UW vs. WSU in Baseball
Last season, the Washington State baseball team was ranked 61st in the country, while Washington fell to 183rd, and last in the Pac 10. Despite the large gap between the two teams that share the state, the Huskies should be able to close ground on the Cougars in the upcoming season.
Washington lost few of their key contributors from last years. On the other hand, Washington State lost key pieces of their offense. Two seniors( Cody Bartlett and Matt Argyropoulos) who played major roles in Cougar run production, were drafted in the 2011 MLB draft.
Many other offensive leaders for WSU were drafted but not all of them chose to sign major league contracts. The Cougars also lost a few pitching leaders to graduation and the draft.
While the Huskies were not picked apart in the draft like the Cougars and did not lose many key contributors to graduation, they still do not look to be as solid as their counterparts from Pullman in the upcoming year. Washington State still appears to have a very solid core of their team returning to wear crimson.
While the Huskies still appear to be a weaker team than their cross-state rivals, based upon the last two recruiting classes brought in by Washington, it looks like they are closing in on Washington State, which has had a solid baseball program in the past few years.
The Huskies have the potential to become the consistently strong program that Washington State has established.