COUGARS AND IOWA SET TO MEET IN TEXAS FOR FOUR-GAME SERIES
Washington State wraps up its season-opening 12-game road trip with a four-game series against Iowa at La Moderna Field in Cleburne, Texas. The series set for noon (PT) starts Thursday, Friday and Saturday before closing out the series Sunday at 9 a.m. (PT).

PROBABLE STARTERS
Bryson Walker | LHP | Gr. | 0-0, 18.00 ERA, 1.0 IP, 1 K   VS.   Jake Tedesco | LHP | Jr. | 0-2, 16.20 ERA, 3.1 IP, 5 K 
Cade Obermueller | LHP | Jr. | 0-0, 0.87 ERA, 10.1 IP, 18 K   VS.   Griffin Smith | RHP | Jr. | 0-1, 2.70 ERA 10.0 IP, 6 K
Aaron Savary | RHP | Jr. | 2-0, 1.59 ERA, 11.1 IP, 16 K   VS.   Nick Lewis | LHP | RS-S0. | 0-1, 6.23 ERA, 8.2 IP, 7 K
Reece Beuter | RHP | RS-Sr. | 1-0, 1.64 ERA, 11.0 IP, 8 K   VS.   TBA

FOLLOW ALONG
All four games will have livestats but will not be webstreamed. 

THIS WEEK IN COUGAR BASEBALL PODCAST
Every Wednesday a new episode of This Week in Cougar Baseball Podcast presented by Coors Light will be released featuring head coach Nathan Choate, a member of the Cougar Baseball program and the host, Chris King.

ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE
Washington State finished the 2024 season 21-32 overall including a 9-21 mark in the Pac-12 Conference play. The Cougars beat No. 24 Kentucky and Kansas to win the Round Rock Classic in Texas in February and later swept Arizona State in Pullman in March. The Cougars finished second in the Pac-12 with 50 double plays turned and third with a .976 fielding percentage. Washington State has added 24 newcomers to its 34-player roster and was picked to finish third in the Mountain West Conference. The Cougars opened 2024 dropping four contests at No. 4 Arkansas and four games in Corpus Christi, Texas last weekend to Michigan State, UCLA and host Texas A&M - Corpus Christi twice. Head coach Nathan Choate is in his second season at WSU after five seasons at Loyola Marymount.

ABOUT IOWA
Iowa enters the week with a 3-3 record after dropping two of three at South Florida opening weekend before recording wins over Stetson and UMBC after a 2-1 defeat to Notre Dame in 11 innings in Florida last weekend. This will be the third meeting between WSU and Iowa. The Cougars won the first meeting, 6-2 at a 1988 tournament held in Minneapolis and the Hawkeyes won a 6-5 contest at the 2022 Frisco Classic.

HARTMAN NAMED PRESEASON ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST
Junior outfielder Max Hartman was named to the Preseason All-Mountain West Conference Team and the Cougars were picked to finish third. Last season, Hartman hit .286 with 55 hits, 11 doubles, three home runs and 41 RBI to go along with 32 runs scored and 10 stolen bases as the Cougars leadoff hitter. The junior from St. Albert, Alberta tallied 17 multiple-hit games and tied for the team lead with 10 multiple-RBI games. Hartman was also a CSC Academic All-District and conference honor roll selection after posting a 3.56 GPA while majoring in civil engineering.

COUGS PICKED THIRD IN PRESEASON POLL BY MWC COACHES
As voted on by the league's eight coaches, the Cougars received 30 points including one first-place vote to finish behind Fresno State and Nevada, respectively. WSU will be competing in the Mountain West Conference in 2025. UNLV, New Mexico and San Diego State all tied for fourth while Air Force was picked to finish seventh and San Jose State, eighth.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
2024 - WSU won 2024 Round Rock Classic in Texas last season, beat No. 21 Kentucky and Kansas
24 - WSU's 2025 roster features 24 newcomers, 14 junior college, 8 high school, 2 transfers
4 - WSU's roster features 4 players who were named JUCO All-Americans last season; 
      RHP Luke Meyers, INF Jonah Shull, RHP Griffin Smith, RHP Trevor Stowe
3.41 - WSU's 3.41 team GPA this past fall semester is a program record
3 - 3 Cougar pitchers own D1 innings (Rylan Haider, Kaden Wickersham, Jake Tedesco - DAYTON)
3 - 3 former Cougs finished 2024 in the big leagues; 
      Ian Hamilton - RHP, NYY; Kyle Manzardo - 1B, CLE; Ryan Walker - RHP, SFG

COUGAR BASEBALL JOINS MOUNTAIN WEST AS AFFILIATE MEMBER
Washington State Athletics entered into a conference affiliation agreement to have baseball participate in the Mountain West Conference. The agreement began July 1, 2024. Affiliate status through the NCAA allows for member affiliates to compete for conference and national championships. Cougar Baseball has a long and storied history, including four College World Series and 16 regional appearances. 

IN THE CLASSROOM, IN THE COMMUNITY
- WSU set a program record with a 3.41 team GPA in the 2024 fall semester
- 35 players posted a GPA of 3.0 or higher during the fall semester
- WSU earned a 2024 ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award, 3.29 team GPA
- WSU had 17 President's Honor Roll selections
- 2023 fall, WSU posted record-setting team GPA in the fall semester (3.32) and the highest team GPA for a full academic year (3.29)
- 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.

WSU ANNOUNCES NEW FAN EXPERIENCE AT BAILEY-BRAYTON FIELD
Cougar Athletics and Aramark Sports announced additions to the fan experience for Cougar Baseball at Bailey-Brayton Field in 2025. 
 
- Enhanced views of the ballpark with the new backstop netting
- RV Weekends (March 21-23 vs. San Diego State; May 9-11 vs. UNLV)
- Fans 21 and over will have the opportunity to take all food and beverage menu items, including beer and wine, to their seats for the 2025 baseball season
- 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.
- Section 11 remains an alcohol-free section
- No re-entry to the ballpark
 
Beer and wine sales will continue to be located down the first base line in front of the Miller Indoor Training Facility (Beverages must be taken back to their seats).
 
TOMMY RICHARDS BACK HOME AS ASSISTANT COACH
WSU added former Cougar infielder Tommy Richards as an assistant coach. Richards  served as the head coach at Bushnell University (NAIA) the previous three seasons after the school started the baseball program in 2022. The Beacons increased their win total each season under Richards, capped by 29-win 2024 campaign that saw Bushnell win the Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament Championship and earn the program's first NAIA National Tournament appearance. The former Cougar infielder played for Washington State (2009-12), appeared in 155 career games, played on WSU's last two NCAA Tournament teams in 2009 and 2010 and was later drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 24th round of the 2012 MLB Draft.

JOHN OLERUD NAMED PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE CENTURY
The 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.

INTERIM TAG REMOVED, ANNE MCCOY TO LEAD WASHINGTON STATE ATHLETICS
The interim tag was removed and Anne McCoy was named the WSU Director of Athletics, it was announced June 25. McCoy, who spent the previous three months as Interim Director of Athletics, officially becomes the 15th person to lead Cougar Athletics and the first woman to hold the position. McCoy is no stranger to WSU, serving a variety of roles on the senior administrative team since arriving in 2001 as associate director of athletics for internal operations. McCoy, who was hired by former Cougar Athletic Director Jim Sterk, has risen within the athletic department. Most recently, she served as senior deputy director of athletics and senior woman administrator (SWA) before assuming the interim director of athletics title in March of this year.  Throughout her time on WSU's senior leadership team, McCoy has been actively involved with all facets of the department, having a role in all head coaching hires since her arrival, including all current head coaches. McCoy has played a role in each area of Cougar Athletics during her tenure and served in a supervisory capacity for every WSU sport. Most recently, McCoy served as WSU's interim director of athletics since late March of 2024. In the span of three months in the interim role, McCoy secured the hiring of WSU Men's Basketball Head Coach David Riley, Head Swimming Coach Russ Whitaker and Head Women's Golf Coach Kevin Tucker, extending the contract of Women's Head Basketball Coach Kamie Ethridge, secured a home for baseball and women's swimming through affiliate membership with the Mountain West Conference for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons, and was involved with the Pac-12 Conference' securing a media rights agreement with the CW Network and FOX for the 2024 football season.

WASHINGTON STATE ALUM CHRIS KING NAMED VOICE OF THE COUGS
WSU Athletics and Learfield's Washington State Sports Properties named Washington State alumnus Chris King as the new "Voice of the Cougs" in August. King, from Marysville, Wash., takes over play-by-play duties for Cougar Football, Men's Basketball and Baseball. King returns to Pullman – where he graduated from the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication in 2009 – after gaining 13 years of Division I broadcasting experience in neighboring Idaho. After two years announcing women's basketball at Boise State, King became the men's basketball broadcaster for the Idaho Vandals in 2013 before adding football broadcasting duties in 2021. In addition to his time calling college football and basketball, King also has extensive baseball experience, broadcasting Minor League Baseball for the Tri-City Dust Devils from 2012-2021. Away from the radio booth he has worked in a communications role with the West Coast League since 2016, most recently as the league's deputy commissioner. King has twice been honored as the Idaho Sportscaster of the Year (2017, 2023) by the National Sports Media Association for his work with the Vandals.