Cougars continue road trip against Beavers

Baseball follows away game against Portland with three-game road series

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OLIVER MCKENNA | DAILY EVERGREEN FILE

Junior infielder Kodie Kolden moves as junior pitcher Brandon White throws a pitch during the game against Seattle U on March 6 at Bailey-Brayton Field.

KURIA POUNDS, Evergreen reporter

WSU baseball continues their current road trip as they head down to Corvallis, Oregon to face the No. 23 Oregon State Beavers in their first Pac-12 series of the year starting Friday.

The Cougars (10-2) just came off a 6-4 win against the Portland Pilots on the road Wednesday, as they head down to Corvallis to start conference play.

The Beavers (11-3) are coming off a series loss at home to the Oregon Ducks this past weekend, where Oregon State lost two out of three games.

This is the beginning of a nine-game road trip for the Cougars, before coming back to face Stanford on April 1.

Oregon State is currently on a three-game winning streak against WSU, where the Beavers swept the Cougars the last time these two teams faced off in 2019.

WSU has not beat Oregon State since April 16, 2016, where the Cougars won 8-3 at Bailey-Brayton against the Beavers.

The Beavers also lead the all-time series record between the two programs at a record of 48-22-1 throughout the years of contests.

Meanwhile, the Cougars have matched the best start to a season since 2010 with a 9-2 record, and now 10-2 after the game against Portland.

WSU is led by senior outfielder Collin Montez, who is hitting .410 from the plate, the best on the team. He is paired with junior infielder Kyle Manzardo, who has 20 RBIs and five home runs.

Manzardo, the preseason All-American, also had a 27-game hitting streak before it ended against Seattle in the Cougars’ last game played but looks to start this new hitting streak to tie or pass the current WSU record of 28 games.

Junior right-handed pitcher Zane Mills has dominated on the mound this year for the Cougars. He is 3-0 in his three starts with a 0.42 ERA and 23 strikeouts. Expect to see Mills starting on the hill in the opening game on Friday.

The Beavers have been led offensively by senior infielder Andy Armstrong. He is hitting .396 on the season with 21 hits and a home run. Redshirt junior outfielder Joe Casey leads the team with three home runs and 13 RBIs.

First pitch for game one of the series is set for 5:35 p.m. Friday from Goss Stadium at Coleman Field. The second game of the series is slated to start at 1:35 p.m. Saturday and the series finale is set for 1:05 p.m. Sunday.

All three of these games can be viewed on the Oregon State live stream and lineups will be announced one hour before the first pitch.