Another week, another top 10 for the Oregon State baseball team.
The Beavers on Monday debuted at No. 7 in the D1Baseball Top 25, landing their second top 10 ranking of the preseason. OSU opened at No. 10 in the Perfect Game Top 25 last week.
There are five major college baseball polls and The Oregonian/OregonLive uses the D1Baseball Top 25 for its rankings.
The Beavers are an outlier in Monday’s poll, which is loaded with SEC, ACC and East Coast teams. Oregon State is not only the highest ranked team from the West Coast, but also the only school outside the SEC and ACC to land in the top 10. Only three West Coast teams — Oregon (No. 12), UC Santa Barbara (22) and Oregon State — earned spots in the preseason poll.
Arizona, the Beavers’ old Pac-12 foe, debuted at No. 21.
The six teams ranked ahead of Oregon State — No. 1 Texas A&M, No. 2 Virginia, No. 3 LSU, No. 4 Tennessee, No. 5 Arkansas and No. 6 North Carolina — compete in either the SEC or ACC. Oregon State is scheduled to play Virginia on Feb. 21 in a marquee preseason matchup at the Karbach Round Rock Classic.
It’s the second consecutive season the Beavers have debuted at No. 7 in the D1Baseball preseason Top 25. OSU remained inside the poll’s top 10 all season and qualified for the program’s ninth super regional, where it lost to the Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington, Kentucky, falling short of the College World Series.
Oregon State’s success in 2025 will be decided by a host of new faces. Seven Oregon State players were selected in the 2024 MLB draft, including second baseman Travis Bazzana, the No. 1 overall selection, rotation stalwarts Aiden May and Jacob Kmatz, closer Bridger Holmes, starting shortstop Elijah Hainline, outfielder Micah McDowell and first baseman Mason Guerra.
But Mitch Canham, who is entering his sixth season as coach at OSU, has infused the roster with plenty of talent.
The Beavers feature five players on D1Baseball’s list of the top 150 MLB draft prospects, including transfer shortstop Aiva Arquette (No. 6), sophomore third baseman Trent Caraway (16), junior outfielders Gavin Turley (62) and Dallas Macias (65), and left-hander Nelson Keljo (82).
Oregon State begins practice on Jan. 24, then plays its season opener on Feb. 14 against Xavier in Surprise, Arizona.
— Joe Freeman | jfreeman@oregonian.com | 503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman | Subscribe to The Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
