Series Preview: Washington State vs Oregon State

After clinching the Pac-12 title against the Oregon Ducks last weekend, the Beavers have only pride and NCAA tournament seeding to play for against lowly Washington State. The Cougars have been a gnat at times this year, stealing wins against several marquee Pac-12 teams such as Arizona, Oregon, and UCLA.

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Series at Goss Stadium, all games on Pac-12 Networks

Friday, 4pm PT

Saturday, 1pm PT

Sunday, 12pm PT

Record: 24-23 overall, 10-14 (8th in Pac-12)

RPI: 116 (11th in Pac-12)

Postseason projection: None

Best win(s): May 12th and 13th against UCLA: The Cougars perhaps had their most impressive conference series win of the year this past weekend against UCLA. The Cougars have struggled with inconsistency all season but put it all together this last weekend, taking ⅔ from the visiting UCLA Bruins.

Worst loss: April 7th against then No. 8 Arizona; 5-19 loss: This was a low point for the Cougars. No team in the Pac-12 should ever allow 19 runs in a single game. Not a single one. This was one of the biggest blowouts of the season, and WSU didn’t belong on the field with the Wildcats on that day.

Did you know? Current WSU head coach Marty Lees was an assistant coach on OSU’s staff for 11 years before departing to Oklahoma State in 2013, and finally landing at WSU this season. Lees is an Lakeview, Oregon native and is a graduate of Western Oregon. Also on the staff at Washington State is pitching coach Dan Spencer who also spent time as an assistant at OSU from 2005-07.

Stats to watch:

.277 batting average (5th in Pac-12)

.367 on base percentage (4th)

247 runs scored (5th)

437 hits (5th)

227 RBI (5th)

98 doubles (2nd)

5.01 ERA (8th)

11 saves (4th)

11 runners picked off (2nd)

27 sac flies allowed (1st)

189 walks allowed (8th)

60 wild pitches (2nd)

61 errors (2nd)

Spin ---> The Washington State Cougars are playing very well under second year head coach Marty Lees. Lees is a Pat Casey disciple and in a few seasons he will have the Cougars playing top-notch baseball in the Pac-12 conference. However, the Cougars aren’t there just yet. They are middle of the Pac-12 in many offensive categories including hits, RBI’s, and runs scored. Like many teams in the Pac-12 this season, the Cougars weakness is their inconsistent pitching. Their team ERA ranks 8th in the conference and is indicative of their sub .500 conference record. The other concerning stat is that the Cougs rank 2nd in the conference in wild pitches and errors. Those are two stats that will drive a coach bananas, and will lose you games.

Cody Anderson - 6’6 200 JR: 2.69 ERA, 5-2 W-L, 70.1 IP, 55 strikeouts, 18 walks, .228 opp-BA

Cody Anderson is WSU’s most complete pitcher. He leads the team in strikeouts, innings pitched, and wins. His strikeout to walk ratio is also very impressive. The other thing that I really like about him is his size. A pitcher that is 6’6 can really throw heat and can be an intimidating presence at the plate. He will be charged with going up against Luke Heimlich on Friday night and that is as tough of a matchup as there is in the Pac-12. However, he does have 55 strikeouts on the season and be extremely effective when he is on.

Justin Harrer - 6’2 205 SO OF: .310 BA, 48 hits, 17 doubles, five home runs, 32 RBIs, .529 slugging percentage.

Harrer will be looking to continue his impressive sophomore season when he returns to his home state. Harrer is a Sisters, Oregon native and you know he’s had this game circled in sharpie as this is a trip back to his home state. He leads the team in home runs, doubles, and RBIs and will be looking to continue that hot hitting into this contest with the No. 1 team in the country. He will have plenty of family and friends in town and will be looking to make a statement against the Beavers. He presents both size and discipline at the plate and his frame and strength will make him a hard out all weekend.

2. I give the Cougars a two here because of the Marty Lees-Pat Casey connection. The Cougars have had this series circled since Lees got the job for the opportunity to compete against his former mentor. The Beavers on the other hand, remember losing ⅔ to the Cougars in Pullman last season. At the beginning there will be a lot of emotion on both sides, but at the end of the day, the Cougars don’t have the firepower to take more than one game from the Beavers.

This is the last Pac-12 series for the Beavers this season, as they will finish up against Abilene Christian in two weeks, and OSU wants to finish the season off strong. They have already clinched the Pac-12 title and the automatic NCAA Tournament berth and at this point only have seeding to play for. Given all of those factors, I think OSU will keep their eye on the prize and all but lock up the No. 1 overall seed with a sweep of the Cougars. However, it won’t come easy as they are playing their best baseball of the season.

Beavers take series against WSU 3-0.