The Washington State Cougars baseball team starts its season this Friday for a three-game series in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, against the Crimson Tide. 

“Excited to start playing baseball and have them count,” head coach Nathan Choate said on the Cougar Baseball Podcast on Tuesday.

Choate enters his third year leading WSU after leading the Cougars to an 18-36 record in 2025. 

Here is a breakdown of players to watch for this weekend as WSU faces off against the Crimson Tide.

Potential Pitchers

At this point, the starters have not been announced, but three players that saw the most action last season are expected to pitch at some point in the series. 

Griffin Smith (RHP) 

One pitcher to highlight is senior Griffin Smith. He enters his second season with WSU after starting 14 games last year as a junior. In his junior campaign, the 6-foot-2 righty from Appleton, Wisconsin, had a 5.73 earned run average and was third on the team in strikeouts with 41. Smith also posted a team-best WHIP of 1.408. Out of the entire Cougars pitching staff, Smith has the most experience seeing NCAA batters, leading the team last year in both innings pitched and batters faced. He also was the only player on WSU that recorded a complete game with two. 

Nick Lewis (LHP)

The lone lefty on this list appeared in 16 games last season, going 4-7 with an ERA of 6.69. Lewis finished second on the team with 74 innings pitched and tied first with Smith for games started with 14. Lewis did allow the most hits last season, but backed it up with the second most strikeouts with 47. His best performance of the season came against Air Force on May 4 where he struck out eight in seven innings. The 20-year-old lefty from Corona, California, enters his redshirt sophomore season in 2026 and serves as an experienced young arm for the Cougs. 

Luke Meyers (RHP) 

The third and final arm to highlight is the senior from Denver, Colorado: Luke Meyers. The 6-foot-1 righty attended junior college in 2024 as a sophomore and last year had his first year with WSU. Meyers bounced between roles as a pitcher, starting nine games and coming out of the bullpen in six. He had the second-best ERA on the team with 5.27 and recorded two saves. Meyers led the team in strikeouts with 50. Meyers is a pitcher that can succeed in many roles and his usage will be something to watch throughout the season. 

Position Players to Watch

Max Hartman – Outfield

Senior Max Hartman has spent all three years of his collegiate career at WSU and has improved each year. His 2025 campaign was his best, where he led the team with a .363 batting average and recorded five home runs. Hartman recorded 15 multi-hit games and five 4-hit performances as well. The 6-foot-3 205-pound outfielder from Canada also had an impressive OPS of .955, which ranked third for WSU. Hartman puts up those numbers on the diamond while also being named Academic All-Mountain West with a 3.42 GPA as an civil engineering major. His experience against collegiate pitching will be needed for the Cougs to pull off a win this weekend against the Crimson Tide. 

Ryan Skjonsby – Corner Infielder

Ryan Skjonsby was recently named a captain for 2026 after a productive season as a junior. In his first season with the Cougars, the 6-foot-3 lefty racked up 43 hits and was second on the team in walks with 25. 

“He just does things the right way,” head coach Nathan Choate said on the Cougar Baseball Podcast. “He [embodies] everything that a leader does.”

Choate also stated the biggest area of growth for Skyonsby is his “energy he’s playing with” and that in the offseason he’s played with “a different level of energy than he has in the past.” 

Gavin Roy – Middle Infield 

Roy started all 54 games at shortstop for WSU in 2025 and led the team in steals with eight. The 5-foot-9 senior from Ontario was third in both hits and home runs in his junior campaign. Defensively, Roy led the Mountain West with 176 assists. Roy’s reliable defence and hitting will be necessary for the Cougs to pull out a series win this weekend against Alabama.

The Cougs kick off the series at 2 p.m Friday Feb. 13. Game two will be at 12 p.m on Saturday Feb. 14, and finally on Sunday Feb. 15, WSU will close out the series at 11 am.