CORVALLIS — The future of the Oregon State baseball program was forever changed seven years ago, when a skinny, 12 year-old kid plopped down at a Buffalo Wild Wings and peered up at a television.

The Beavers were in Omaha, barreling their way toward the third national championship in school history. Dax Whitney was in the middle of the summer travel baseball season, and his team stopped by the restaurant for a bite to eat in between games.

Oregon State just happened to be playing in the College World Series that day and Whitney was instantly captivated.

“I’m looking at the TV, and it’s 2018, and I’m watching them win the World Series,” he said. “And just ever since then — that was like my first taste of college baseball — and it was just like, I like Oregon State. It felt like a dream come true for me when I got my (scholarship) offer here.”

The dream will come full circle this week, when No. 7 Oregon State opens the 2025 college baseball season and Whitney makes his Beavers debut.

The 6-foot-5 freshman right-hander is expected to be a key part of the rotation, most likely as the Saturday starter, and has the makeup and stuff to become the Beavers’ next pitching star.

The Oregon State staff is young and littered with question marks, but it’s also teeming with talent. Ten different Beavers hit 94 mph or higher in the fall. Junior Nelson Keljo, who is expected to be the Friday night starter, is widely considered one of the top prospects in the 2025 MLB draft. The sophomore class is so deep and potentially dominant, pitching coach Rich Dorman said, it could produce as many as eight draft picks.

And then there’s Whitney.

Even though he hasn’t thrown his first collegiate pitch, D1Baseball ranked him 70th on its list of the top 150 starting pitchers in the nation. Perfect Game considers him the fifth-best freshman in the nation. And he was so dominant in high school, MLB.com listed Whitney as the 56th-best prospect in the 2024 draft.

“Dax is a young phenom,” Dorman said. “I hate putting that phenom tag to him, but he’s that talented. He could be very special in three years.”

So special, in fact, that it was widely assumed Whitney would be preparing for MLB Spring Training this month rather than the college baseball season. He was one of the top prep prospects in last year’s draft and a potential first-round pick.

But when draft day arrived last June, an anxious Dorman called to check in on his prized prospect — and see where things stood — only to discover that Whitney was roaming a golf course in his hometown, Blackfoot, Idaho.

“Most kids are setting up their draft party,” Dorman said. “And he’s out on the course playing golf. With Dax, I was pretty confident he would make it to campus.”

In the end, Whitney said, development, the chase for a championship and the allure of the college clubhouse were worth more than a seven-figure professional contract.

“A lot of it was just me thinking about why I love playing baseball,” he said. “It’s being able to have a team and go dominate with your teammates. I just worried that if I were to go play pro ball (directly from high school), then I was just working for myself to climb the ranks. I knew that if I was going to come here, I would put myself in the best position to win a national championship.”

And, according to team insiders, Whitney’s desire to pursue a championship has significantly improved Oregon State’s chances of reaching Omaha.

He boasts an overpowering four-pitch arsenal that includes a 98 mph fastball, 12-to-6 curveball, slider and changeup.

A self-described “late bloomer,” Whitney’s fastball topped out at 91 just two years ago. But it surged as he sprouted and, even though he’s been on campus only a few months, there has been measurable growth in other areas, too.

Whitney has gained 26 pounds since arriving in Corvallis. And, he says, his secondary pitches have improved significantly in just a few months, thanks to Dorman’s guidance, the depth and competitiveness of the staff — and his first deep dive into analytics.

Using cameras, computer programs and OSU’s state-of-the-art technology, Whitney spent the fall tweaking more than one of his pitches and fine-tuning the way he thinks about throwing. He spent bullpen sessions scrutinizing everything from his release angles to the metrics of his pitches, leaning on the data of spin rates and flight trajectory to adjust his mechanics and approach.

Perhaps the biggest adjustment came with Whitney’s curveball, which, he says, used to be “kind of even with the vertical and horizontal movement … more like a slurve.” But after a minor tweak to his grip, the pitch has evolved into a knee-buckler, featuring a sharp, 12-to-6 break.

“I was kind of unaware … what my pitches really did and how to make them play better off each other,” Whitney said. “So just getting used to all that stuff and being able to use it effectively has been the biggest jump for me.”

In Blackfoot, a remote town of roughly 1,300 people in southeast Idaho, Whitney was so overpowering, his teammates nicknamed him “King.” He went 10-0 with a 0.27 ERA and 130 strikeouts as a senior and was, at times, literally unhittable — he thew a perfect game and a no-hitter. Whitney rarely faced trouble on the mound, but if he did, he knew he could “rip a fastball down the middle” and overpower his inferior competition.

It’s been a different story at Oregon State, where the Beavers’ loaded lineup — and the discovery of analytics — have forced him to embrace the art of pitching.

“I’ve actually got to execute, hit my spots, execute my pitches — think about how a pitch is setting up for the next one,” Whitney said. “So it’s just a whole ’nother level of advancement to where everything plays off each other and having to actually execute perfectly.”

He’s been a quick study. Dorman praised Whitney’s “aptitude” and ability to “apply information quickly,” noting that it took him just two weeks of work in the fall to master that overhauled curveball.

When asked if the hype surrounding Whitney was justified, Dorman didn’t bat an eye.

“Oh, yeah,” he said.

And Whitney’s teammates — who have had to contend with that new curveball and powerful heater, in addition to a 90 mph changeup and 84 mph slider — agree.

“He’s got big league stuff,” sophomore third baseman Trent Caraway said. “He’s got one of the best fastballs I’ve seen.”

Added junior outfielder Gavin Turley: “His personality kind of fits the role of someone that’s going to play baseball for a long time. There’s highs and lows in this game and I think he’s ready for it.”

Seven years after falling in love with Oregon State at a Buffalo Wild Wings, Whitney is poised to help the program return to Omaha.

“Any other school in the country, Dax is a Friday night guy,” Dorman said. “I’m excited to see what this kid can do.”