May 25—Washington State’s road to Omaha will go through a couple of old friends.
The Cougars learned their NCAA Tournament fate Monday morning, being paired in the Eugene Regional with No. 11 overall seed Oregon, Oregon State and Yale.
WSU (30-26) opens the double-elimination regional against Oregon State (43-12) on Friday at noon. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
The other two teams in the regional, Oregon and Yale, will then play the second game of the day. The winners of those games will play Saturday night, while the losers will play in an elimination game earlier Saturday.
The group pits three former Northwestern Pac-12 teams that have been scattered across conference realignment. The Ducks (40-16), in their second year of Big Ten play, finished third in the regular season and runner-up at the conference tournament, pushing the nation’s top overall seed UCLA to extra innings in the championship game.
The Beavers, who will rejoin the Cougars in the new Pac-12 next season, spent the past two years independent, rather than a temporary member of the Mountain West.
The Cougars received an automatic bid after beating San Diego State in the Mountain West Tournament championship game on Sunday.
WSU and Oregon State played twice this season, splitting the series. The Beavers won the first game 18-0, before the Cougars were able to hold on for a 7-6 win in the second game, which became one of the Cougars’ signature wins this spring. The Beavers also split two games with Oregon.
Yale (30-13-1) swept the Ivy League regular-season and tournament titles and will arrive in Eugene on a seven-game winning streak.
Washington State is playing in its first NCAA Tournament since 2010 and 17th overall. The Cougars have an all-time record of 29-32 and have played in four College World Series, the last in 1976.
The Cougars are in the midst of their best season in more than a decade and a half. They’ve gotten big boosts from starting pitcher Nick Lewis, the Mountain West Pitcher of the Year, plus first-team selections Max Hartman and Gavin Roy.
Here’s a look at each team in the regional:
No. 11 Oregon Ducks
Record: 40-16, 20-10 (Big Ten)
Bid: At-large
NCAA Tournament history: 25-22 all-time record; 13th appearance; last in 2025, going 0-2 in regional
Team batting: .283 avg., .893 OPS, 102 HRs, 7.1 runs per game
Team pitching: 4.16 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 2.8 SO/BB ratio
Batter to watch: 3B Drew Smith, .321 avg., 1.000 OPS, 15 HRs, 59 RBIs
Pitcher to watch: RHP Will Sanford (8-2), 3.75 ERA, 74 1/3 IP, 105 SO, 39 BB
How they got here: The Ducks opened the season on a nine-game winning streak and did not lose a series until April against Michigan — one of three they lost all season and the only against a unranked opponent. Oregon relies on the long ball on offense (one of 18 teams to swat over 100 home runs this season) to back standout pitching, ranked 14th in team ERA and fifth in opponent batting average.
Oregon State Beavers
Record: 43-12 (Independent)
Bid: At-large
NCAA Tournament history: 86-51 all-time record; 25th appearance; last in 2025, going 7-3 to fifth place at College World Series; three-time NCAA champion (2005, 2006, 2018)
Team batting: .271 avg., .804 OPS, 55 HRs, 6.7 runs per game
Team pitching: 3.29 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 3.5 SO/BB ratio
Batter to watch: 2B AJ Singer, .290 avg., .872 OPS, 15 2B, 54 RBIs
Pitcher to watch: RHP Eric Segura (5-2), 2.31 ERA, 66 1/3 IP, 72 SO, 26 BB
How they got here: The Beavers boast one of the nation’s best pitching staffs, tied for the lead in team ERA, but took a major hit when Dax Whitney, a presumptive top pick in the 2027 MLB draft, underwent Tommy John surgery earlier this month. Eric Segura is no slouch as a top option, especially paired with a steady bullpen led by closer Albert Roblez, who has a 1.67 ERA and 14 saves.
Oregon State fared well early in the season against high-major competition, but due to an independent schedule have only played one such foe the last two months, a 7-3 loss to Oregon on April 22. Still, the Beavers have been the west coast’s top program since 2005 and are only a slight underdog (+160) behind Oregon to win the regional.
Washington State Cougars
Record: 30-26, 15-9 (Mountain West)
Bid: Automatic
NCAA Tournament history: 29-32 all-time record; 17th appearance; last in 2010, going 3-2 in regional
Team batting: .295 avg, .844 OPS, 37 HRs, 6.9 runs per game
Team pitching: 6.25 ERA, 1.63 WHIP, 1.5 SO/BB ratio
Batter to watch: RF Max Hartman, .338 avg., .992 OPS, 8 3B, 59 R, 46 RBIs
Pitcher to watch: LHP Nick Lewis (9-2), 3.07 ERA, 91 IP, 65 SO, 27 BB
How they got here: The Cougars picked up some impressive results on the way to a second-place finish in the Mountain West and conference tournament title, showing when their bats are going they can compete with anybody. The top of their lineup is especially fearsome with five players batting over .300. WSU’s bullpen has been blown up several times this season, but if standout pitcher Nick Lewis can deliver the kind of performance he had in the MW tournament, the Cougars may surprise someone in Eugene.
Yale Bulldogs
Record: 30-13-1, 14-6-1 (Ivy League)
Bid: Automatic
NCAA Tournament history: 9-12 all-time record; seventh appearance; last in 2017, going 2-2 in regional
Team batting: .285 avg., .814 OPS, 23 HRs, 7.7 runs per game
Team pitching: 4.71 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 2.2 SO/BB ratio
Batter to watch: LF Garrett Larsen, .374 avg., .972 OPS, 14 2B, 48 R, 27 SB
Pitcher to watch: RHP Tate Evans (7-1), 2.72 ERA, 79 1/3 IP, 78 SO, 14 BB
How they got here: The Bulldogs handled their Ivy League opponents, using a small-ball approach with the seventh-fewest strikeouts in the nation and 28th-most stolen bases. Yale’s top four batters all hit over .300, but lack power and haven’t been tested by the kind of upper-level opponents waiting in Eugene. The Bulldogs have also only used 11 pitchers this season, far fewer than the other three teams in the regional.