When Oregon State lost to Kentucky in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, it not only ended the Beavers’ season but also the modern-day Pac-12. Because of college re-alignments, Oregon State will play an independent schedule in 2025, although a competitive one nonetheless. And, the Beavers will have a strong team — to little shock — one with several notable returners. Here’s our 2025 Oregon State baseball preview.
Schedule
The talk coming out of last year was despite the collapse of the Pac-12, Oregon State would play a competitive 2025 schedule. That will hold largely true, as the Beavers will begin 2025 with a four-game slate in Arizona, facing Xavier twice, as wella s UNLV and Indiana.
The following weekend, OSU will be in the Round Rock Classic, facing powers Oklahoma and Virginia, plus Minnesota.
The Big 10, which took several schools from the old Pac-12, will be featured prominently in Oregon State’s schedule. Nine schools from the conference will face the Beavers this year, including in-state rival Oregon for four, plus Washington, Ohio State, and Nebraska.
Oregon State will also face UC Irvine, Gonzaga, Cal State Fullerton, and Washington State — in the Mountain West for baseball — among other notable opponents.
Hitters
The marquee storyline heading into 2025 is how will Oregon State respond without Travis Bazzana.
Bazzana was the top pick in last year’s MLB Draft after an astouning 2024 campaign from the second baseman. The ex-Oregon State infielder finished tied for seventh in the NCAA in home runs (28) and total bases (195).
He wasn’t the only one lost to the pros; Oregon State also lost Elijah Hainline, Micah McDowell, and Mason Guerra.
Luckily for the Beavers, the team retained three pivotal bats from last year’s group. And, all three are MLB Draft-eligible.
One of Oregon State’s “big three” is Gavin Turley, who hit 19 home runs and posted a 1.001 OPS as a sophomore. Turley is a big bat with pop, which could get him taken in either the first or second round come July. However, the 21-year-old has a long stroke and sells out for power a lot, which comes at a price.
Turley struck out 79 times over 61 games, hurting his draft stock heading into 2025.
Outfielder Dallas Macias hit .315/.389/.512 (.901 OPS) last season for the Beavers, providing key depth hitting. Macias put up adequate numbers at the Cape, with a .279/.375/.279 slash line with Brewster. He’ll taken on heightened importance in 2025.
The third name to watch heading into 2025 is infielder Trent Caraway. Caraway only played 18 games as a freshman thanks to a broken finger but hit .339/.431/.516 when healthy. He made up for lost time in the Cape Cod League, hitting .276 (.811 OPS) with four home runs.
Caraway was one of the best high school prospects in 2023 and hasn’t lost his luster. But from the Beavers’ standpoint, Caraway will be critical for the success Oregon State will have in 2025.
The Beavers did well in the transfer portal, landing former Washington Huskie Aiva Arquette. Arquette, a potential first-round pick and Golden Spikes Preseason Watch List hitter, batted .325/.384/.574 (.959 OPS) with 12 home runs as a sophomore last year.
Arguably the most notable newcomer freshman hitter is Adam Haight, a shortstop who was picked in the 20th round (but obviously, did not sign) by the Mets last July. Haight was ranked #187 by MLB.com among draft prospects in 2024, after he hit .433 as a high school senior and won the Washington 1A Division Player of the Year award.
Pitchers
The Beavers lost their two best pitchers from last season, Aiden May and Jacob Kmatz, to the pros after 2024. Kmatz became a fifth-round pick by the Rays last July, while May was a second-round pick by Miami.
The Beavers’ team leader in saves, Bridger Holmes, was a seventh-round pick by the Angels.
While the Beavers lost beef in their pitching staff, there’s still plenty of firepower in Corvallis.
One interesting newcomer to the Beavers in 2025 is freshman Dax Whitney, Idaho’s High School Player of the Year in 2024. Per the team, Whitney was the team’s hardest thrower during fall ball, clocking in at 98 MPH.
Whitney was MLB.com‘s 56th-best prospect in the 2024 MLB Draft, thanks largely to not just his fastball, but also two good breaking balls and a changeup.
Generally, teams like Oregon State don’t rely on freshmen to start. But, Whitney could be an execption in a year where the Beavers lost some beef. It wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for the team, as the Beavers had a freshman starter excel last season.
Eric Segura, the lone returner from Oregon State’s three-man rotation, struck out 72 over 69.1 IP with the Beavers last season as a freshman. He finished 2024 with an invite to USA Baseball’s College National Team tryouts.
Segura is one of severan notable returning pitchers, alongside Matthew Morrell, Laif Palmer, Drew Talavs, and Nelson Keljo. Keljo struck out 60 over 43 frames, primarily out of the bullpen.
Be sure to check out more of our college baseball coverage.