THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: All the feels for Coug baseball in a true Western regional

However this weekend turns out, it’s been an uplifting time for Washington State fans. 

It’s been a trying last few years for the “Go Cougs!” 

WSU (and Oregon State) were left behind by the rest of the Pac-12.

The West Coast Conference was kind enough to take them in in many sports, while the two schools plotted a new course. 

But the WCC agreement didn’t include baseball.  

WSU was able to broker a deal to play in the Mountain West Conference the past two seasons. 

Oregon State, which has won the College World Series three times since 2006, opted to go the independent route. 

And those paths somehow led them to a matchup in the NCAA tournament on Friday. 

OH, WE definitely paid attention to WSU baseball in recent years, when former Lake City Timberwolves Kyle Manzardo and Kodie Kolden played in Pullman a few years ago, and when former Coeur d’Alene Viking Shea Vucinich shined for WSU a few years before that. 

But mention Washington State baseball to the casual fan, and their memories harken back to the days when Bobo Brayton was coach (1962-94), and often to the Cougs’ games vs. the feisty NAIA school down the road, Lewis-Clark State, piloted by Ed Cheff. 

John Olerud and Aaron Sele were Cougs. 

But that was long ago. 

EVEN BETTER is, this re-emergence of WSU baseball is taking place in the Pacific Northwest. 

It’s not like they were shipped to Somewhere Back East, playing in a regional with Random SEC Power, Random Big 10 squad and Directional State. 

They were grouped in Eugene, Ore., with the host Ducks, Oregon State and Yale, in one of 16 four-team first-round regionals nationwide. 

A true Western regional — like the good ol’ days of the NCAA basketball tournament. 

And the irony of the two schools left behind in the breakup of the Pac-12 getting matched up against each other in the first round of the NCAAs. 

So a lot more folks were paying attention on a rainy Friday afternoon in Eugene. Washington State, which hadn’t played in the NCAA tournament since 2010, outplayed Oregon State and was rewarded with a 3-2 victory. 

And acting like it wasn’t an upset. 

Which it wasn’t. Oregon State has the recent baseball pedigree (Jake Pfennigs of Post Falls High being one of the recent local ties to the program), but word is that being an independent the last two years has kept the Beavs from assembling the level of talent they’ve had in years past.  

Still, much kudos to the Cougs, who earned a shot at the host Ducks on Saturday night, needing just two more wins to advance to a Super Regional for the first time. 

It would have been cool to see Manzardo (now with the Cleveland Guardians) and Kolden experiencing the NCAA tournament as Cougars — though Kolden later played in the NCAAs as a graduate student at Dallas Baptist, where he is now an assistant coach. 

Vucinich played three seasons at WSU, and was on the Cougars’ last NCAA tournament team, before being drafted in the 20th round by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2010. 

Next year, WSU and OSU will play baseball in the new Pac-12, facing many of the same former Mountain West foes the Cougars beat en route to the NCAAs. 

Whether playing those teams will be the same as playing teams like Washington, Stanford, UCLA, USC and Arizona State in the past doesn't matter. 

It was good enough to get WSU back on the NCAA baseball map this year. 

IOWA STATE men’s basketball coach TJ Otzelberger had some nice things to say recently about his center, former Lake City High star Blake Buchanan. 

The 6-foot-10 Buchanan played for the Cyclones last season after playing his first two seasons at Virginia. 

A short clip of an interview with Otzelberger was posted Tuesday at desmoinesregister.com. 

“I love what he does every single day,” Otzelberger said of Buchanan. “He’s a tireless worker, he’s an everyday guy. He wants to do everything he can for the team to win. We saw from him defensively, an elite pick-and-roll defender, an elite defender on the perimeter ... just a guy who really makes your defense go because of the activity and the communication that he puts forth.   

“Offensively, a great decision-maker, a great passer, and someone who has really developed his floater. That floater he has is tremendous, and is something we’re going to continue to count on more.” 

Buchanan, who will be one of a handful of returnees from last year’s Sweet 16 team, played in all 37 games for the Cyclones (29-8), starting 36. He averaged 8.5 points and 5.7 rebounds in 24.5 minutes per game. He blocked a team-high 34 shots, was fourth on the team with 62 assists, and shot 63.6 percent from the field. 

“Blake’s someone we can trust, he’s a high field-goal percentage guy,” Otzelberger said. “And as time moves forward, him continuing to work, extend his range, shooting the ball from the perimeter will also be something we'll look at ... I can’t say enough great things about Blake; the year he had was terrific. And he’s only going to continue to climb, and elevate himself.” 

“Blake Buchanan ... he has been an unsung hero,” ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said during Iowa State's game vs. Texas Tech in the Big 12 tournament on March 12. 

AND FINALLY ... 

Congrats to the Seattle Mariners for wrapping up the American League Weak — er, West — earlier this week, with their three-game sweep of the Artist Formerly Known as the Oakland Athletics. 

Like everyone else in the division, the Mariners had been sputtering along for the first two months — but apparently, all it took was a few days in West Sacramento to cure their ills. 

The sweep propelled the M’s into first place in the AL Weak — sorry, West — where, unless the arms fall off of their six starting pitchers, they should stay until October. 

In fact, they may likely end up the only team in that division to finish over .500. 

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 1205, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @CdAPressSports.