Washington State Baseball travels down to San Marcos, Texas for a four-game series against the red-hot Texas State Bobcats this week.
WSU is coming off a series in Long Beach, California where they had two strong wins against Long Beach State, but were swept by BYU in a two-game series. The Cougars had some solid performances from both their offense and pitching during those two series. They will need to bring their A-game to compete against a high-powered Texas State roster.
The Bobcats come into the series on a five-game win streak where they have outscored opponents 29-9 during that stretch. The Bobcats currently rank second in the Sun Belt Conference with a record of 9-2. They are one of the more balanced teams in the country, with stars on both offense and on their pitching staff.
Here are some things to watch for in this four game series:
Washington State
Two freshmen outfielders had strong series down in Long Beach this past weekend for the Cougars. One was Trevor Smith who had seven hits, four RBIs and three walks. Smith also posted a perfect fielding percentage at centerfield in this past series.
The other freshman who had a strong performance for WSU was Mason Pirello. The 5-foot-9 outfielder tallied seven hits and five RBIs in 12 plate appearances. Pirello saw little action early in the season, but started his first two games of his collegiate career during the Long Beach series. These breakout performances by these freshmen outfielders could be a glimpse of the future for WSU baseball.
One other offensive player to highlight is California native Ryan Skjonsby. Skjonsby delivered the go-ahead single in the eighth inning of game two against Long Beach. Skjonsby continues to be a clutch hitter for WSU, leading the team in RBIs with nine.
“It’s really fun honestly and it makes it easy just having so many guys bring the energy every day,” Skjonsby said in a postgame interview.
Skjonsby also touched on how the team has worked through early season mistakes.
“It’s just trying to play freed up and not worry about making mistakes, and if they do happen just working through them as a team,” he said.
This “freed up” approach showed in the pitching performances as well, with senior pitcher Luke Meyers posting his best performance of the year. In game one against BYU, Meyers pitched seven innings, allowing four hits and no earned runs.
Working through mistakes is how WSU was able to sweep the two-game series against Long Beach. Pitchers Gavin Derr and Griffin Smith both allowed three runs in their matchups, but the offense was able to battle back late in games to pick up wins.
If WSU can continue this mindset throughout the season, they will become a tougher team to beat down the line.
Texas State
Texas State has played like one of the best teams in the country so far this season. In 11 games, the Bobcats have scored 77 runs and only allowed 37.
Offensively they are led by junior infielder Manny Salas who has tallied an impressive .421 average paired with an OPS of 1.222. In the Bobcats’ previous series, Salas went 6-for-14 with two runs, four RBIs, and one home run. Another offensive star for Texas State is Jaquae Steward who has been equally as good as Salas. Steward has a team best 1.315 OPS and is second on the team with nine RBIs.
One final player to look out for is freshman star outfielder Jackson Cotton. The 6-foot-2, 19 year old from Missouri City, Texas has had an incredible start to his NCAA career, leading the team in runs, home runs and stolen bases. Cotton’s defense has been lights out as well, recording only one error in nine games played this season.
Texas State’s pitching is another thing to fear if you are WSU. Jesus Tover has been incredibly dominant this season. The lefty is tied for first in the NCAA with a 0.00 ERA in 19 innings pitched this season. In his last outing, Tover threw six no hit-innings, allowing three walks and racking up seven strikeouts.
Tovar is not the only starter for the Bobcats having a dominant season. 6-foot-3 left handed pitcher Nolan Moore and righty Kyle Froehlich have also had some special performances as well. Through three starts in his freshman campaign, Moore has a 0.60 ERA with 15 strikeouts. He also has an opposing batting average of .160 and has only given up one earned run on the season. Froehlich has started 2026 strong as well, posting a sub-two ERA with 17 punchouts. WSU will likely need to chase these starters out of the game early on to attack the inconsistent bullpen arms for Texas State.
In game one, WSU will take on Texas State at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 5 at Bobcat Ballpark in San Marcos, Texas. Game two starts at 6 p.m. as well on Friday, March 6. In game three WSU could face off against dominant left-hander Jesus Tover at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday March 7. The series wraps up with game four taking place at 12 p.m. on Sunday March 8.
