here,” Funk said.

“I might as well try to be the best I can be.”

As finals week approached last December, freshman Skyler Mize was worrying about two things; her upcoming finals and the remaining balance on her required meal plan.

As a freshman, Mize is required to purchase a meal plan and live on campus. The lowest tier available for freshmen is the bronze plan at a cost of $1,410 per semester with a $190 maximum rollover to the next semester. Mize, bronze plan user, said she “stocked up on snacks before the break” to not lose the excess funds of her $190 rollover.

A resident of Morsani-Smith Hall, Mize was one of 5,205 students who lived on campus and purchased a meal plan in the fall, according to a record obtained from University Dining Services. Nearly 1,700 students who live off-campus purchased a meal plan. Numbers for the spring of 2018 have not been released yet. OSU has one the lowest buy-in for meal plans across the nation and among all Big 12 schools.

The OSU A&M Board of Regents approved to raise the cost of meal plans for the 2018-19 school year. The plans with the lower buy-ins, copper and silver, are set respectively increase 4.1 and 5 percent. The silver and gold plans have an average increase of 2.5 percent. The increase is set to bring in an estimated $650,000 in deposits.

The University Dining Services director said next year’s increase will help University Dining Services be self-sufficient and cover costs and repairs.

“The main two reasons for the increase are inflationary factors and needed repairs and maintenance to facilities and repair and replacement of equipment,” Bill Moloney said. “Our costs are going up. We’re also identifying what future repair and replacement needs there are and scheduling them for the future. There’s no tuition money, no state money that comes in for dining. It has to be self-supportive including paying rent and building new buildings.”

Although the administration is keeping the buy-in for meal plans low, the rollover amount is based on a percentage of the buy-in of the meal plan, Moloney said. He said that percentage is normally figured up around 15 percent.

Moloney said the number of students who exceeded the rollover wasn’t available, but he said “most students do not have a problem with meeting the rollover requirement.”

But other freshmen faced the same issue as Mize with excess rollover with less than two weeks left in the semester.

Robert Wilson had more than double his rollover amount with a week left in the semester. The native of Roland, Oklahoma, decided to spend rather than see money go to waste.

“Last semester, the last week I had $500 left. I had to go to Ranchers Club like three times and the rest I spent on other things,” Wilson said. “I spent almost all of it over three days and got under my rollover amount.”

Not only did Wilson not like the lower rollover amount, he would like to see the opportunity for freshmen to decide if they want to purchase a meal plan or not.

“I think the biggest thing is to ask the student if they want one,” Wilson said. We’re 19-and 20-year-olds as freshmen. We should be able to make a decision on if we want it. If we miss a meal, it’s our mistake. It kind of sucks that we’re forced to buy it when we can make our own decision.”

As Wilson thinks students should be given the option, others would like to see the minimum reduced from $1,410.

Stephanie Braden understands the basis on the requirement. She thinks having the money set aside helps freshmen out but believes the requirement should be more economical.

“Freshmen should have a meal plan,” Stephanie Braden said. “They should have one so they can have money to eat if they need it. I think they should have a minimum of $1,000 instead of $1,410 because even that $400 is a lot to some students. Sometimes you need it while sometimes you don’t and coming from someone who pays their own tuition, it’s a lot of money for it.”

While some freshmen would like to see the requirement change, Moloney said his department is constantly comparing their buy-in costs to other universities. He does not see OSU lowering the requirement. Moloney said the requirement helps the University Dining Services be self-sufficient and break even.

“The reason you have a minimum buy-in to support all the operations that need to provide service from early in the morning to late at night,” Moloney said. “You want keep the system big enough that it can sustain itself.”

He said the University Dining Services’ goal is to give students a low buy-in to dine on campus.

In the state of Oklahoma, OSU has the most affordable buy-in for meal plans for freshmen students. The University of Oklahoma’s lowest option is almost $900 more than OSU’s, costing students $2,308. The lowest option at the University of Central Oklahoma is nearly $200 more than OSU’s while the lowest option at the University of Tulsa is $2,137 per semester.

The lower cost is attributed to the structure of the dining services OSU offers, Moloney said. There are two types of structures with dining services, Moloney said.

A board dining structure lets students use their meal plans only at certain locations and offers all-you-can-eat options. The retail structure allows students to use meal plans on whatever they want on campus.

Most colleges use the board structure, Moloney said. OSU does not.

“We are one of the lowest because we are mostly retail,” Moloney said. “A retail option allows students to choose where they want to eat and how much they want to eat. That type of operation (board structure) is expensive to run with fixed costs that you do not have in the retail environment. Our goal here is for our students to have free spending and go wherever they want and use their meal plan.”

With 33 locations across OSU’s Stillwater campus, University Dining Services offers a variety of choices for students to use their meal plan account.

This semester, Mize doesn’t stress when it comes to using her meal plan. In fact, she likes the retail options OSU offers.

“I find myself at Twenty Something like three times a week,” Mize said. “It’s more convenient than driving across town to Walmart. It’s just steps from my dorm and makes things a lot easier.”

As finals week approaches this spring, Mize believes her finals will be her only worry that week.

“I’ve utilized my meal plan better this semester and now won’t have to worry about spending $500 before heading home for the summer,” Mize said.

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Baseball and Brotherhood

Growing up as the sons of a high school coach, Lane Milligan and his two younger brothers, Tyler and Cody, found themselves playing a number of different sports. The brothers, who range four years in age from the oldest, Lane, to the youngest, Cody, constantly competed. They pushed each other, whether it was football, basketball, or wrestling, which Lane and Cody were both junior high state champion wrestlers. They all three gravitated and chose one sport; baseball.

“You can say baseball is our family’s backbone,” Lane said. “My dad played baseball his whole life growing up and was around it as a coach as we grew up. I mean, when we were born, we basically started playing. Most of our pictures at younger ages are us walking around the yard swinging a bat or hitting balls off of tees.”

As the sons got older, their passion for the game increased. The brothers decided to take family trips to baseball tournaments instead of trips to Disney World. Playing catch in the backyard turned into Tyler throwing bullpen sessions to Lane. The brothers used each other to improve and enhance their talents.

Lane earned a spot on the varsity baseball team at Cherry Creek High School, which competes in Colorado’s largest high school classification, as a freshman in 2010. That season, his team won the district championship but lost in the state tournament. Lane had a bigger issue than losing in the state tournament. His family life was making a change.

Heading into Lane’s sophomore year of high school, his father, Larry, accepted the head baseball coach and assistant principal’s position at Rye High School, which is two hours south of Denver. With Lane already having a year of experience with one of the top high school programs in the state of Colorado in Cherry Creek, Larry made a decision that would split the family.

“When I accepted the position at Rye, Tyler, Cody and myself moved two hours south to Pueblo, Colorado,” Larry said. “My wife stayed in Denver with Lane and our daughter. Lane stayed in school at Cherry Creek and we just commuted back and forth every weekend.”

As a result of his father’s best interests for his career, Lane sacrificed the chance to play on the same team as his brother for the first time in their lives.

Lane translated his father’s interests into a work ethic that earned him the starting catcher position for Cherry Creek in 2011. During his four years as a varsity player, Lane hit over .400 with 74 RBIs. He was a three-time All-Centennial League selection, All-Colorado and All-State in 2013. Lane also led Cherry Creek to a state championship in 2012. His impressive prep resume put him at the No. 6 player in Colorado by Perfect Game USA. He chose New Mexico over Washington State and North Carolina State.

Following his graduation from Cherry Creek in 2013, Lane was not the only Milligan that would soon be leaving Colorado. Tyler, Cody and Larry were relocating as well. Larry accepted the principal’s job at Wagoner High School, about 45 minutes southeast of Tulsa.

Tyler, a three-year letter winner as a pitcher at Rye would play his senior season at Wagoner and be joined by his younger brother, Cody, who would be a freshman.

“Out of all of the years we had our sons play baseball, the only year we had them play together was Tyler’s senior year at Wagoner,” Larry said.

In his senior year at Wagoner, Tyler had an 8-2 record with a 2.33 ERA. He struck out 68 batters in 50 innings. These numbers drew attention from Oklahoma Wesleyan University, which offered Tyler a scholarship and spot on their baseball team.

After one year at Wagoner, Larry became the principal at Binger-Oney High School. He started during the 2014-15 school year and still holds that position currently. Binger-Oney, about an hour outside of Oklahoma City, became home to the remainder of Cody’s high school baseball career.

Cody led Binger-Oney to back-to-back state championships during his junior and senior years in 2016 and 2017. As a senior, Cody hit .571 with 49 RBIs and 10 home runs. He was named to the All-Oklahoma team and a MaxPreps Small Schools All-American in 2017. His versatility on the field gained looks from college scouts, but he ended up signing with Oklahoma State.

All three brothers signed scholarships to play college baseball. Cody attributed the brother’s success as players to their father.

“He taught us to be mentally strong,” Cody said. “He taught us how to deal with the struggles of the game and to not pout when things do not go right.”

 

***

 

Lane’s career was looking promising after his first two seasons at New Mexico. He started in 20 games for the Lobos and hit .333 in 87 at-bats during his freshman campaign. The next year, Lane started in 37 games and hit .297 and finished second on the team with 46 RBIs. In 2016, his junior season had the potential to be his best yet until he got a phone call from his academic adviser and compliance late that December.

“There was a miscommunication between myself and my adviser,” Lane said. “They didn’t get back to me and I didn’t get back to them. I was one class short of the NCAA requirement for my eligibility for the next year. I didn’t want to sit out, but I took a redshirt that spring and left New Mexico.”

In the summer of 2016, Lane explored his options for a new school. He wanted to get back closer to his family in Binger, Oklahoma. His phone rang. It was Ken Jacome, the pitching coach from New Mexico. Jacome, an alumnus of Oklahoma City University, had made a phone call and got Lane a visit with OCU.

Lane visited with the coaching staff and toured the campus. He knew this is where he wanted to end up. After talking with his father, Lane committed to OCU.

Once it was official, Larry mentioned to Tyler that he had a new opponent in his conference at OCU. After competing with him all of his life, Tyler wanted to try something new.

“I don’t want to play against Lane,” Tyler told his dad. “I want to play with him.”

There was one catch with Lane signing with OCU.

“A big part of my decision was that they were able to make a roster spot and get some money for Tyler to come here,” Lane said. “My whole life, I never got to play with my little brother.”

In his second year at OCU, Tyler was named second team all-conference. The redshirt junior has thrown 22 strikeouts in 21 innings. In 15 appearances in 2018, he has six saves.

Lane’s final year of collegiate eligibility is this season. In two years at OCU, he has become quite the offensive threat. As a junior in 2017, he had .405 batting average with 53 hits. This season, Lane is expected to finish with a batting average over .460 and is only one triple away from breaking the NAIA triples record set in 1978.

With his impressive offensive performance at OCU, some professional opportunities could be in the near future for Lane. But right now, he’s just wants to enjoy the opportunity he has with Tyler, being teammates for the first time ever the past two seasons.

“Deciding to come play with my little brother has been awesome,” Lane said.

“It’s a decision I’ll never regret.”