Washington State’s 8 pitchers gave up 5 earned runs. Colby Nealy started the game, giving up 2 runs in the first inning. Photo by David Cohen
The Cougars open the season with a pair of road matchups the final two weekends of February beginning with a four-game series at Sacramento State (Feb. 17-20) and another four-game swing with Loyola Marymount (Feb. 24-27) in Los Angeles.
Washington State returns to Pullman for an eight-game homestand, hosting Stephen F. Austin University (March 3-5) for a four-game series with a doubleheader set for the Saturday of that series. The following weekend will see Utah Valley University make the trip to the Palouse, March 9-12.
The Cougars spring break features a four-game road trip to southern California for a nonconference matchup against Long Beach State (March 15) followed by the opening weekend of Pac-12 Conference play against USC (March 17-19). The next weekend will see WSU host Cal State Northridge for a four-game series at Bailey-Brayton Field, March 24-27.
The first weekend of April will see the Cougars head to northern California for a series against the University of California (March 31-April 2) followed by a nonconference contest against the University of the Pacific (April 3). Washington State will face off against the Arizona schools the following two weekends beginning with a home series against the University of Arizona (April 7-9) before facing Arizona State University in Tempe (April 13-15), scheduled for a Thursday-Saturday series with the Easter Holiday set for April 16.
Following the holiday, the Cougars face Gonzaga University (April 17) in the first of three nonconference meetings with the other two matchups are scheduled for April 25 in Pullman and May 16 in Spokane. WSU welcomes Seattle University to Bailey-Brayton for a midweek matchup (April 19) before hosting rival University of Washington April 21-23. The Cougars took two of three in Seattle last season.
The final weekend of April will see Washington State head to Salt Lake City to face defending conference champion University of Utah (April 27-29).
The month of May will see the Cougars host three Pac-12 Conference series beginning with the University of Oregon (May 5-7) and will be followed by a visit from UCLA (May 12-14). WSU will make its final road trip of the regular season May 19-21 with a series against Oregon State University. The Cougars took two of three from the Beavers last season and it will be the return of coach Lees and associate head coach Dan Spencer who both spent 10-plus seasons on the Oregon State coaching staff, helping OSU to back-to-back National Championships in 2006-07.
Washington State will close out the regular season hosting Stanford University May 25-27, a Thursday-Saturday series.
The NCAA Tournament selection show is Monday, May 29.
