Coming off a tough midweek result against Gonzaga, Washington State looks to continue their strong start to the home slate against one of the top teams in the Mountain West.
Last weekend, WSU completed a three-game sweep of Grand Canyon in their return to the Palouse. WSU started the season with a 7-12 road trip, which is currently ranked as the 20th toughest non-conference strength of schedule in the country. The Warren Nolan RPI is the most widely available ranking system in college baseball, and with live
results, the rankings are constantly moving. As the teams WSU played on the road continue to have better or worse results, the rankings will reflect that accordingly. But as of right now, the Cougs have played one of the hardest schedules in the country to start the season.
A 3-0 home start is an extremely welcome sight, especially on the pitching side of things. Winning the contests against GCU 7-3, 6-5, and 6-2, the Cougs got consistent offense all weekend. But more promising was the pitching. WSU got three quality starts against Grand Canyon, something that was rare on their 19-game road trip. Nick Lewis turned in a six-inning, three-run performance on Friday, Griffin Smith made it into the 7th only allowing one earned run on Saturday, and Luke Meyers produced a six-inning shutout on Sunday. On both Saturday and Sunday, the bullpen faltered, forcing the Cougar offense to come to the rescue for an extra-inning win in game 2 and to conjure a four-spot in the 8th of the finale. Nonetheless, there were positive signs for the Cougs in Mountain West play, a hitter-friendly conference, and for their home slate.
Unfortunately, that pitching did not make the trip to Spokane on Wednesday night. The Cougar pitching staff allowed 9 runs in the 7th, resulting in a run-rule loss. The Cougs fell down 4-0 in the first behind a rough second outing from Brock Blatter, who is returning from injury. The offense traveled, coming back to tie the game at 6-6 behind a two-home-run game from Matt Priest. Eight runs weren’t enough, however, as the Zags took a 10-8 lead into the stretch and pulled away late. Gonzaga is 59th in the RPI, so it’s not a loss that significantly hurts the Cougs, but the pitching struggles are concerning.
WSU comes home from Spokane to take on the preseason favorite in the Mountain West, the Nevada Wolfpack. Nevada is 13-8 overall and shares the same conference record as WSU at 4-2. They currently rank 98th in the RPI (WSU is 72nd). While the metrics really love WSU’s profile, an at-large bid to the tournament seems unlikely. Barring a great run in conference play, which is feasible, the Cougs would have to win the conference to make the postseason. For those not familiar with the Mountain West Baseball tournament (I was not either), the top 6 seeds will face off in a double-elimination tournament, with the top two seeds getting a bye. While the metrics don’t put an at-large bid out of the question, frankly, I don’t think this team can be consistent enough to put together that kind of record. However, finishing at the top of the conference would be a welcome sign for third-year head coach Nathan Choate. You can’t be too picky about progress.
This weekend is the first step in that journey, as the Cougs can separate themselves atop the pack (no pun intended). Washington State will take on Nevada this Friday at 4:05 p.m., Saturday at 2:05 p.m., and Sunday at noon, all streaming on the Mountain West Network.
If you want to hear more about Cougar baseball, check out my podcast! Longtime WSU faculty member and baseball superfan Brandon “Chappy” Chapman and I sat down and talked about the Cougars’ road trip before the home opener last weekend.
