FRESNO STATE (12-29-1, 1-13-1 Mountain West) at WASHINGTON STATE (23-21, 11-7 Mountain West)
\nBailey-Brayton Field | Pullman, Wash. | May 1-3, 2026
\nFriday, 6:05 p.m. | Saturday, 6:05 p.m. | Sunday, 12:05 p.m.
\nWATCH | Mountain West Network<\/p>\n
\nWASHINGTON STATE HOSTS FRESNO STATE FOR WEEKEND SERIES
\nWashington State, winners of four straight weekend series, hosts Fresno State for a weekend series at Bailey-Brayton Field. Friday and Saturday are set for 6:05 p.m. starts and Sunday at 12:05 p.m. Prior to Sunday’s game, WSU will recognize three senior managers and 12 senior student-athletes.<\/p>\n
PROBABLE STARTERS\u00a0 \u00a0 FOLLOW ALONG ON DECK THIS WEEK IN COUGAR BASEBALL PODCAST ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE ABOUT FRESNO STATE HOT STRETCH COUGARS STEPPING UP ON THE ROAD HARTMAN, COUGARS REACH TRIPLES MARK INSIDE THE NUMBERS AUGUST RICHIE NAMED MOUNTAIN WEST PITCHER OF THE WEEK APRIL 13 COUGARS KNOCK OFF NO. 7 OREGON STATE IN THE CLASSROOM, IN THE COMMUNITY CRESSWELL NAMED TO GREAT BRITAIN WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC ROSTER HARTMAN, SKJONSBY, LEAD COUGARS PAST ALABAMA ON OPENING DAY PAC-12 CONFERENCE BASEBALL SET FOR NEW LOOK IN 2027 FAN EXPERIENCE AT BAILEY-BRAYTON FIELD JOHN OLERUD NAMED PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE CENTURY \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FRESNO STATE (12-29-1, 1-13-1 Mountain West) at WASHINGTON STATE (23-21, 11-7 Mountain West)
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\nDrew Townson | RHP | RS-Sr. | 0-5, 7.76 ERA, 51.0 IP, 43 K\u00a0 VS.\u00a0 Nick Lewis<\/a> | LHP | RS-So. | 6-2, 3.86 ERA, 65.2 IP, 43 K
\nTyler Patrick | RHP | So. | 1-3, 6.66 ERA, 50.0 IP, 27 K\u00a0 VS.\u00a0 Griffin Smith<\/a> | RHP | Sr. | 3-4, 6.05 ERA, 61.0 IP, 36 K
\nErik Rico | RHP | Fr. | 1-3, 4.64 ERA, 21.1 IP, 13 K\u00a0 VS.\u00a0 Luke Meyers<\/a> | RHP | Sr. | 3-4, 5.27 ERA, 56.1 IP, 43\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nAll three games will have livestats, webstreamed on the Mountain West Network and on the radio.<\/p>\n
\nWSU will head to Spokane for a Monday matchup at Gonzaga with first pitch set for 4 p.m.<\/p>\n
\nEvery week a new episode of This Week in Cougar Baseball Podcast will be released with head coach Nathan Choate<\/a>, a member of the program, and host Trevor Williams.<\/p>\n
\nWashington State has won four straight weekend series and five of its last six weekend series (Grand Canyon, at San Jose State, Gardner-Webb, at UNLV, New Mexico) and has won 11 of its last 16 games. The Cougars took two of three against New Mexico in Pullman last weekend to notch their fourth-straight series win. WSU enters the weekend with an 23-21 overall record including a 11-7 mark in Mountain West Conference play, good for fourth the conference standings and one game back of first place. Infielder Gavin Roy<\/a> is eighth in the MWC with a team-high .352 batting average while Ryan Skjonsby<\/a> is ninth with a .342 batting average, sixth with 41 RBI and paces the club with eight. Head coach Nathan Choate<\/a> is in his third season at WSU.<\/p>\n
\nNew Mexico enters the weekend with a 12-29-1 overall mark including a 1-13-1 conference record. FSU leads the all-time series with WSU 25-10 after taking all three games of last year’s series in Fresno. This weekend will be just the second series played in Pullman between the two programs, after FSU took two of three in Pullman in 2024. The Bulldogs will join the Pac-12 Conference this summer.<\/p>\n
\nWashington State notched its fourth straight weekend series win last weekend after taking two of three from New Mexico, its first four-series winning streak since 2017. WSU has won 11 of its last 16 games with series wins at San Jose State, Gardner-Webb, at UNLV and New Mexico including a 7-6 win over No. 7 Oregon State April 7.<\/p>\n
\nWashington State’s 12 road wins this season are tied for the third-most road wins by a Cougar team since the 2000 season. WSU opened the season with a win at Alabama, two at Cal Poly, two at Long Beach State, one at Texas State, one at San Diego State, one at Seattle U and took two in each series win at San Jose State and UNLV.<\/p>\n
\nSenior Max Hartman’s<\/a> team-leading seventh triple in the series-clinching win at UNLV not only helped clinch the series, it put his name among a couple Cougar legends. Hartman’s seventh triple tied the WSU single-season record for triples, matching Dave Jones (1959), Andy Alvis (1980), Greg Monda (1983) and Greg Barton (1984). Hartman enters the weekend tied for the national lead with seven triples, the most since two-sport legend Steve Gleason had six in 1998. WSU’s 19 triples lead the Mountain West and are second-most nationally behind New Mexico State (21).<\/p>\n
\n1976 – WSU’s 1976 College World Series team will be inducted into the WSU Athletics Hall of Fame this fall, WSU will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1976 CWS team all season
\n81% – WSU returned 81% of its innings from last season, the 10th-most nationally (D1Baseball)
\n19 – WSU played its first 19 games of the season on the road (7-12)
\n13 – 13 Cougar Pitchers return with Division I innings, WSU entered last year with just 2
\n12 – WSU’s 12 road wins in 2026 are 4-times as many as last year (3), tied for 3rd-most since 2000
\n13 – Ryan Skjonsby<\/a> has 13 RBI in the 7th inning or later in 2026, leads team with 41 total RBI
\n7 – Gavin Roy<\/a> has 7 RBI in the 7th inning or later in 2026, tied for third on team with 27 total RBI
\n5 – WSU’s roster features 5 Canadians; C Alexandre Gigu\u00e8re, OF Max Hartman<\/a>, C Cam Macleod<\/a>,\u00a0
\nRHP Scott Rienguette<\/a>, SS Gavin Roy<\/a>
\n4 – WSU has 4 team captains, LHP Nick Lewis<\/a>, RHP Luke Meyers<\/a>, SS Gavin Roy<\/a>, 1B Ryan Skjonsby<\/a>
\n3 – WSU owns 3 QUAD 1 wins in 2026 (at Alabama, at Texas State, Oregon State)
\n3 – 2 former Cougs are in the big leagues; Kyle Manzardo (1B, CLE), Ryan Walker (RHP, SFG)
\n2 – Alexandre Gigu\u00e8re’s 2-HR game at Texas State (3\/6) was 1st 2-HR game by a Cougar freshman since Derek Jones against Gonzaga (3\/3\/09), Jones (2009-12) is WSU’s all-time home run leader (41)<\/p>\n
\nCougar righthander August Richie<\/a> was named Mountain West Conference Pitcher of the Week April 14. The Cougars went 4-1 during the week, splitting a two-game set against seventh-ranked Oregon State before sweeping all three games against Gardner-Webb. Richie made three appearances. all out of the bullpen, and notched two saves with 5.2 innings, no runs allowed, just two hits and two strikeouts. Richie was a huge part of the Cougars 7-6 win over seventh-ranked Oregon State, retiring all eight batters he faced in a 2.2 scoreless innings with one strikeout. The junior from Tucson, Ariz. followed with a pair of saves in the series sweep of Gardner-Webb, working a 1-2-3 ninth in Thursday’s opener before working the final two innings scoreless of Saturday’s finale.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nWashington State collected 12 hits and knocked off seventh-ranked Oregon State 7-6 at Bailey-Brayton Field April 7. Ryan Skjonsby<\/a> had three hits and three RBI, Dustin Robinson<\/a> had two hits and scored two runs while six Cougar pitchers combined to hold the Beavers to just six hits including three through the first eight innings. WSU freshman righthander Ryan Falke<\/a> was impressive in his first career start, striking out five in three scoreless frames. WSU used a three-run first and a run in the third to build a 4-0 lead in support of Falke. OSU scored three times in the sixth but the Cougars answered with a pair of runs in their half of the sixth and another in the eighth. OSU used three hits to score three times in the ninth but Scott Rienguette<\/a> ended the win with a strikeout. Reliever Rylan Haider<\/a> earned the win.<\/p>\n
\n– WSU set a program record with a 3.45 team GPA in the 2025 fall semester
\n– 21 Cougs were named to the Academic All-Mountain West Team (3.0 cume GPA)
\n– WSU earned ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award the last two seasons (3.29, 3.35)
\n– WSU partners with WSU ROAR to host a Lentil Cookoff each fall. WSU ROAR is a two-year postsecondary education program for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nFormer Washington State catcher Will Cresswell<\/a> was named to Great Britain’s 2026 World Baseball Classic roster. Cresswell was drafted in the 18th round by the Toronto Blue Jays last summer, the first Cougar catcher drafted since P.J. Jones in 2015. Cresswell appeared late on defense in Great Britain’s loss to USA in Houston March 7.<\/p>\n
\nWashington State opened the 2026 season with an impressive 8-4 victory over Alabama. Max Hartman<\/a> had three hits, homered, scored three times and stole base and Ryan Skjonsby<\/a> homered as the Cougars collected 10 hits while five pitchers combined to strike out 11 Crimson Tide hitters. Freshman leadoff hitter Trevor Smith<\/a> had a pair of hits, scored twice and stole a base, Dustin Robinson<\/a> had two hits including a two-run single in the first inning and Matt Priest<\/a> had a pair of RBI including an RBI-double. Cougar starting pitcher Luke Meyers<\/a> struck out three and allowed one earned run while working into the fourth inning. Reliever Rylan Haider<\/a> came up big with four strikeouts over his two innings of work. Scott Rienguette<\/a> closed out the final two innings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nThe Pac-12 Conference and Dallas Baptist University (DBU) jointly announced that the Patriots will join as an affiliate member in the sport of baseball beginning with the 2026-27 season, coinciding with the new Pac-12’s launch year. DBU will join Fresno State, Gonzaga, Oregon State, San Diego State, Texas State and Washington State as the seven members of Pac-12 Baseball.<\/p>\n
\nWSU Athletics and Aramark Sports announced additions to the Bailey-Brayton Field fan experience in 2025.\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n– Fans 21 and over have the opportunity to take all food and beverage menu items, including beer and wine, to their seats
\n– Upgraded concession items including a walking taco cart (open weather dependent), footlong hotdogs, and a specialty brunch burger during Sunday games which includes bacon, egg, and cheese.
\n– Section 11 remains an alcohol-free section
\n– No re-entry to the ballpark
\n\u00a0
\nFans can buy Beer and wine at the concession stand all season and will also be sold in front of the Miller Indoor Training Facility on select weekends (Beverages must be taken back to their seats).<\/p>\n
\nThe Pac-12 Conference inducted Coug legend John Olerud into the Pac-12 Hall of Honor in 2019. Olerud was named the Pac-12 Conference’s Baseball Player of the Century in 2016. During his three seasons in a Cougar uniform, Olerud (1987-89) had one of the finest careers of any Cougar student-athlete, in any sport, in Washington State history, rewriting the WSU record books and becoming the only Cougar baseball athlete ever to be named College Athlete of the Year. In 1988, Olerud became the only player in NCAA history to win 15 games on the mound and hit 20 home runs in the same season, going 15-0 with 23 home runs that year. Olerud went 26-4 overall with a 3.17 ERA over 241.1 innings during his three seasons, hitting .434. He set two Pac-10 records and 10 Pac-10 North marks, highlighted by his sophomore season when he was named Athlete of the Year by Baseball America. In January prior to his junior year at WSU, Olerud suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage, a type of brain seizure. He missed the first 28 games of the spring season, but returned to hit .359 for WSU over the final 27 games. Prior to his senior season, Olerud signed a contract with Toronto and went directly to the Major Leagues. In 1993, he became the first Blue Jay to win a batting title, hitting .363. Olerud played for Toronto, the New York Mets and Yankees, Seattle and Boston during his 17-year career, winning back-to-back World Series titles with Toronto in 1992 and 1993. In 2001 he joined his father, John Sr., in the WSU Athletics Hall of Fame, and is a member of the College Baseball, State of Washington and Inland Northwest Sports Halls of Fame. The John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award, given annually by the College Baseball Hall of Fame, was named in his honor and in 2016, he was named the Pac-12 Conference Player of the Century.<\/p>\n