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

The 2025 college baseball season has arrived as head coach Nathan Choate and the Washington State Cougars head south this week. The Cougs will get to spend the final two weeks of February and the first few days of March in Arkansas and Texas - hopefully in warmer and drier weather than the Pacific Northwest.

WSU will play 12 games in 18 days, including opening up with a four-game series against the #4 Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville. That's followed by a trip to the Kleburg Bank Collegiate Classic for dates with Michigan State, UCLA, and Texas A&M - Corpus Christi. After that, they'll play one more road game against Corpus Christi, then a four-game series against the Iowa Hawkeyes in Cleburne, Texas.

For Choate, it's a chance to see his revamped team challenge themselves to put the habits the on-field habits formed in the offseason to their first real test.

"It's an opportunity to go challenge yourself against some of the best teams in the country. We're going to be on the road, we're gonna spend a lot of time together. We have a chance to become a closer team because we're going to go through some adversity. If we use it and we learn from it, then we have a chance to be a really, really good team. If we have a tough game or a tough inning or two and we don't bounce back right away, and you don't learn from it then, then it's a waste of an opportunity. "

Winning early in the year has it's obvious benefits. Going back to Pullman with a solid handful of victories from these 12 games against SEC and Big Ten competition (and TAMU - Corpus Christi) would inspire a lot of confidence before the Cougs' first Mountain West Conference slate.

Another benefit of wins over teams like Arkansas, Iowa, Michigan State, and UCLA: a step in the right direction for the larger reputation of Washington State athletics as the Pac-12 continues its rebuild.

"Washington State is a national brand," Choate said emphatically. "I think with conference affiliation that's kind of gotten pushed aside, and so this is an opportunity for us to go earn some people's respect. Regardless of what conference we play in, we scheduled in a way so that we can go some of the best places in the country and earn respect. Now, you got to play good baseball and win in order to do that...Can't sit here and talk about it. You got to go do it."

Even if the Cougs don't necessarily start the season with fireworks down south, it will be a great tuneup for the Cougs' home-opener against Seattle on March 7 and then then another week on the road at Oregon State and Air Force. It will be a marathon for the team picked to finish third in the Mountain West Conference Preseason Coaches Poll.

"I don't really have a lot of time and energy for guys that feel sorry for themselves," Choate emphasized. "So, I don't really care if we fail, I do care that we respond. So, I think it's just an opportunity to go out there and challenge ourselves to see what some of the best programs in the country look like."

Washington State open the 2024 campaign on Friday, February 14 at Arkansas on SEC Network+ (ESPN+). First pitch of the four-game series is scheduled for 1 PM PT//4 PM ET. WSU are seeking their first appearance in the NCAA tournament since 2010.

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