Washington State Cougars On SI

Washington State Baseball Drops Opening Day Doubleheader At #4 Arkansas

Joe Londergan

Feb 16, 2023; Pullman, Washington, USA; Washington State Cougars mascot Butch performs before a men s basketball game against the Oregon State Beavers at Friel Court at Beasley Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-Imagn Images
Feb 16, 2023; Pullman, Washington, USA; Washington State Cougars mascot Butch performs before a men s basketball game against the Oregon State Beavers at Friel Court at Beasley Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-Imagn Images / James Snook-Imagn Images
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The Washington State Cougars baseball program made the journey into SEC country for their first weekend of the 2025 season. On Friday afternoon, the Cougs played their first two games of a four-game series in Fayetteville against #4 Arkansas.

Nathan Choate's squad dropped both games of the double-header, the first a 3-2 result in extra innings, followed by a 14-2 loss in seven innings.

Heading into the weekend, Choate wanted to see his team maintain composure and play fundamentally sound baseball. For the majority of the first game, they played well in that vein. WSU and Arkansas each committed two errors and the Cougar defense force Arkansas to strand eight runners on base.

Griffin Smith started on the mound for WSU and pitched five innings, striking out four and walking just two.

Neither team got on the board until the sixth, when Cougs' right fielder Logan Johnstone homered to right field in the top of the inning. The Razorbacks tied the game in the bottom of the sixth with a sac fly from DH Logan Maxwell that scored center fielder Charles Davalan.

The two sides were the in a deadlock until the tenth inning, when a pet peeve of Choate's reared its ugly head: walks. Reliever Trevor Stowe faced the final six batters of the game, walking four, one of which was intentional. That opened it up for Brent Iredale to hit a fly ball to left field, which gave Justin Thomas Jr. enough time to score the winning run.

Stowe was credited with the loss, dropping his record to 0-1.

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The second game of the day was less exciting for WSU, leading to a run-rule ending in seven innings.

Arkansas had their way with the Cougars offensively, piling up 14 runs off of 13 hits. That was highlighted by a six-run fourth inning, which included a three-run triple from Razorbacks catcher Ryder Helfrick.

Nick Lewis was WSU's starting pitcher in the ill-fated second game, going 3.2 innings with five earned runs. Lewis was given the losing decision, moving him to 0-1.

Ollie Obenour and Griffin Myers each had an RBI, scoring Jonah Shull and Ricco Longo, respectively. The Cougs managed just five hits against an exceptional outing from Arkansas starting pitcher Zach Root, who struck out eight batters in five innings.

Neither team committed a fielding error in the nightcap.

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The series resumes Saturday at 11 AM PT on SEC Network+

More Reading Material From Washington State Cougars On SI

Washington State Baseball: Choate Views 12-Game Road Trip As Massive Opportunity

Washington State Head Coach Nathan Choate Previews Cougars Baseball in 2025

Washington State Baseball Picked Third in Mountain West Conference Coaches Poll

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Joe Londergan
JOE LONDERGAN

Joe Londergan joined the SI brand in 2023 with G5 Football Daily. With over 15 years of experience in covering and working directly in college and pro sports, Joe's expertise has been featured in Front Office Sports, SB Nation, and XRAY.FM. He is a member of both the Football Writers' Association of America and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association. Joe holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Louisville and a master's degree in sports administration from Seattle University. Outside of his writing career, Joe enjoys golfing, although he admits that while he hits driver decently, his short game is a liability.

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