In their final game in Crimson and Gray, seven senior Cougs got the chance to pitch one last time for WSU.

For some, it was their last taste of organized competitive baseball, for others it was the conclusion of a chapter that may continue in the professional ranks.WSU baseball got swept by the then-No. 20 Oregon Ducks in its final game of the season, Saturday at PK Park in Eugene, Oregon. No. 20 Oregon (37-16, 19-11 Pac-12) beat WSU (21-32, 9-21), 10-4, Saturday at PK Park in Eugene, Oregon.

Senior right-hander Duke Brotherton tossed 3.1 innings for the Cougs, allowing five earned runs on six hits and three walks. He struck out one.

Mason Neville belted a two-run home run to give the Ducks a 2-0 lead in the third inning.

WSU responded in the top of the fourth with three runs on three hits. Cole Cramer walked and advanced to second on a Logan Johnstone single, setting up Alan Shibley for an RBI single and Nate Swarts for a two-run double. WSU led 3-2.

Brotherton could not preserve the lead as he allowed a bloop and a blast out of the gate. Oregon led 4-3 after Bennett Thompson’s lead-off single and freshman Maddox Molony’s go-ahead home run.

Brotherton allowed two more singles, a sac bunt and a walk to load the bases before leaving the game.

Senior Spencer Jones allowed one of his inherited runners to score on a sac fly before getting a ground out to end the inning.

Andrew Baughn pitched the fifth and struck out Bennett Thompson looking to lead off the inning. He then allowed a single, a wild pitch to advance the runner, a hit-by-pitch, a flyout and a two-run double.

Kaden Wickersham relieved him and struck out Drew Smith looking.

Trailing Oregon, the Cougs managed no runs or hits in four of the final five innings.

Down 7-3 in the top of the sixth, Shibley chased Oregon starter Kevin Seitter from the game with a solo home run. Seitter finished with a line of 5.1 innings, 4 ER, 6 H, 3 BB 4 K 1 HBP and qualified for his seventh win of the season.

Wickersham was Neville’s home run victim in the bottom of the sixth as Oregon pushed its lead to 8-4 (Friday’s final score) off of Neville’s second home run of the day.

But the Ducks were not quite done.

Oregon added two runs on three hits in the bottom of the eighth, feasting off of the paws of two WSU seniors.

Chase Grillo allowed a lead-off double, before striking out Neville (16 HR, sixth in Pac-12 in home runs and hitter of three previous bombs the last three days, including his last time up)

Jack Lee kept the slugger slow down chugging as he struck out Oregon’s home run leader Jacob Walsh (17 HR, fifth in Pac-12).

He then allowed an RBI single which added a run to Grillo’s line.

Senior Kevin Haynes relieved Lee. Haynes allowed a single and a walk to load the bases and then allowed a second straight walk, this time an RBI walk. Oregon led 10-4.

Senior Elias Farland, who last Sunday treated Bailey-Brayton Field fans to a rocking iteration of the National Anthem on his guitar pregame, pitched a clean seventh inning.

Farland allowed no run and no hits, walked one and struck out two.

The story that had plagued WSU all year haunted them one final time in Eugene, Oregon. WSU simply did not have enough offense to contend with Pac-12 arsenals and did not have the pitching to contain said offensive juggernauts.

Oregon, a program fresh off an NCAA Super Regionals appearance, is primed for another deep playoff run in 2024.

Oregon enters the 2024 Pac-12 baseball tournament in Scottsdale with the No. 3 seed and will face No. 7 Utah at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.

WSU, in its first year under head coach Nathan Choate, walks away with a lot to improve upon but a fair number of successes. 

WSU’s 2023 roster yielded four players who were either drafted or signed minor league contracts. WSU’s 2024 roster should see similar, if not slightly more signings.

WSU finished the season with the fewest number of wins since 2020 (in which the Cougs played just 16 games and finished 9-7) and sported the worst winning percentage since 2019 (WSU was 11-42-1).

WSU looks to 2025, in which it will compete as an affiliate member of the Mountain West Conference.