After finishing dead last in the Mountain West Conference last year, the Cougs had nowhere to go but up. Flash forward a year and they are near unrecognizable from that 2025 squad. 

With their 27-25 record this year and 15 wins in conference play, they have secured themselves a spot in the postseason for the first time in 16 years. At the No. 2 seed in the conference, they will have a first round bye in the playoffs, putting them in a prime position to go far in late May.

So, with the regular season finally over, let’s conduct our yearly physical on Cougar baseball. What went well, what went poorly and what can we expect in the playoffs?  

Winning the winnable games 

Take a look at the Cougars’ conference schedule this year. Notice anything? Here, I’ll fill you in. They did not lose a single series to a team ranked No. 5 or lower.

It’s true. They beat New Mexico (No. 5), UNLV (No. 6), swept Grand Canyon (No. 7), beat San Jose (No. 8) and Fresno State (No. 9). 

Of course, they did lose their series against SDSU (No. 1) and Nevada (No. 4), but that’s to be expected. Those are two solid programs that WSU still managed to hold their own against.  

It may seem unimportant, but it reveals a lot about this team. Beating bad teams is what good teams do. 

This does not mean that WSU was devoid of bad losses. They definitely had their share. But, they were able to control what they could control and picked up wins where it mattered. That will serve them well in the playoffs if they draw teams seeded lower than themselves. 

Plus, with six straight series wins, the Cougs are by far the hottest team in the conference. All of this spells a recipe for success in postseason baseball. But, knowing the Cougs, anything can happen. 

Who are you and what have you done with the WSU pitching staff?

7.54. That was the Cougs ERA last year that ranked them second to last in the conference. Cougar pitching was hard to watch last year, specifically in clutch moments. 

However, that seems to have changed this season. The Cougs now rank third for ERA (6.33), third for earned runs (308), fourth for saves (8) and second for batting average against (.293).

So…what changed? 

In reality, it boils down to six names: Nick Lewis, Griffin Smith, Luke Meyers, Ryan Falke, August Richie and Scott Rienguette. 

Let’s start with Lewis, Smith and Meyers. The starting trio of arms absolutely dominated this year. All three posted ERA’s south of 6.00, averaged over four innings per start, averaged three or fewer runs per game, struck out 45+ batters and had sub .300 batting averages against. A pitching staff is only as good as its starters, and my goodness, WSU’s starters were electric. 

The second piece of the puzzle is Falke, Richie and Rienguette. What do those three names have in common? All three of them are first year Cougs. 

Falke is a freshman, Richie transferred from Virginia and Rienguette came over from Kansas State. All three have made their presence known, all in relief to be specific. 

Each of the first-time Cougs has made 12+ outings, averaged an inning per appearance, one or fewer runs per outing, 15+ strikeouts and less than 15 walks. Essentially, they locked down the mound in clutch situations. 

Richie and Rienguette also have four saves apiece, making up all eight saves for the Cougs this year.

The addition of Falke, Richie and Rienguette is not the sole reason behind the Cougs’ ascent, but it is a huge contributor. Without the trio of relievers, the Cougs most likely finish exactly where they did last year. 

This offense bleeds you to death 

As unrecognizable as the pitching staff was, the offense was just as impressive. 

Glancing year to year, you see a better team batting average, better OPS and better on base percentage. On top of that, they had more home runs, doubles, triples, RBIs and stolen bases.

Basically, they outperformed last year in almost every metric. That is mainly due to three slugging seniors. 

Max Hartman, Gavin Roy and Ryan Skjonsby have each decided to close out their Cougar careers with a bang. All three are batting over .330, have an OPS over .940, have a combined 15 home runs, 34 doubles and 128 RBIs. 

They made up essentially 40% of the Cougs offense this year. But, it was not just them that made the bats special. 

Throw a dart and you will hit a Coug who had a great year at the plate. Trevor Smith, Matt Priest, Dustin Robinson, Kyler Northrop, Ollie Obenour, Mason Pirello and even Dane Chavez swung the bat well, making up a Cougar roster that did one thing really well: pass the torch. 

The Cougs excelled at stringing together hits. They got runners on and cashed them in. For opposing pitching staffs, it felt like getting smothered. No matter who you faced, they all had the ability to tag you for run after run. 

That truly sums up the difference from last year to this year. The offense is not the most powerful, but it works together as an engine that can power past any team in the conference. 

The Cougs trip at the finish line… a lot

Yes the Cougs have won six straight series. Yes they went 8-7 in their last 15 games. That is all great. 

But, they very easily could have gone 12-3 in that stretch. Why? Because they allowed four games to slip through their fingers.

The one that pops to mind immediately is game three against Air Force. After blowing out the Falcons in games one and two, the Cougs were primed to take game three. They were leading by four runs in the ninth and just needed three outs to secure the series sweep. 

However, they proceeded to choke and choke hard. The Cougs coughed up five runs in the final frame, allowing the Falcons to walk it off and narrowly avoid the sweep. 

This is not the only time the Cougs were just one run away from a sweep. A week prior, the Cougs were one win away from sweeping Fresno on senior night. But, they allowed three runs in the last three innings and let the last place Bulldogs dodge a bullet on the Palouse.

Before that, WSU choked the lead against New Mexico in game two and ended up losing 4-3. While they still managed to win the series, they were just a single run away from a crucial sweep. 

Finally, to cap it all off, the Cougs closed out the regular season with a 12-11 loss to Seattle University on home turf. The Redhawks are seventh in the West Coast Conference, and the Cougs blew them out 10-0 earlier this year. Basically, it was a game they were supposed to win. 

What does all this mean? Essentially, the Cougs can’t finish. 

When the ball is in their court to take down good teams in important games, they whiff. That quality doesn’t bode well in postseason baseball. The Cougs will get their fair share of must-win, elimination and tournament deciding games in the playoffs. If those four specific games are any indicator, then the Cougs may be up creek without a paddle. 

Wheatfield underdogs

This team is just different. That is the best way to put it. There are some things in baseball that you can’t quite explain, and that applies to this squad. 

The belief, passion, approach and goal all seem to be on the same page. Every single name on the roster works in tandem with each other, on offense and defense. 

That is a quality not many teams have, and the Cougs have it in spades. They truly embody the idea of nine versus one and refuse to let egos get in the way of winning. 

This is now the third year of Nathan Choate at the helm, and you are starting to see his philosophy bear fruit. Give his team a chance to catch fire in the postseason, and he will burn the whole forest down. 

WSU may be the second seed, but they will undoubtedly play like underdogs. That has been the approach all year and that won’t change in the playoffs. 

The wheatfield underdogs always find a way to shock the world.