Although they finished the regular season at 23-31, the Washington Huskies were able to sneak into the Big Ten Tournament with an upset victory over No. 1 UCLA on Thursday night.
That was enough to earn coach Eddie Smith’s team the No. 11 seed, which will pit them against the No. 6 Ohio State Buckeyes to open the double-elimination round of the tournament on Tuesday, May 19, at approximately 6:00 p.m. PT from Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska.
Even though he missed some time early in the year, the Huskies have been led throughout the season by left fielder Jackson Hotchkiss, who has established himself as a potential first-round pick in the 2027 MLB draft. The sophomore from Battle Ground, Washington, leads UW in practically every offensive category, with a .354 batting average, 1.167 OPS, 62 hits, 19 home runs, 45 runs batted in, 130 total bases, and 45 runs scored.
No. 1 taken down ☔️@UW_Baseball blanks No. 1 UCLA 8-0 and punches its ticket to the Big Ten Tournament pic.twitter.com/84QguLGdDz
— Big Ten Baseball (@B1Gbaseball) May 15, 2026
Although he doesn’t qualify for any conference leaderboards, due to the fact that he’s played in just 36 games this year, senior Colton Bower has also been a key part of the lineup. The catcher boasts a .331 batting average, 1.109 OPS, 12 home runs, 35 RBIs, 97 total bases, and 30 runs scored as part of a strong final campaign.
On the mound, the Huskies may turn to Noah Kenney against the Buckeyes. The starter has worked a team-high 77 2/3 innings with a 4.40 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, .231 batting average against, and an 85:33 strikeout-to-walk ratio in his first year on Montlake after transferring in from Folsom Lake College.
The Huskies are 2-1 against Ohio State on the year after walking them off twice in Seattle in March as part of an evenly matched series where two of the three games went to extra innings, and UW earned a pair of 5-4 victories.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Washington Huskies to take on Ohio State to open Big Ten Tournament