Oregon State Pitcher Dax Whitney Named to NCBWA Freshman All-American Team

Fresh off a pair of dominant performances, Oregon State true freshman starting pitcher Dax Whitney has been named a Freshman All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA).

Whitney - a 19 year old true freshman from Blackfoot, ID - arrived at Oregon State last summer after a precipitous rise up the prep baseball ranks. He was voted to the all-state team 3 times, including 1 selection as an all-state hitter, and his senior season on the mound at Blackfoot High School featured an unbeaten 10-0 record with a ridiculous 0.27 earned run average (ERA). In his 2024 senior season, Whitney was named Idaho’s Player of the Year, and Baseball Northwest’s highest-ranked prospect in the state of Idaho.

Whitney began the season as Oregon State’s Saturday starter. His season debut February 15th against UNLV featured 8 strikeouts, with only 1 walk and 4 hits allowed, across 5 scoreless innings. Other season highlights include 6 scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts against San Diego (March 8th), 11 strikeouts and only 1 run allowed in 5 innings at Nebraska (March 29th), and 11 strikeouts with only 3 hits allowed in 6 innings vs Iowa (May 10th).

So far this postseason, the young ace has found a higher form. In a must-win elimination game against TCU during the Corvallis Regional, Whitney struck out 12 Horned Frogs batters, allowing only 4 hits and 2 runs in 6 innings. Then last Friday in the opening game of the Corvallis Super Regional vs Florida State, he struck out 10 batters, with only 1 earned run on 4 hits. Entering the weekend series, Florida State had displayed one of the nation’s best offenses, with over 100 home runs combined.