‘I think this team can do it’: New-look Washington State baseball team hopes to make noise in Pac-12, contend for postseason berth

PULLMAN – Asked about expectations for his team, Washington State baseball coach Brian Green said the Cougars’ “No. 1 goal” this year is to stop their postseason drought.

To pull it off, Green estimated that the Cougs must win three or four more Pac-12 games than they did last year.

“It’s a very big jump to make,” he said, “but if we do that, we’re knocking on the door of the postseason.”

The Cougars have made “incremental steps” toward establishing a winning tradition over the past three seasons with Green at the helm. They have finished above .500 every year but have yet to make much noise in the highly competitive Pac-12 Conference. WSU hasn’t reached the NCAA Tournament since 2010.

WSU went 27-26 (12-18 Pac-12) last year and ended up ninth in the conference, missing the Pac-12 Tournament by one game.

“We’ve had winning seasons overall but still haven’t had a winning season in conference play,” Green said. “It’s a big jump, but we’re excited to make a run, and I think this team can do it.

“Our goals are really simple. Three or four more (conference) wins could put us in the NCAA Regionals.”

The Cougars open their season at 11 a.m. Friday against Villanova at the Peoria Sports Complex in Arizona. WSU will play four games this weekend – two against the Wildcats and two versus UC Riverside – at the Seattle Mariners’ spring training venue.

Fifteen players return for WSU, which lost a significant chunk of its roster to graduation and transfers. The departures include standout third baseman Jack Smith, catcher Jake Meyer and outfielders Collin Montez and Justin Van De Brake – the four combined for 46% of the team’s hits and 43.5% of its runs last season.

The Cougars reloaded with 15 additions through the transfer portal.

“The 15 guys that returned have demonstrated, exemplified and led,” Green said.

“They’ve really set the tone for how the program is going to be, they also want to learn from the new players. Our culture, our feel and our communication among the team is the best I’ve seen since I’ve been here.”

Setting the pace on the field and in the clubhouse are senior first baseman Jacob McKeon and junior ace Grant Taylor.

McKeon, who hit .348 last year and posted team highs in OPS (1.030) and home runs (seven), was named to the All-Pac-12 team in 2022 and recently landed on the watch list for the Bobby Bragan National Collegiate Slugger Award. Taylor, a right-hander, led WSU starters with a 4.67 ERA last year and compiled a 4-5 record in 14 starts.

“Those two have turned themselves into the true leaders of the team,” Green said.

Familiar faces include in-state middle infielders Kyle Russell (University Place) and Elijah Hainline ( Mead High), both of whom started throughout 2022 . Outfielder Bryce Matthews, a 44-game starter and .308 hitter last year, “might be primed for a really good year,” Green said. Nate Swarts made 31 starts in the outfield over the past three years and will likely be promoted into a full-time role. Will Cresswell “is a much different player this year,” Green noted, and is locked in as WSU’s No. 1 catcher after starting 21 games as a true freshman in 2022.

“We’ve got a lot of returning talent that is going to be really good,” senior pitcher Dakota Hawkins said.

Hawkins will be in the mix for starts after an injury-affected 2022 in which he appeared in 10 games and had a team-best WHIP of .97. Caden Kaelber will probably be another weekend starter. The former Spokane Falls CC player earned an all-conference honorable mention nod last season as a reliever in his first year at WSU. Out of the bullpen, the Cougars will lean on Ferris High product Cam Liss and junior closer Chase Grillo, a Kennewick product who played at Gonzaga before transferring to WSU in 2022 and making a team-high 30 appearances on the mound.

WSU’s pitching staff enjoys more depth and velocity than last season, Green said, adding that the Cougars’ relievers are capable of working longer stretches.

“Grant is up to 95 (mph). Hawkins is up to 95. Grillo has been up to 97,” Green said. “We’re throwing harder and our secondary pitching is much-improved.

“We had a lot of guys that were one-inning types of pitchers last year, so when we’d get to Tuesday games, it was challenging. Our No. 1 (new) strength is the depth of our pitching.”

Shane Spencer might be the Cougars’ best new pitcher. The right-hander went 14-1 last year at Central Arizona College and helped his team capture the junior college national championship.

WSU  made good use of the transfer portal to stock up on position players.

“We’ve got a lot of newcomers who have really added value to our team,” Russell said. “We have more lefties in our lineup. We have depth at each position. We’re just kind of a well-rounded team right now.”

Sam Brown, a Portland transfer and former freshman All-American with the Pilots, will split time at designated hitter and first base.

Jonah Advincula, who hit .382 over the past three seasons at Division III Redlands (California), is expected to start in center field.

“He’ll be one of the faster players in the Pac-12,” Green said. “He can play center field like crazy.”

San Jacinto (Texas) College transfer third baseman Alan Shibley “has a chance to be a very special hitter,” Green said. Shibley had 32 extra-base hits last year.

The Cougars beefed up their infield with transfer additions Cam Magee (Arizona State), Jacob Harvey (Cal State Fullerton), Greg Fuchs (Oregon State) and Brandham Ponce (Big Bend). The Cougars will experiment with several of those players at multiple positions.

Magee started 23 games last year as a true freshman with the Sun Devils. Harvey, a Kennewick native, made 26 starts as a true freshman at Oregon State in 2019. He transferred to Fullerton in 2021 and was a regular in the Titans’ lineup, recording a .369 on-base percentage, but he missed most of the 2022 season with an injury. Fuchs batted .231 in two seasons as a regular starter for Pac-12 heavyweight OSU. Ponce, from Federal Way, Washington, earned junior college All-America third-team honors last season after belting six home runs and notching a .425 OBP.

“We have 12-13 hitters that we want to see over the course of the next two weeks,” Green said.

A week after their trip to Arizona, the Cougars will compete in the Tony Gwynn Classic in San Diego. WSU’s first home series of the year is set for March 3-5 against Southern Indiana. Pac-12 play begins March 10 at Oregon State.

“With the way we’ve been working this offseason, we hold ourselves to a high standard with the postseason,” Russell said.

“We’re all expecting to take it far. That’s our main goal, and I think we’ve prepared well enough to where we can.”