Oregon State Baseball Secures #1 National Ranking In Two Polls

Led by a bevy of dominant performances from a loaded pitching staff, Oregon State has found their way to a 17-1 overall record through the first month of the season. Now, it seems that the Beavers are finally being recognized among the country’s most formidable teams on a national scale, after the recent releases of many of college baseball’s national polls.

In both Collegiate Baseball’s Division I Poll and D1Baseball.com’s Poll, Oregon State was ranked as the #1 overall team in the country, a spot ahead of a 19-0 Louisville team, who (along with the Beavers), are becoming one of the favorites to stake their claim later this summer in Omaha. The Beavers can attribute a great deal of their success to the aforementioned group of pitchers, who lead all of college baseball with a 1.06 combined ERA. In three other noted college baseball polls (Baseball America, Perfect Game and the USA Today Coaches Poll), Oregon State is ranked a close second behind that same undefeated Louisville team.

The timing of the Beavers new top-ranking comes at a critical juncture in the season, as Oregon State welcomes consensus top-ten team Arizona (15-4) to town for a three-game homestead at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field, which runs this Friday (March 24th) through Sunday (March 26th). The Wildcats, who finished the 2016 campaign as national runners-up to Coastal Carolina, are an offensively-driven team who may compose some of the toughest batting line-ups that the Beavers have faced all-season long.

After this weekend’s showdowns with Arizona, the Beavers will take to the road for a five-game trip, that will include stops against Saint Mary’s (March 28th), Stanford (March 31st, April 1st, April 2nd) and Portland (April 4th). After that, Oregon State will return to Corvallis on April 7th, for a three-game series against Utah.