Oregon State
Mustangs Visit No. 7 Oregon State for Non-Conference Ranked Series
4/9/2026 2:15:00 PM | Baseball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Cal Poly continues its run through the toughest part of its 2026 baseball schedule this weekend, traveling north to the Pacific Northwest to play No. 7-ranked and three-time national champion Oregon State.
Coach Larry Lee's Mustangs, who dropped all three games of their Big West series at home against UC Santa Barbara last weekend, also will go south to face conference leader UC San Diego next weekend.
First pitches for the non-conference series inside Goss Stadium at Coleman Field are 5:35 p.m. Friday, 4:35 p.m. Saturday and 1:05 p.m. Sunday. All three games will be streamed on KOIN.com and KOIN+. KOIN+ is available on ROKU devices, Fire TV, Samsung and Apple TV.
The series also will be available on Pac-12 Insider via Samsung TV Plus, The CW App, Amazon Prime Video platforms, Free Live Sports, Mansa, Plex, TCLtv+, Tablo, the Sportworld app and the Victory+ app. Fans can also watch Pac-12 Insider on their browser at pac12.me/insider.
Cal Poly improved its overall record to 18-13 with an 11-4 victory over San Jose State on Tuesday. Oregon State is 25-7 after splitting a pair of non-conference games against Washington State in Pullman, Wash., winning Monday 18-0 and falling Tuesday 7-6.
Oregon State, playing an independent schedule for the second year, and Washington State, an affiliate member of the Mountain West for two seasons, return to a revamped Pac-12 next year. Other baseball-playing schools in the Pac-12 include Gonzaga, Dallas Baptist, Texas State, Fresno State and San Diego State for a total of seven teams.
The Beavers played in three tournaments to open the season at Surprise, Ariz.; Round Rock, Texas; and Frisco, Texas, emerging with a 6-4 record. Oregon State followed with series wins over Xavier (Ohio) (4-0), San Diego (3-0), UC Irvine (3-0), Mercer (3-0) and, last weekend in Beaumont, Texas, Lamar (3-0).
Cal Poly, meanwhile, strung together 10 consecutive wins following a 4-7 start with Big West series victories against Hawai'i (3-0), Cal State Bakersfield (3-0), UC Davis (2-1) and UC Riverside (2-1) before running into its Blue-Green Rival, UC Santa Barbara, last weekend.
The 6-0, 4-2 and 12-4 scores against the Gauchos were part of a stretch in which the Mustangs won just three of nine games over 13 days, turning a 14-7 mark to 17-13 prior to Tuesday's win against San Jose State.
Oregon State, College World Series champions in 2006, 2007 and 2018, owns the seventh-best team ERA in the nation at 3.44 and is No. 3 in fielding percentage at .986 with just 16 errors in 32 games.
The Beavers are hitting .264 with three regulars at or above the .300 mark. Designated hitter Bryce Hubbard owns a .302 average with seven home runs and 26 RBIs while third baseman Paul Vazquez also sports a .302 mark with five home runs and 17 RBIs. First baseman Bryson Glassco has a .300 average and 10 RBIs.
Seventh-year Oregon State head coach Mitch Canham is expected to start sophomore right-hander Dax Whitney (5-0, 1.33 ERA) on Friday, junior southpaw Ethan Kleinschmit (5-2, 3.38 ERA) on Saturday and junior righty Eric Segura (3-1, 1.50 ERA) on Sunday.
Whitney scattered four hits over 6 2/3 scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts last week versus Lamar. The Blackfoot, Idaho, native has struck out 88 batters over 47 1/3 innings, best in NCAA Division I so far. In eight starts, he has struck out 10 or more batters six times with a season high of 17 against Baylor on Feb. 20.
Whitney was 6-3 with a 3.40 ERA for the Beavers a year ago.
Cal Poly will counter with junior right-hander Griffin Naess (4-2, 4.46 ERA) on Friday, redshirt junior righty Carson Turnquist (2-1, 3.62 ERA) on Saturday and freshman right-hander Corden Pettey (2-2, 4.75 ERA) on Sunday.
Cal Poly's top hitter through 31 games is fifth-year center fielder Casey Murray Jr. with a .347 mark, including eight doubles, four triples, a quartet of home runs and 17 RBIs. He had a 17-game hitting streak snapped by UC Santa Barbara last week.
Other Mustangs above the .300 mark include junior infielder Alejandro Garza (.336, eight doubles, 28 RBIs), sophomore shortstop Nate Castellon (.333, 13 doubles, 12 RBIs), junior catcher Ryan Tayman (six doubles, 10 home runs, 32 RBIs), right fielder Cam Hoiland (.304, nine doubles, 15 RBIs) and designated hitter/outfielder Xander McLaurin (.302, 11 RBIs).
Hitting .267 three weeks ago, Garza produced his fifth game of three or more hits over his last 12 contests with four singles against San Jose State earlier this week. The recent surge by the two-time all-Big West first-team honoree has elevated Garza's batting average 59 points.
Oregon State has won 14 of 20 games (one tie) against Cal Poly, defeating the Mustangs twice in a three-game series a year ago at Baggett Stadium. The Beavers also won three of four games, also in San Luis Obispo, in 2023. Cal Poly's last trip to Corvallis was in 2015, a two-games-to-one series win by the Mustangs.
In addition to its three national titles, Oregon State has appeared in five other College World Series (including 2025) and has made 24 NCAA regional appearances and 10 in the Super Regionals. The Beavers claimed Pac-12 titles in 2013, 2014 and 2017.
Canham, who played on Oregon State's 2006 and 2007 national championship teams, is in his seventh season as head coach of the Beavers, compiling a 249-110-1 mark so far. He batted .314 during his playing career, tallying 31 doubles, eight triples, 25 home runs and 152 RBIs.
A first-round pick of the San Diego Padres in 2007, Canham played in the minors from 2007-15 with a dozen different teams, reaching Triple-A at Portland. His coaching career includes 3 1/2 seasons as a manager in the Seattle Mariners farm system prior to being hired at Oregon State on June 13, 2019.
Cal Poly's next home game is Tuesday, April 14, against Pepperdine at 5:05 p.m. inside Baggett Stadium.
