OSU Baseball: Rob Walton Honored

Pitching carried the 2016 Cowboys -- all the way to the College World Series.

And the man pushing the buttons, Rob Walton, dubbed "The Wizard" by his players, has been named 2016 Assistant Coach of the Year by Baseball America and the American Baseball Coaches of America.

Walton guided one of the nation's premier pitching staffs, led by Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Year and All-American Thomas Hatch. As a group, the Cowboys pitching staff racked up 10 shutouts, 574 strikeouts and 21 saves as OSU returned to Omaha for the first time since 1999.

The Cowboys staff was in full focus in the postseason, where it turned in a combined 1.58 ERA in nine NCAA Tournament games, the lowest of any team,…