First pitch is scheduled for 5:30 in Portland
Washington State baseball will have a mid-week matchup against Portland today with the first pitch scheduled for 5:30 pm. The Cougs are 7-3 in their last 10 against the Pilots with their last loss coming in 2021. Their last matchup came in 2022 with a 3-0 Coug win in Pullman.
The Cougs are coming off of a 3-game sweep of Arizona State this past weekend and have really bounced back after hitting a rough patch to begin the month. They now sit at 15-8 and have won 5 straight.
Friday saw the Cougs climb out of a 4-0 hole with a 6-run 5th inning and a 2-run 8th inning to give them a 8-7 win. Saturday they held off the Sun Devils in a more mellow game that ended in a 3-2 victory. Sunday gave more fireworks in the 5th inning as the Cougs held a 5-1 lead when the Sun Devils put up 2 runs and then the Cougs answering with 3 of their own in the bottom of the inning to give them an 8-3 lead and then held the Sun Devils for the rest of the game for a 8-6 win.
Portland is 13-8 on the season and are also coming off of a sweep of their own. They handled Santa Clara over the weekend and capped it off with a 16-4 victory on Sunday.
On the bump for Portland will be Kaden Segel, a junior right-hander who has appeared in 6 games this season with a 0-1 record. He has pitched 8.2 innings and has a 9.35 ERA and has yet to start a game in the past two seasons. His last appearance came a little over a week ago against Maryland where he pitched 2.1 innings, gave up 5 hits, 4 runs, and struck out 3.
Opposite of Segel, we will see Kevin Haynes, a senior right-hander who has tallied 2 starts and 7 appearances in his first year with the Cougs so far. He has thrown 17.2 innings this year and has a 4.08 ERA on the season. His last appearance was last week against Seattle U where he threw for 3 innings and gave up 5 hits, 2 runs, and had 1 strikeout.
These two teams will meet up once more this season in early May when the Pilots come to Pullman for another mid-week matchup that will wrap up the season series.
The Cougs will look to continue their winning streak today and into the weekend as they head to Seattle for a 3-game series against the Huskies. First pitches in Seattle are scheduled for Thursday at 7:05, Friday at 7:05, and Saturday at 1:05.
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