Oregon State RHP Dax Whitney pumps his fist after a strikeout in the Beavers' 7-2 elimination game win over TCU on Saturday, May 31 at Goss Stadium. Whitney struck out a career-high 12 batters en route to the win. Courtesy photo: Katterlea Macgregor, OSU Athletics

Oregon State baseball starting pitchers Dax Whitney and Ethan Kleinschmit will trade orange and black for red, white and blue this summer.

The pair of underclassmen will be heading to USA Baseball’s headquarters in Cary, North Carolina, to try out for the collegiate national team ahead of its trip to Japan. Whitney and Kleinschmit are two of 56-total draft-ineligible ballplayers invited to participate.

“It is always exciting to finalize our schedule as we anticipate another great summer of baseball,” Eric Campbell, General Manager of USA Baseball’s Collegiate and Professional National Teams, was quoted as saying in a March press release. “We are looking forward to our annual Stars vs. Stripes series, which will be played across North Carolina, and then traveling to Japan… Additionally, we are excited to once again have the U.S. represented on the Fourth of July in a special prospect game with the select players from the Appalachian League.”

The USA Baseball Collegiate National Team’s trip to Japan will be its first since 2019, where it will face its Japanese counterpart for the 45th collegiate all-star championship series. Team USA leads the all-time series 24-20, with games dating back to 1972.

Whitney and Kleinschmit are the third and fourth Beavers to be invited to the national collegiate team’s training camp in the last two seasons, with left-handed junior Nelson Keljo and right-handed sophomore Eric Segura participating following the 2024 campaign.

Whitney lived up to his hype as a highly-touted recruit, dazzling for the Beavers in his true freshman season. The 6-foot-5 right-hander worked 76.1 innings for Oregon State, amassing a 6-3 record and a 3.70 ERA over 17 starts. Whitney struck out 120 batters, the most in a single season since Cooper Hjerpe set the record with 161 in 2022 and the eighth-most in program history.

Kleinschmit, a home-grown talent from Kennedy High School who spent his freshman year of college at Linn Benton Community College, was also a force in his first year as a Beaver. The left-hander matched Whitney’s 17 starts, recording an 8-5 record and posting a 3.56 ERA as Oregon State’s Sunday starter. Kleinschmit’s 91 innings as a sophomore led Oregon State’s staff, with his 113 strikeouts trailing only Whitney.

Both Whitney and Kleinschmit will be competing for roster spots on the national team’s roster, playing five internal scrimmages, dubbed the “Stars vs. Stripes series”, at venues across North Carolina in the coming weeks. University of Southern California head baseball coach will serve as the Stars Team’s manager, while Bethune-Cookman head coach Johnathan Hernandez leads the Stripes Team.

Whitney and Kleinschmit’s team assignments as well as the full 56-man roster have yet to be announced.

The finalized collegiate national team roster will be announced July 4, with the selected players heading overseas and the remaining players facing an Appalachian League all-star team.

2025 Team USA Collegiate National Team schedule

(All times listed in PT and are subject to change)

Stars vs. Stripes Series

Atrium Health Ballpark; Kannapolis, North Carolina — 2:35 p.m., June 29

USA Baseball training complex; Cary, North Carolina — 3:30 p.m., June 30

USA Baseball training complex; Cary, North Carolina — 3:30 p.m., July 1

USA baseball training complex; Cary, North Carolina — 3:30 p.m., July 2

Segra Stadium; Fayetteville, North Carolina — 3:35 p.m., July 3

Collegiate National Team prospects vs. Appalachian League Select Team 

Atrium Health Ballpark; Kannapolis, North Carolina — 3:30 p.m., July 4

Team USA vs. Team Japan Collegiate all-star series 

Es Con Field; Hokkaido, Japan — 1 a.m., July 8

Es Con Field; Hokkaido, Japan — 1 a.m., July 9

Hard Off Eco Stadium; Niigata, Japan — 12 a.m., July 11

Hard Off Eco Stadium; Niigata, Japan — 7 p.m., July 11

Jingu Stadium; Tokyo, Japan — 12 a.m., July 13