Beavers face busy baseball week
April 6, 1999
TUESDAY, APRIL 6
Oregon State at Portland, 3 p.m.
(Radio: KLOO-AM, 1340)
FRIDAY, APRIL 9
Oregon State at Arizona, 7 p.m.
(Radio: KLOO-AM, 1340)
SATURDAY, APRIL 10
Oregon State at Arizona, 1 p.m.
(Radio: KLOO-AM, 1340)
SUNDAY, APRIL 11
Oregon State at Arizona, 1 p.m.
(Radio: KLOO-AM, 1340)
Oregon State (11-21 overall, 1-5 Pacific-10) takes a short trip and then a long one this week as the Beavers meet in-state foe Portland (10-17, 5-7 West Coast) in a non-league matinee before heading to Arizona (21-16, 4-8) for a weekend Pacific-10 series.
The Beavers go into the week trying to build on a series against No. 16 Arizona State that saw OSU put together an improved performance despite losing two of three games.
"There were a lot of positive things that happened over the weekend," OSU head coach Pat Casey said. "Our guys need to build on those things. When your shorthanded, the way we have been most of the season, other guys have to find a way to pick us up. I thought we had some guys offensively who really stepped up."
The Beavers hit .313 as a team in the series against Arizona State and averaged 7.7 runs per game. The shortcomings came in the pitching in the first and final games of the series and in some defensive situations.
"Offensively, our guys got going pretty good and scored enough runs for us to actually win all three games," Casey said. "But pitching and defense are always going to be the determining factor, and other than B.R. Cook's game (a 9-8 win on April 2), we didn't pitch well enough to win. Sunday's outcome (a 21-9 loss) was a direct result of pitching and defense. We scored nine runs, and that's enough to win in your own park.
"I thought we did play outstanding defense in the middle; (shortstop) Troy Schader and (second baseman) Corrie Willkie played great for us defensively."
Portland is coming off a three-game sweep of Gonzaga in WCC play, having taken wins of 3-2, 8-4 and 5-4 over the weekend at Pilot Stadium. The Pilots' 10 wins this season matches their total for all of last season, and their three-game winning streak is their longest since 1997.
Arizona had to take on both the weather and Washington last week. After having their series-opener rained out, the Wildcats were swept by Washington 6-3 and 2-1 before bouncing back to take the final game of the weekend in a 17-4 romp. That ended a six-game losing streak for Arizona, which had started the year with a 13-game win streak.
OREGON STATE PROBABLE LINEUP
C-Bryan Ingram, fr.; Everett, Wash. (Cascade HS); .252, 1 HR, 12 RBIs
or Jeff Sakamoto, sr.; Beaverton, Ore. (U. Puget Sound); .162, 0 HRs, 4 RBIs
1B-Joe Gerber, jr.; Portland, Ore. (Grant HS); .349, 5 HRs, 24 RBIs
or Tim Dryden, jr.; Roseburg, Ore. (Lane CC); .360, 2 HRs, 22 RBIs
2B-Corrie Willkie, sr.; Mission Viejo, Calif. (Saddleback JC); .317, 1 HR, 16 RBIs
3B-Josh Carter, fr.; Fallbrook, Calif. (Fallbrook HS); .197, 0 HRs, 8 RBIs
or Tim Dryden, jr., Roseburg, Ore. (Lane CC); .360, 2 HRs, 22 RBIs
SS-Troy Schader, sr.; La Center, Wash. (Green River CC); .220, 5 HRs, 16 RBIs
OF-Drew Hedges, jr.; Portland, Ore. (Beaverton HS); .324, 2 HRs, 18 RBIs
OF-Rob Colley, sr.; Tenino, Wash. (Lower Columbia CC); .309, 1 HR, 19 RBIs
OF-K.C. Rumrey, fr.; Medford, Ore. (North Medford HS); .265, 0 HRs, 0 RBIs
or Rod Gott, jr.; Ravensdale, Wash. (Green River CC); .233, 1 HR, 12 RBIs
or Eric Stark, so.; Sumner, Wash. (Sumner HS); .213, 0 HRs, 5 RBIs
DH-Tim Dryden, jr.; Roseburg, Ore. (Lane CC); .360, 2 HRs, 22 RBIs
or Curtis Davis, so.; Corvallis, Ore. (Corvallis HS); .259, 0 HRs, 10 RBIs
(Pitching rotation to be determined)
P-B.R. Cook, jr.; Salem, Ore. (Sprague HS); 3-6, 4.83 ERA
P-Mark Newell, jr.; Salem, Ore. (Jefferson HS); 3-3, 7.08 ERA
P-Pat Versluis, jr.; Mission Viejo, Calif. (Saddleback JC); 1-4, 7.56 ERA
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT: Oregon State has an all-time record of 116-54 against Portland in a series that dates back to 1909, and the Beavers are on an eight-game winning streak against the Pilots. The last meeting was an 8-7 OSU win on March 17 at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field; the last Portland win was 10-6 in the first meeting of the 1997 season at Lewis-Clark State's Banana Belt Tournament.
Oregon State has an all-time record of 6-8 against Arizona in a series that dates back to 1963, and the Beavers are on a three-game winning streak against the Wildcats. Last season, OSU swept a series at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field by scores of 3-2, 9-1 and 4-3; Arizona's last win was 11-3 in 1977 at the Best in the West Tournament in Tucson.
INJURY REPORT: Four Beavers are out for the season - freshman catcher Chris Biles with a knee injury, senior outfielder Rudy Zarfas with a hand injury, junior infielder Craig Avery with a shoulder injury, junior pitcher Rob Greenwald with a back injury and junior pitcher Nathan Clarke with a shoulder injury. Questionable for this week are senior pitcher Mike Boire with a sore arm and freshman third baseman Josh Carter with a foot injury.
LAST WEEK: Oregon State picked up its first Pacific-10 win of the season, but the Beavers also dropped two games of a weekend series to 16th-ranked Arizona State at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field. ASU won 9-5 on April 1, OSU won 9-8 on April 2, and ASU closed the series with a 21-9 win on April 3.
On April 1, Arizona State scored in five straight innings to beat Oregon State 9-5. The game was tied 2-2 after three innings, then the Sun Devils scored one or two runs in the third through eighth innings to edge out to a 9-3 lead. ASU owned only a 12-11 advantage in hits in the game, but Beaver starting pitcher Mark Newell walked five hitters and hit three more. Five of the first six Arizona State runs were scored by players who reached base via the walk or being hit by a pitch.
On April 2, B.R. Cook's pitching and Joe Gerber's hitting helped Oregon State to a 9-8 win. Cook worked into the ninth inning before Travis Rainwater got the save, while Gerber had a double, a home run and four runs batted in for OSU. Gerber moved into a tie for ninth place on OSU's career homer list with his 17th round-tripper. OSU's victory ended a seven-game losing streak and also snapped a four-game winning streak for ASU. OSU led 9-3 after seven innings. But Arizona State rallied for two runs in the eighth inning and three in the top of the ninth inning before the Beavers could finally celebrate their first conference victory. Cook allowed eight runs (seven earned) on eight hits and five walks, striking out five. He gave up just four hits in the first seven innings to an ASU club that was batting .371 as a team going into the game.
On April 3, Oregon State was outslugged and lost 21-9. OSU committed four errors, leading to nine unearned runs by the Sun Devils as they rapped out 16 hits. The game was called after eight innings due to a Pacific-10 rule that ends the final game of a series early if a team must leave to catch a flight home. Games can be called if a team leads by 12 runs after seven innings or by 10 runs after eight innings. Oregon State led 5-2 after two innings and was still up 5-4 after four innings. In the fifth, though, Arizona State took advantage of a dropped foul ball by Beaver third baseman Brian Duerr to score five unearned runs, capped by a two-run homer by Brooks Conrad. OSU pitchers walked six Sun Devils and hit three more with pitches.
TOP PLAYERS LAST WEEK: First baseman/designated hitter Joe Gerber batted .583 (7-for-12) with a home run, two doubles, six runs batted in, four runs scored and three walks ... infielder Brian Duerr batted .444 (4-for-9) with his first home run of the season, two RBIs and four runs scored ... outfielder Rob Colley batted .400 (4-for-10) with five runs scored and five walks ... outfielder Drew Hedges batted .364 (4-for-11) with a homer ... designated hitter Tim Dryden batted .364 (4-for-11) with a homer and six RBIs ... reliever Travis Rainwater picked up a save; in two appearances, he didn't allow an earned run in 1 1/3 innings.
HEAD COACH PAT CASEY: Pat Casey is in his fifth season as Oregon State's head baseball coach. He has a record of 141-87-4 with the Beavers for a winning percentage of .616. His career record is 312-200-5, which includes 7 years at George Fox University in Newberg, and is good for a winning percentage of .608.
Casey is the fourth OSU baseball head coach to reach 100 victories at the school, following Ralph Coleman (561), Gene Tanselli (115) and Jack Riley (613). Casey, who picked up his 100th OSU victory on Feb. 21, 1998 at San Diego, reached the century mark quickest, as it took Coleman until his ninth season at Oregon State and it took both Tanselli and Riley until their fifth seasons.
Casey came to OSU from George Fox after leading the Bruins to a 171-113-1 record and 3 NAIA District 2 titles.
ALL-TIME RECORD: Oregon State's all-time record in varsity baseball is now 1,627-1,100-15, a winning percentage of .596. OSU's all-time record in conference games is now 734-506, a winning percentage of .592. In its 89 seasons of varsity baseball prior to 1999, OSU has had 67 winning seasons; the Beavers finished at .500 in another 4 seasons. The Beavers have won 20 pennants through the years. Oregon State began fielding a varsity baseball team in 1907 and has failed to field a team only 3 times since then - in 1917 due to World War I and in 1944 and 1945 due to World War II.
GOSS STADIUM AT COLEMAN FIELD: Oregon State baseball enters a new era this season with the opening of Goss Stadium at Coleman Field, adding one of the nation's newest stadiums to one of its oldest diamonds. Goss Stadium is set to be dedicated on April 17 when the Beavers play host to California.
Oregon State has been playing on the same site since starting varsity baseball in 1907, making Goss Stadium at Coleman Field the oldest diamond in the Pacific-10 and one of the oldest in the country. In 89 seasons at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field, the Beavers are 849-357-1 all-time at home for a winning percentage of .704.
OSU is 2-5 at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field this season.
Oregon State went 20-4 at home in 1998, with its .833 home winning percentage giving the Beavers the top mark in the Pacific-10 Conference. Since the start of the 1993 season, OSU is 97-28 at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field for a winning percentage of .776.
Goss Stadium at Coleman Field was constructed over the winter. The structure seats approximately 1,500 people and includes a press box, concession/lobby area, dugouts, locker rooms, restrooms and storage areas. The outfield surface was rebuilt to match the top-quality infield; lights for night play are planned in the near future.
BEAVERS GET LITTLE OUT OF HOME RUNS: Of Oregon State's 19 home runs this season, 10 have come with no one on base and five more have come with just one man on base. OSU is still looking for its first grand slam of 1999.
PACIFIC-10'S NEW ALIGNMENT: Pacific-10 Conference baseball has a new look this season, as the Northern and Southern divisions have been eliminated in favor of a single nine-team league. Each team will play every other conference team in a single three-game series, with four series at home and four on the road. Sites of each series will be reversed the following year.
This is the second time the conference has attempted such a move. The first try was from 1967-69, when the Pacific-8 merged the Northern and Southern divisions. OSU's top finish during those years was a tie for third place in 1967.
BEAVERS FACE TOP-FLIGHT SCHEDULE: Again this spring, Oregon State will be tested by one of the nation's toughest schedules. The Beavers have four opponents ranked in the USA Today coaches poll of April 5: No. 2 Stanford, No. 14 Texas Tech, No. 15 Arizona State and No. 25 Oklahoma State. Other teams on OSU's schedule who received votes in the poll but did not make the top 25 are Southern California, Washington, Nebraska, Minnesota and Arizona.
BEAVERS PICKED FOR EIGHTH IN PACIFIC-10: Oregon State was picked for eighth place in the Pacific-10 Conference preseason coaches poll. The results of the poll:
Team Pts. 1. Southern California 64 2. Stanford 55 3. Washington 38 4. Arizona State 37 (tie) UCLA 37 6. California 36 7. Arizona 34 8. Oregon State 12 9. Washington State 11
BEAVERS IN NATIONAL PUBLICATIONS, RANKINGS: Oregon State was picked to finish near the bottom of the Pacific-10 in the preseason predictions of several national publications.
Baseball America ranked Oregon State eighth in the Pacific-10, but ranked the Pacific-10 as the best conference in the country. BA ranked the Beavers 60th in its NCAA Division I top 100.
Collegiate Baseball didn't place OSU among the six Pac-10 teams it predicts to receive NCAA bids and the Beavers were not in CB's top 40. CB tabbed shortstop Troy Schader, outfielder Rob Colley and first baseman Joe Gerber among its Pac-10 players to watch.
The USA Today/National Association of Baseball Coaches preaseason poll didn't list OSU among its top 25, but the Beavers did receive a vote to tie for 49th place. OSU received votes in the Feb. 15 poll that were good for a 48th place tie.
1999 OREGON STATE PLAYER HONORS: Oregon State has had one selection as a Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball newspaper national Player of the Week and one as a Pacific-10 Pitcher of the Week this season. Pitcher B.R. Cook earned both for his one-hitter in a 1-0 win over 25th-ranked Oklahoma State on Feb. 18.
RECORDS SET BY OREGON STATE IN 1999: Here are OSU's entries in the record books this season, and where current Beavers rank on the school's career leader lists:
HIT BY PITCH Game: 3; Jim Champion, 1992 vs. Portland; Tyson Vermillion, 1996 vs. Washington State; Tyson Vermillion, 1997 vs. Oklahoma; Bryan Ingram, 1999 vs. Gonzaga. CAREER AT-BATS 10. Bryan Ganter, 1984-87 557 Troy Schader, 1997-present 468 CAREER HITS 10. Tim Lambert, 1985-88 165 Troy Schader , 1997-present 133 CAREER RUNS 10. Dave Backen, 1979-81 110 Troy Schader, 1997-present 101 CAREER DOUBLES 10. Bill Gassaway, 1979-82 28 (tie) Jim Wilson, 1980-82 28 Troy Schader, 1997-present 25 CAREER HOME RUNS 8. Ken Bowen, 1984-87 19 9. Ryan Lipe, 1995-98 17 (tie) Troy Schader, 1997-present 17 (tie) Joe Gerber, 1997-present 17 CAREER RUNS BATTED IN 10. Tim Lambert, 1985-88 102 Troy Schader, 1997-present 101 Rob Colley, 1998-present 81 CAREER WALKS 10. Kevin Hooker, 1991-95 94 Troy Schader, 1997-present 75 CAREER TOTAL BASES 10. Ben Bertrand, 1996-98 229 Troy Schader, 1997-present 209 Joe Gerber, 1997-present 159
BEAVERS ON THE RADIO: For the fourth straight season, Oregon State baseball can be heard on KLOO-AM (1340). This week, all four Oregon State games will be broadcast.
BEAVERS ON TELEVISION: Oregon State will have one game telecast live nationally on the Fox Sports Net cable network; that will be the Beavers' home game against California on April 17. That is also the date that has been set for the dedication of Goss Stadium.
OSU will also have a game televised on a tape-delay basis by Fox Sports Northwest. The May 16 game against Washington State at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field will be broadcast at 1 p.m. May 17.
PROMOTIONAL DATES IN 1999: Oregon State has a full schedule of promotions for this spring's games at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field. Here's a complete list:
APRIL 13-14 - OREGON STATE VS. WASHINGTON
April 13 - Bi-Mart 2-for-Tuesday, get 2-for-1 coupons at Bi-Mart
April 14 - Bi-Mart 2-for-Wednesday, get 2-for-1 coupons at Bi-Mart
APRIL 16-18 - OREGON STATE VS. CALIFORNIA
Baseball Oregon Weekend - all youth team coaches contact Mark DuBois at 503-981-5308 to pick up team ticket packets. All players in uniform and at the ballpark by 12:30 p.m. on Saturday or Sunday can take the field with the Beavers for introductions and the national anthem.
April 16 - MUPC Friday, 50 cent hot dogs for all OSU students.
April 17 - Goss Stadium at Coleman Field Dedication, first 1,500 fans receive a free souvenir mini-bat
April 18 - Pennant Day, first 500 fans receive a free Goss Stadium at Coleman Field souvenir pennant
MAY 11 - OREGON STATE VS. PORTLAND
May 11 - Bi-Mart 2-for-Tuesday, get 2-for-1 coupons at Bi-Mart
MAY 14-16 - OREGON STATE VS. WASHINGTON STATE
Les Schwab Tires Kids and Scouts Weekend - contact your local scout leader or any Corvallis, Albany, Lebanon or Sweet Home Les Schwab Tires dealer to pick up tickets for kids in high school or younger. All kids at the ballpark by 12:30 p.m. on Saturday or Sunday can take the field with the Beavers for introductions and the national anthem.
May 14 - MUPC Friday, 50 cent hot dogs for all OSU students.
May 15 - Les Schwab Tires Water Bottle Day, free Les Schwab Tires water bottle to first 400 fans
May 16 - Fan Appreciation Day, assorted prizes given away to Oregon State baseball fans
