Washington State extends Nathan Choate through 2031
· Yahoo Sports
Following a 2026 Mountain West Conference Championship and their first NCAA Baseball Tournament since 2010, Washington State locked up head coach Nathan Choate through 2031 with an extension. Director of Athletics Jon Haarlow said on Monday: “I could not be more excited about Coach Choate leading our baseball program well into the future.”
The announcement came just a few weeks after the Cougars best season since 2010 came to an end in the NCAA Regional round. The Cougs finished 31-28 on the season which is their most wins in 16 years and also set a program record with a 3.45 GPA in the fall semester. Their conference championship is the first since 1976 and sets them up for success as they head into the new-look Pac-12.
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The Cougs season ended a little earlier than had hoped after just three games in the regional. They began the weekend beating Oregon State 3-2 but were then beaten by Oregon 4-0 before eventually losing in the elimination bracket against Oregon State in a 10-1 loss.
Choate saw many different Cougs write their names in the record books as Max Hartman set the Cougars single-season record with 8 triples, Gavin Roy broke the record for on-base streak with 44, Nick Lewis became the first conference pitcher of the year for the Cougs and also became the first 10-game winner since 2000, Matt Priest’s .362 batting average was second best in Cougar history for a freshman, Trevor Smith’s 16 doubles was third best for a Cougar freshman. As a team, their 129 doubles was fifth-best in a season and also had 115 hit-by-pitches which was the most in program history.
Choate will look to build on the success of the 2026 season and will look to get the Cougars back into the NCAA Tournament once again next year. With a new conference on deck and the momentum of this past season, the Cougs should look to contend for another conference title and a deeper run in the tournament.