Oregon State Baseball: Previewing OSU’s Toughest Non-Conference Games in 2019

It’s never too early to start discussing Beaver Baseball, so let us start with which non-conference games are the ones to watch.

By rparker209 Jan 5, 2019, 6:00am PST

NCAA Baseball: College World Series Championship-Arkansas vs Oregon State

Welcome back to baseball chatter folks. Oh how we have missed these talks!

When you’re national champions, it’s never too early to start talking ball. One of the hot topics will be the non-conference opponents and who you should be looking at. Oregon State’s non-conference schedule will feature some series repeats from last year, such as Nebraska and Nevada. But this year does offer some exciting new match-ups that will test the Beavs throughout the season.

With that being said, we have pulled a few non-conference games that you will have to watch this season...

Minnesota Golden Gophers

Game Dates: February 17th & March 8th

In a rematch from last year’s super-regional matchup, the Beavs will take on the Gophers in two single-game match-ups early in the season. First in Surprise, AZ on February 17th, then again in Seattle on March 8th at T-Mobile Park (still feels weird not saying SafeCo). This team saw a handful of quality players leave the team due to graduation or the MLB draft, so they will come into the season weaker than usual. Minnesota still boasts a perennially tough team though, coming into the year ranked 28th courtesy of Collegiate Baseball’s preseason rankings poll. John Anderson is a fantastic coach who knows how to get his teams going, so you never can count them out.

In addition to a primetime matchup, revenge will be a big factor in these games. Oregon State knocked Minnesota out of the NCAA tournament last year, and the Golden Golphers will be coming to avenge that loss. Just think back to the Beavers games against LSU, and that will be the situation Minnesota is coming into.

Minnesota is the first legit challenge Oregon State will face in 2019. If the Beavs want another run at the postseason, taking down Minnesota is a must.

Coastal Carolina Chanticleers

Game Date: March 10th

College World Series - Arizona v Coastal Carolina - Game Three

Any college baseball fan worth his or her salt knows that Coastal Carolina is a great baseball program. This year will be no different, as they come into the preseason ranked 12th overall in the nation. The 2016 national champions return 21 players from a team that went 43-19 last year and won the Sun Belt Conference title. In addition, three of those returning players have been named to Collegiate Baseball’s Preseason All-America Teams.

This team will be making a run at Omaha this year. The Beavs only have one game against the Chanticleers in the tournament in Seattle, but it will be a good test of how OSU will fare against Omaha-quality teams.

Oklahoma State Cowboys

Game Dates: May 3rd, 4th and 5th

Last on our list is the other orange and Black OSU. Oklahoma State is another team that went to regionals last season. Coach Josh Holliday will have the Cowboys pushing for another tournament berth this season. The Cowboys went 31-26-1 last season, so they have a respectable team and will be returning the majority of the squad as well.

This game stands out because of the play dates. This is a quality matchup that is placed towards the end of the season, so this may be one of Oregon State’s last tests of the season. It will show if the Beavs have any fatigue down the stretch. If Oregon State has aspirations of a deep postseason run, a strong showing in this game will be a must.

This is just a brief glimpse of Oregon State’s season, but these were just a few opponents that stood out to us.

Is there any opponent you’re looking forward to seeing this baseball? Sound off below!