EUGENE, Ore. – Washington State baseball is only a few more wins away from more history added onto an already historic run.
The Cougs ripped through their final Mountain West tournament last weekend, beating San Diego State in two of three games to punch the NCAA Tournament ticket, and they’re now in a Regional for the first time in 16 years.
“There’s no way to sugarcoat it,” senior pitcher Luke Meyers said. “Like, we had a really bad year last year. But the most important part was that we stuck around, and we all believed in each other. And we realized we could really build something cool here and special. So we stuck around and… but now we’re just trying to embrace this opportunity, but also stay hungry and continue to work hard to keep going.”
Meyers reflects on the pitiful 2025 campaign: 18-36 overall, 11-19 in the MWC, and failed to qualify for any postseason. The turnaround is as sudden for fans as it is expected from the players.
“Trying to, you know, enjoy it and celebrate, but at the same time, it’s a quick week,” senior infielder Ryan Skjonsby said. “So, just kind of getting back to work and focusing on the upcoming weekend.”
The Cougs played elite competition all season to prepare for this tough national stage, facing off against Oregon, Oregon State, and Yale in this pod.
“It’s really cool that we got to play a bunch of teams like that this year,” Meyers said. “And it helps knowing that we can beat anyone in the country. You know, we beat Alabama, we beat Oregon State. We played a lot of good competition. And we know how we stack up against them. And we know that if we just play our game, we can beat anyone in the country.
“Just the way we put our schedule this year, and especially at the beginning of the year, I think we have belief in the way, and so I don’t think we necessarily need that,” Skjonsby said. “But at the same time, it’s obviously nice to have that familiarity. But I know that we’re going to believe either way, no matter who we play.”
First pitch for WSU against Oregon State is at noon tomorrow, and the winner will play the winner of Oregon vs. Yale later in the afternoon.
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