1. OSU is at their best when production is spread out. Whether it was Ryan Ober hitting a grand slam, George Mendazona tallying clutch hits, or any other Beaver other than Adley Rutschman making noise offensively, the Beavers are a nightmare to deal with. Not only do the Beavers anchor their lineup with arguably the top pick in the MLB draft in Rutschman (.433, 29 hits, 26 RBI, eight home runs) now they’re starting to get consistent play from other guys. After losing the likes of Trevor Larnach, Cadyn Grenier, and Nick Madrigal (amongst others) a season ago, there was a need for new guys to step up and protect Rutschman in the lineup. While there have been some growing pains early in the season, the Beavers are starting to find their team groove offensively and it’s going to make a lineup that already fields a top MLB draft pick even more dangerous.

2. The Beavers are battle tested. If there’s one stat that’s been perhaps the most impressive for the Beavers through 21 games, it’s been their strength of schedule. According to Warren Nolan, OSU has played the nation’s second-toughest schedule and have the top RPI. They are 12-4-1 versus top-50 RPI teams and sport an impressive 16-4-1 overall record. With the Beavers having played such a dominant slate of opponents over the first part of the season, it’s easy to see why there’s a lot of optimism surrounding the Beavers despite being just 3-3 in Pac-12 play. They’ve only played a handful of games at home compared to others (see ASU) and while there’s a ways to go in the season, there’s no doubt that OSU’s strength of schedule is only going to pay dividends down the line… Unlike NCAA Basketball that just moved to NET rankings, college baseball still loves the RPI and for the Beavers to be holding the top spot this early in the season is great sign of things to come.