Before this season, the Washington State baseball team had not swept a single Pac 10 series since the conference reunified in 1999. Now they've swept two.
The Cougs were able to take care of business against the Ducks this weekend. In the process they improved their conference record to 14-7 (25-20 overall) and sit all alone in second place. Wazzu is 2 games out of first behind ASU with six games to play.
Washington State got solid starting pitching performances in all three games. Matt Way carried a shutout into the ninth on Saturday. Chad Arnold went seven on Sunday, and freshman lefty David Stilley continued to impress with six innings of two run ball in the series finale.
The good news is WSU still has an outside shot at the Pac 10 title. The bad news is they would need to make up three games to do so, because ASU took the season series 2-1. Most likely the scenario that would leave the Cougs in first would also have them sweeping Oregon State on the road and Washington at home, neither one being an easy task.
The postseason dream is still very much alive thanks to the sweep. The Ducks' "sub .500" record meant that anything but three wins would have hurt. As of this morning, the Cougs were predicted to make regionals by ESPN, but were tabbed as part of the "Last nine in."
Washington State continues the season with a two game set against Portland this week before traveling to Oregon State for a series over the weekend dripping with regional implications. If the Cougs are able to duplicate their last trip to Corvallis, things will be looking very good heading into the last Pac 10 weekend of the year.