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Oregon State RHP Dax Whitney (Photo by Bill Mitchell)

The 2026 college baseball season is almost here. As such, we’re breaking down every preseason Top 25 team in greater detail. Check out Oregon State’s 2026 season preview below.

Quick Hits

Last Season: 48-16-1; Reached College World Series

Final 2025 Ranking: No. 5

Coach (Record at school): Mitch Canham (224-103-1, 7th season)

College Baseball Top 25 Skinny

Oregon State enters its second season as an NCAA independent having already validated the experiment. Year one outside a conference ended in a return to the College World Series, the program’s first under Mitch Canham since he succeeded Pat Casey in 2020. Much of the roster that carried Oregon State to Omaha returns, particularly on the mound, where continuity and quality again define the group. There are notable departures from the lineup, but this season will be shaped primarily by pitching strength and the degree to which the offense can evolve around it.

Oregon State Baseball Strengths

Everything about Oregon State’s roster points toward its rotation. Sophomore righthander Dax Whitney and junior lefthander Ethan Kleinschmit return as one of the most imposing starting duos in college baseball, combining velocity, strike-throwing and workload capacity in a way few teams can match.

Whitney was one of the sport’s most advanced freshmen in 2025, posting a 3.40 ERA with 120 strikeouts against 37 walks over 76.2 innings. He worked with pace, challenged hitters early and carried his stuff deep into outings, traits rarely present together in first-year starters. Kleinschmit, a junior college transfer, provided parallel value over a heavier workload, finishing with a 3.56 ERA and 113 strikeouts against 36 walks across 91 innings. Together, they produced the second-most strikeouts by a rotation pair in the country, trailing only LSU’s top duo, and they return intact.

Eric Segura’s presence behind them adds another layer of proven potency. Relative to the Beavers’ schedule, the advantage is stark. On the West Coast, only a handful of programs can realistically counter that kind of pressure from the mound.

Oregon State Baseball Weaknesses

The lineup turnover was significant. All-American shortstop Aiva Arquette departed for the draft, joined by outfielders Gavin Turley, Dallas Macias and Canon Reeder and catcher Wilson Weber. Infielder Trent Caraway transferred to LSU, removing both production and familiarity from the middle of the order. There is still depth, but Oregon State will lean more heavily on younger players and transfers to fill premium roles. For a team built to suppress runs, the offense does not need to overwhelm opponents, but it does need a breakout presence to prevent narrow games from tightening unnecessarily.

Oregon State Baseball Player To Know

Whitney sets the tone for Oregon State every weekend. His fastball sits in the mid 90s and reaches 98 mph with riding life that plays at the top of the zone, and his breaking mix gives hitters little margin for adjustment. A top-down curveball provides sharp depth, while his sweeping slider averaged more than 17 inches of horizontal break and produced a 42% whiff rate in 2025. Whitney consistently challenged the strike zone too, limiting free passes while maintaining swing-and-miss. With polish well beyond his experience level, he enters the season as one of the most complete starters in college baseball.

Oregon State Baseball 2026 Projected Lineup, Rotation

PosPlayerYearAVGOBPSLGABHRRBINote/previous schoolCJacob GallowaySr..220.286.3205017Texas A&M1BJacob KriegSr..245.360.50020014372BAJ SingerSr..312.409.3932343393BEthan PorterFr.Huntington Beach HS (Calif.)SSTyler IngeSo..217.342.26760010MichiganOFEaston TaltSr..261.433.460211836OFAdam HaightSo..000.167.000500OFNyan HayesSr..277.421.4902061045GramblingDHMason PikeFr.Puyallap HS (Wash.)PosGSIPERAWHIPSO%BB%SPDax WhitneySo.1776.23.401.2836.411.2SPEthan KleinschmitJr.1791.03.561.0930.19.6SPEric SeguraJr.558.14.631.5128.814.0RPAJ HutchesonSr.048.14.281.2019.17.0RPWyatt QueenJr.547.23.211.2431.19.7RPAlbert RoblezSr.358.12.781.0632.511.5Long Beach State