Oregon State baseball a unanimous top 10 team for 2025 season

Published 2:06 pm Tuesday, February 4, 2025

It’s unanimous. Again.

The Oregon State baseball team on Tuesday debuted at No. 7 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, making it a unanimous top-10 team in all five major polls heading into the 2025 season.

The Beavers earned 532 points and no first-place votes in the coaches poll, nestling between No. 6 Florida State (537) and No. 8 North Carolina (530).

Texas A&M debuted at No. 1, followed by No. 2 Tennessee, No. 3 LSU, No. 4 Virginia and No. 5 Arkansas.

The top five is reflective of the poll at large — the ACC and SEC combined to land 18 of the top 25 spots, including 12 of the top 13. The Beavers are the only team outside the two Power 4 conferences to earn a top 10 ranking and one of just three teams from the West Coast in the poll, joining the rival Oregon Ducks (No. 14) and UC Santa Barbara (No. 22).

The Ducks are a unanimous top-25 team heading into the season, landing between No. 12 and No. 19 in the five major polls.

Oregon State is no stranger to lofty preseason rankings, of course. The Beavers, who have won three College World Series championships and played in 23 regionals, also were a unanimous top-10 preseason pick last season.

They went on to win 45 games and reach the super regionals, falling to the Kentucky Wildcats in the Lexington Super Regional. Oregon State lost a host of key contributors from that team, including All-America second basemen Travis Bazzana — the No. 1 pick of the MLB draftrotation anchors Aiden May and Jacob Kmatz and closer Bridger Holmes.

But the heavy exodus did not deter preseason poll voters, who are enamored with coach Mitch Canham’s retooled roster. The deep and talented group features five players listed on MLB.com’s top 100 draft prospects list, including junior shortstop Aiva Arquette (No. 7), sophomore third baseman Trent Caraway (No. 21), junior outfielder Dallas Macias (No. 60), junior outfielder Gavin Turley (No. 84) and left-hander Nelson Keljo (No. 89).

Team insiders are predicting breakout seasons by junior first baseman Jacob Krieg and senior catcher Wilson Weber. The pitching staff features perhaps the best collection of arms in Canham’s six seasons as coach.

In addition to Keljo, who is poised to join the rotation after two years in the bullpen, the Beavers’ rotation is expected to include sophomore Eric Segura, freshman phenom Dax Whitney and transfer Ethan Kleinschmit. It’s a formidable foursome, but it’s not set in stone because of the talent up and down the staff, which includes 10 different players who touched 94 mph in the fall.

Pitching coach Rich Dorman said the sophomore class on his staff is so deep, as many as eight Beavers could be selected in the 2026 MLB draft.

The Beavers open the season on Feb. 14 against Xavier in Surprise, Arizona.

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