Cougars Head to Eugene For First NCAA Regional Since 2010

Friday, May 29

Eugene, Ore.

Noon

Washington State University

Oregon State

May 27, 2026 | Baseball

Donate to NIL WATCH | ESPNU LISTEN LIVE STATS EUGENE REGIONAL TOURNAMENT CENTRAL Washington State Game Notes

By: Washington State Athletic Communications

NCAA REGIONAL
#3 WASHINGTON STATE (30-26, 15-9 Mountain West) vs. #2 No. 7 OREGON STATE (43-12, Independent)
PK Park | Eugene, Ore.
Friday, 12:06 p.m. | May 29, 2026
WATCH | ESPNU

COUGARS HEAD TO EUGENE FOR FIRST NCAA REGIONAL SINCE 2010
Washington State, winners of the Mountain West Conference Tournament, heads to Eugene, Ore. for its first NCAA Regional appearance since 2010. The Cougars will face three-seed and No. 7 Oregon State Friday at 12:06 p.m. on ESPNU at PK Park.

FOLLOW ALONG
Friday's game will have livestats, televised on ESPNU and on the radio.

ON DECK
WSU will play Saturday, the winner or loser of the Oregon/Yale matchup, either in the loser's bracket at 1 p.m. or the winner's bracket at 6 p.m.

THIS WEEK IN COUGAR BASEBALL PODCAST
Every week a new episode of This Week in Cougar Baseball Podcast will be released with head coach Nathan Choate, a member of the program, and host Trevor Williams.

ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE
Washington State won the 2026 Mountain West Conference Tournament in Mesa, Ariz. last weekend to earn the program's first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2010. The Cougars enter the NCAA Regional with a 30-26 overall record, the first 30-win season since 2010 and went 15-9 in conference play. WSU closed the regular season taking seven of its last eight series including its final six weekend series for the first time since 1995. Mountain West Tournament MVP infielder Gavin Roy owns a team-high .372 batting average while Ryan Skjonsby paces the club with 57 RBI and eight home runs. MWC Pitcher of the Year Nick Lewis leads the conference in ERA (3.07), innings (91.0) and wins (9). Head coach Nathan Choate is in his third season at WSU.

COUGARS MAKING THEIR MARK
Washington State has reached a number of impressive marks this season.
- WSU is making its 1st postseason appearance since 2010 (NCAA Regional)
- Nathan Choate guided WSU to the NCAA Tournament in his 3rd season, the quickest any Cougar head coach has taken WSU to the NCAA's
- WSU's 30 wins are the most since 2010
- WSU won its first conference title since winning the Pac-8 Conference title in 1976
- WSU's 15 conference wins were the most since 2010
- WSU's 7 series wins are the most since 2017
- WSU's 6 straight series wins was the longest series winning streak since 1995

WHAT'S AT STAKE?
Washington State is seeking its first Super Regional appearance in program history and fifth College World Series appearance (1950, 1956, 1965, 1976).

ABOUT OREGON STATE
Oregon State enters the NCAA Regional as the No. 2 seed in the region, with an overall record of 43-12 and ranked as a high as seventh in the national polls. WSU is 236-219-3 all-time against OSU after splitting a two-game set earlier this season April 6-7 in Pullman.

ABOUT OREGON
Oregon enters the NCAA Regional as the No. 11 national seed and top seed in the region with a 40-16 overall record and 20-10 in the Big Ten Conference, and ranked as high as No. 15 in the national polls. WSU is 159-138-1 all-time against the Ducks and last met in 2024 in Eugene.

ABOUT YALE
Yale enters the NCAA Regional and No. 4 seed in the region with a an overall record of 30-13-1 including a 14-6-1 mark in the Ivy League. WSU has never played Yale.

WSU IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
The Cougars are making their 17th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and first since 2010. WSU is 23-25 all-time in the tournament, has not made the Super Regional round but has made four trips to the College World Series, 1950, 1956, 1965 and 1976. The Cougars went 3-2 in their last NCAA Regional apperance in 2010, beating Kansas State twice, beat Arkansas once but lost in the Razorbacks in the regional final.

HOT STRETCH
Washington State closed the regular season with sixth straight weekend series wins for its first six-series winning streak since 1995. WSU notch series wins at San Jose State, Gardner-Webb, at UNLV, New Mexico, Fresno State and at Air Force.

COUGARS STEPPING UP ON THE ROAD
Washington State's 14 road wins this season are 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, UNLV and Air Force.

WASHINGTON STATE WINS THE MOUNTAIN WEST TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIPS
Washington State won the 2026 Mountain West Conference Tournament Championship with a 14-4 victory in seven innings over San Diego State at Sloan Park last Sunday afternoon. The Cougars record their 30th win for the first time since 2010. San Diego State won the first game of the day 9-2 to force the winner-take-all game where the Cougars collected 14 hits and used three pitchers. SDSU, the regular season champions, used six pitchers. The Cougars rallied from a 4-3 deficit with a three-run fifth inning, a run in the sixth and seven more in the seventh to win by the ten-run rule. Eight Cougars recorded hits led by Max Hartman who tallied three hits with four RBI, three runs scored and hit a three-run homer. Trevor Smith drove in three runs, Gavin Roy scored three times, Dustin Robinson doubled twice and drove in two runs and Ryan Skjonsby drove in three runs. Cougar reliever Scott Rienguette earned with win with a 3.2 scoreless innings and six strikeouts.

NICK LEWIS NAMED MOUNTAIN WEST PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Lefthander Nick Lewis was named the 2026 Mountain West Conference Pitcher of the Year. Lewis is the first Cougar pitcher in program history to win Conference Pitcher of the Year. Two-way WSU legend John Olerud was named the conference player of the year and National Player of the Year in 1988. The Pac-10 Conference did not start the pitcher of the year award until 1999. Lewis has had a breakout season for WSU, going 9-2 overall with a 3.07 ERA, 65 strikeouts and a .251 batting average against in 91.1 innings. Lewis leads the Mountain West in wins, ERA, innings and is second in batting average against (.251) while his nine wins are the most by a Coug since Matt O'Brien's 10 in 2000.

- in last Friday's tournament opener, Lewis fired 8.2 innings to lead Washington State past Air Force 5-1 in the second round of the MWC Tournament, Lewis set a career-high with 11 strikeouts and allowed just one unearned run in the ninth.
- In conference Play, went 7-1 (1st) in 8 starts, 2.83 ERA (2nd), 54 IP (1st), 37 K (T7th), 14 BB, .250 avg
- 7 starts of 6 innings, 4 starts of 7 innings or more
- 7 starts of 3 ER or less, 5 starts for 2 ER or less
- Allowed a combined 5 ER over last 5 starts, all wins (at UNLV, UNM, FSU, at Air Force, vs. Air Force)

FIVE EARN ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST HONOR
Washington State had five All-Mountain West Conference selections, including three to the first team as voted on by the coaches. Cougar lefthander Nick Lewis was named the Conference Pitcher of the Year and to the first team while senior outfielder Max Hartman and infielders Gavin Roy were also each named to the first team. Senior first baseman Ryan Skjonsby and senior righthander Griffin Smith were both named to the second team. The five selections are the most since 2023 while the three first-team selections are the most since 2009.

HARTMAN BREAKS TRIPLES RECORD, COUGARS REACH TRIPLES MARK
Senior Max Hartman started off the May 1 win over Fresno State with an opposite-field RBI-triple off the left field wall in the first inning, breaking the WSU single-season record for triples with his eighth of the season. Hartman's eighth triple broke the record shared by Dave Jones (1959), Andy Alvis (1980), Greg Monda (1983) and Greg Barton (1984). Hartman enters the NCAA tournament tied for the national lead with eight triples (Andrew Duncan, Wright State and Owen Bond, St. Thomas), the most since two-sport legend Steve Gleason had six in 1998. WSU's 24 triples are tied for the national lead with New Mexico State and are tied for the sixth-most in WSU single-season history.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
1976 - 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
125 - Max Hartman was the 1st Cougar to 100 total bases, 13 2B, 8 3B, 7 HR, 46 RBI, 18 SB
109 - WSU has been hit by a pitch 109 times, breaking the WSU single-season record (2004, 107)
81 - WSU returned 81% of its innings from last season, the 10th-most nationally (D1Baseball)
52 - WSU has turned 52 double plays to lead the Mountain West and 9th-most nationally
19 - WSU played its first 19 games of the season on the road (7-12)
17 - WSU's 17 road wins in 2026 are 5-times as many as last year (3), 3rd-most since 2000
16 - Ryan Skjonsby has 16 RBI in the 7th inning or later in 2026, leads team with 57 total RBI
13 - 13 Cougar Pitchers returned with Division I innings, WSU entered last year with just 2
5.08 ERA - WSU is 2nd in the Mountain West with a 5.09 ERA in conference games, trailed only San Diego State's 5.06
5 - WSU's roster features 5 Canadians; C Alexandre Giguère, OF Max Hartman, C Cam Macleod,
RHP Scott Rienguette, SS Gavin Roy
4 - WSU has 4 team captains, LHP Nick Lewis, RHP Luke Meyers, SS Gavin Roy, 1B Ryan Skjonsby
3 - WSU owns 3 QUAD 1 wins in 2026 (at Alabama, at Texas State, Oregon State)
2 - Alexandre Giguère'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)
1 - 1 former Coug is in the big leagues; Kyle Manzardo (1B, CLE)

COUGARS KNOCK OFF NO. 7 OREGON STATE
Washington State knocked off seventh-ranked Oregon State 7-6 at Bailey-Brayton Field April 7. Ryan Skjonsby had three hits and three RBI, Dustin Robinson 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 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 ended the win with a strikeout. Reliever Rylan Haider earned the win.

HARTMAN, SKJONSBY, LEAD COUGARS PAST ALABAMA ON OPENING DAY
Washington State opened the 2026 season with an impressive 8-4 victory over Alabama. Max Hartman had three hits, homered, scored three times and stole base and Ryan Skjonsby homered as the Cougars collected 10 hits while five pitchers combined to strike out 11 Crimson Tide hitters. Freshman leadoff hitter Trevor Smith had a pair of hits, scored twice and stole a base, Dustin Robinson had two hits including a two-run single in the first inning and Matt Priest had a pair of RBI including an RBI-double. Cougar starting pitcher Luke Meyers struck out three and allowed one earned run while working into the fourth inning. Reliever Rylan Haider came up big with four strikeouts over his two innings of work. Scott Rienguette closed out the final two innings.

IN THE CLASSROOM, IN THE COMMUNITY
- WSU set a program record with a 3.45 team GPA in the 2025 fall semester
- 21 Cougs were named to the Academic All-Mountain West Team (3.0 cume GPA)
- WSU earned ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award the last two seasons (3.29, 3.35)
- 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.

PAC-12 CONFERENCE BASEBALL SET FOR NEW LOOK IN 2027
The 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.

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.

JON HAARLOW NAMED WSU VICE PRESIDENT / DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS
Jon Haarlow was named WSU vice president and director of athletics on April 7. 2026, after serving in the interim role since November 2025. He becomes the 16th individual to lead Cougar athletics in school history. Haarlow has more than five years of experience at Washington State University and 15 years in collegiate athletics. He joined WSU in 2021 as senior associate athletic director and chief financial officer for WSU Athletics. In spring 2022, he accepted a role with the university's main campus as assistant vice president for business and financial services, where he provided financial leadership for the university system in areas including debt, cash, and investments while collaborating with key institutional units, including accounting, reporting, payroll, student accounts, and contracting services. In July, 2024, Haarlow returned to Cougar Athletics as assistant vice president and senior deputy athletic director/chief operating officer for WSU Athletics. His deep knowledge of the WSU campus, expertise in revenue generation, and strong relationships with campus partners and external stakeholders have contributed to his immediate impact throughout campus and the continued success of the Cougars' 17 varsity athletic programs.

Since assuming the role as Washington State University's Interim Director of Athletics this past November, Haarlow has:
- Led department-wide strategic initiatives, driving operational momentum and cross-campus alignment
- Directed the successful hiring of Head Football Coach Kirby Moore and Head Soccer Coach Chris Citowicki, strengthening leadership across marquee and growth programs
- Spearheaded and supported fundraising efforts that generated more than $10 million for the Football Fan Experience Project
- Launched a $3.4 million renovation of the Cougar Football locker room, to be completed in the summer of 2026
- Instituted brand awareness programs that generated revenue through apparel and spirit partnerships
- Continued to advance Washington State Athletics' positioning for the new era of the Pac-12 Conference by collaborating with conference and institutional leaders to support long-term stability and sustainability