Beavers Face Big, Busy Week
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TUESDAY, APRIL 10
Portland at Oregon State, 3 p.m.
THURSDAY, APRIL 12
Oregon State at No. 1 Stanford, 6 p.m.
RADIO: KLOO-AM (1340)
FRIDAY, APRIL 13
Oregon State at No. 1 Stanford, 6 p.m.
RADIO: KLOO-AM (1340)
SATURDAY, APRIL 14
Oregon State at No. 1 Stanford, 1 p.m.
RADIO: KLOO-AM (1340)
Oregon State (21-13 overall, 5-4 Pacific-10) has a big week - and a busy week - coming up, as the Beavers play four games in five days against in-state rival Portland (16-17, 5-10 West Coast) and No. 1-ranked Stanford (27-7, 7-2). OSU, which goes into the week in sole possession of third place in the Pac-10, will try to continue a run that has seen the Beavers win 13 of their last 18 games.
"This is a key stretch for us," Oregon State coach Pat Casey said. "Games with Portland always mean quite a bit, because they're our only in-state rival, then we have to go play the best team in the country on its home field.
"Generally, we've been playing pretty well over the past month or so. But we've also shown ourselves that we've got things we need to clean up in our game to really become the kind of club we want to be. We keep getting closer to that, but we've still got work to do."
Two more wins will give Casey his 200th win in seven years at OSU, but his focus is on other matters this week.
The Beavers' recent success has them picking up votes in the Baseball Weekly/ESPN coaches poll the past few weeks, and has earned them top-35 rankings in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll, including the No. 29 spot this week.
"That's an indication that we're making progress, and that it's being noticed," Casey said. "But with that, the expectations get higher and our performance level has to get higher along with it. We've done plenty of good things so far, but in the next six weeks we've got to make a daily effort to pick up our game so that what we've accomplished doesn't go to waste."
Stanford is ranked No. 1 in the Baseball Weekly/ESPN coaches poll, by the NCBWA, Baseball America magazine and Collegiate Baseball newspaper.
"They may very well be the best team in the country," Casey said. "This game all starts with pitching, and you look at the numbers their staff puts up each week, and you can see why they're ranked where they are and why they're in first place. They can hit and they've got a very good lineup, and when you put that with the kind of pitching they've been getting it's very, very tough to beat."
Stanford, which plays at Nevada on Tuesday, has a team earned run average of 2.76 and opponents are hitting .220 against the Cardinal. Sophomore righthander Jeremy Guthrie is 7-1 with a 1.70 ERA, junior righthander Jeff Bruksch is 7-0 with a 2.40 ERA and junior lefthander Mike Gosling is 2-0 with a 2.38 ERA.
Junior utility player Jason VanMeetren is batting .343 with six homers and 27 RBIs, sophomore outfielder Jason Cooper is batting .333 with six homers and 16 RBIs, junior infielder Chris O'Riordan is batting .326 with seven homers and 40 RBIs and junior infielder Scott Dragicevich is batting .326 with three homers and 22 RBIs. The Cardinal is batting .292 as a team, and its opponents have an earned run average of 5.74.
Last week, Stanford won at San Jose State 5-3 on Tuesday, after a Friday rainout, the Cardinal took two of three games from visiting UCLA, losing the opener 6-4 before winning 9-0 and 11-2.
Portland went 1-3 last week, taking a non-league home win over George Fox 4-3 and then being swept in a WCC series at San Francisco by scores of 4-2, 8-1 and 6-5 in 11 innings.
"Portland's got a quality club," Casey said. "They got beat by a pretty good San Francisco team, and the week before that they won two of three at Loyola Marymount. You take a series down there against that club, and you've shown you're doing something right."
Sophomore infielder Travis Hanson is batting .354 with two homers and 18 RBIs for the Pilots, while junior catcher Bryan Dearinger is batting .338 with 1 homer and nine RBIs, sophomore infielder Brad Stewart is batting .318 with four homers and 15 RBIs and freshman outfielder Kory Casto is batting .318 with six homers and 25 RBIs.
OREGON STATE LINEUP:
C - Bryan Ingram, jr., Everett, Wash. (Cascade HS),
.55, 2 HRs, 18 RBIs
1B - Andy Jarvis, so., Renton, Wash. (Liberty HS),
.294, 11 HRs, 39 RBIs
2B - Zach Gordon, sr., Simi Valley, Calif. (Moorpark JC),
.250, 1 HR, 7 RBIs
or - Kerisi Reynolds, fr., Renton, Wash. (Liberty HS),
.342, 0 HRs, 0 RBIs
or - Stephen Copeland, so., Keizer, Ore. (McNary HS),
.269, 0 HRs, 4 RBIs
3B - Brian Barden, so., Bonita, Calif. (St. Augustine HS),
.317, 5 HRs, 31 RBIs
SS - Will Hudson, so., Fountain Valley, Calif. (Fountain Valley HS),
.292, 2 HRs, 15 RBIs
LF - Chris Biles, so., Tigard, Ore. (Tigard HS),
.384, 6 HRs, 27 RBIs
or - Seth Pietsch, fr., Wilderville, Ore. (Hidden Valley HS),
.261, 2 HRs, 3 RBIs
CF - Eric Stark, sr., Sumner, Wash. (Sumner HS),
.301, 1 HR, 15 RBIs
RF - Josh Carter, jr., Fallbrook, Calif. (Fallbrook HS),
.375, 6 HRs, 39 RBIs
DH - Curtis Davis, sr., Corvallis, Ore. (Corvallis HS),
.417, 0 HRs, 15 RBIs
or-Jason McBride, jr., Bellingham, Wash. (Lower Columbia CC),
.383, 3 HRs, 12 RBIs
or-Pat Stevens, jr., Eugene, Ore. (Chapman U.),
.400, 0 HRs, 2 RBIs
(Rotation to be determined, possible starting pitchers)
RHP - Thad Johnson, sr., Santa Rosa, Calif. (Santa Rosa JC),
4-4, 4.46 ERA
LHP-Scott Nicholson, sr., Longview, Wash. (Lower Columbia CC),
7-1, 2.68 ERA
LHP-Craig Hays, jr., Kennewick, Wash. (Kamiakin HS),
4-3, 5.06 ERA
LHP-Mark McLemore, so., Granite Bay, Calif. (Del Oro HS),
0-2, 8.42 ERA
RHP-Ben Rowe, fr., Perth, Australia (Greenwood HS),
0-0 , 6.84 ERA
RHP-Chris Wilkins, so., The Dalles, Ore. (The Dalles HS),
2-0, 2.79 ERA
ALL-TIME VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: Oregon State has an all-time record of 122-56 against Portland in a series dating back to 1909. So far this season, OSU has taken a 9-0 win in Corvallis on Feb. 27 and a game set for March 28 at Portland was rained out. Last season, OSU lost 13-10 in Corvallis, won 13-5 in Portland and won 11-4 in Corvallis, another game at Portland was rained out.
Oregon State has an all-time record of 9-26 against Stanford in a series dating back to 1920. Last season, OSU took 1 of 3 games in Corvallis, losing 10-6, winning 5-2 and then losing 7-5. The last time the teams met at Stanford was in 1999, when the Cardinal swept by scores of 7-0, 10-5 and 9-8.
LAST WEEK: Oregon State took 2 of 3 games from California in a Pacific-10 series at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field. OSU has won 2 of its first 3 Pacific-10 series this season.
On April 6, Chris Biles singled home the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning as Oregon State beat California 6-5. Thad Johnson had a career-high 14 strikeouts and pitched an eight-hitter for the Beavers. On Friday, both Biles and Johnson came back from rough moments to deliver for the Beavers. Biles grounded the game-winning single up the middle with 2 out after he'd bounced into a double play 2 innings earlier, Johnson shut down the Golden Bears after committing an error contributing to 2 unearned runs in the fifth inning to let Cal back in the game.
On April 7, Scott Nicholson pitched a 7-hitter and Oregon State came up with 16 hits of its own in a 10-1 win over California as OSU moved to 9 games over .500 for the first time this season. Nicholson pitched his fourth straight complete game despite having his string of 15 straight scoreless innings end. Nicholson walked 1 and struck out 3 in his sixth complete game of the season. In the fourth inning, OSU's Bryan Ingram drove a 2 -run homer over the back fence in leftfield to make it 4-1. Josh Carter's 2-run double and Andy Jarvis' 2-run homer in the eighth inning put the game away.
On April 8, Oregon State fell short in its bid to sweep California, losing the series finale 12-1. OSU failed to cash in on a pair of early scoring chances, and that proved costly. Cal took a 5-0 lead in the top of the third inning, then extended it to 7-0 in the fourth. OSU's only run came in the bottom of the fourth, when Curtis Davis reached on an error and scored on a groundout by Eric Stark. Bryan Ingram stretched his hitting streak to 12 games for OSU.
OREGON STATE NOTES: Oregon State has won 10 of its last 14 games, 13 of its last 18, and 21 of its last 31 ... April 7 against California, Scott Nicholson pitched his fourth straight complete game to improve his record to 7-1 and lower his earned run average to 2.68. In those 4 games, Nicholson is 4-0 with a 0.50 ERA and is averaging 5.5 hits, 1.5 walks and 4.8 strikeouts per game. The last OSU pitcher to toss complete games in 4 straight starts was Mason Smith in 1994, he had complete games in his final 5 starts of that season ... Thad Johnson's 14 strikeouts against California on April 6 were a career high, an OSU pitcher hadn't struck out that many hitters in a game since 1998, when Chris Pine fanned 14 St. Martin's hitters. Johnson's previous high was 9 against Cal State-Northridge in 2000. ... rightfielder Josh Carter doubled April 7 vs. California, giving him 35 career doubles. That moved him into a tie for fourth place on OSU's all-time leader list with Troy Schader (1997-99) ... reliever Stephen Copeland has 5 saves already this season, that ties him for second on OSU's all-time list of single-season leaders with Jim Grove (1982). Copeland also has 5 career saves, and that ties him for fourth place on OSU's list of career leaders with Ron Daulton (1984-86) and Tim Lambert (1985-88) ... first baseman Andy Jarvis homered vs. California in back-to-back games April 6-April 7, giving him 11 on the year, tying him for eighth place on OSU's all-time list of single-season leaders with Chris Newman (1983), Joe Gerber (1998) and Zach Gordon (2000) ... OSU has pitched 3 shutouts this season, that's the most for the Beavers since they tossed 3 shutouts in 1998. The last time OSU pitched more shutouts in a season was 1994, when the Beavers had 5 ... OSU has 12 triples as a team, the Beavers had 13 all of last season ... in the last 18 games, OSU has put together some impressive numbers. During that time, the Beavers are batting .332 as a team and their opponents are batting .278, OSU's team ERA is 3.60, its opponents' is 6.62, OSU has outhomered its opponents 25-10 and outtripled them 9-3 in that stretch, and during the last 18 games, OSU is batting .359 with runners on base and .337 with runners in scoring position ... the Beavers are 4 games ahead of their pace from a season ago, when OSU was 17-17 after 34 games, the Beavers are 2 games ahead of their 2000 pace in Pac-10 play, when they were 3-6 after 9 games ... this spring, Oregon State is 11-3 in games decided by 1 or 2 runs, including an 8-3 mark in 1-run games ... OSU is 2-0 in extra-inning games this season ... OSU has had 10 or more hits in 23 of its 34 games ... in the first 4 games in which OSU didn't have at least 10 hits, the Beavers were 0-4, in their last 7 games without 10 hits, the Beavers are 4-3 ... OSU has 15 or more hits in 10 games this season ... Oregon State is 12-5 at home this season ... as a team, OSU's pinch-hitters are batting .468 (22-for-47) and opponents' pinch-hitters are batting .231 (6-for-26) ... throw out the 3-game, 52-run explosion by Cal State-Northridge to start the season, and OSU's team ERA drops from 5.66 to 4.69 ... with a runner at third and less than 2 out, OSU has managed to bring home the run 69 percent of the time this season ... the Beavers began the season being outhomered 15-1 in a series at Cal State-Northridge. Since then, OSU has outhomered its opponents 39-24 ... 11 different Beavers have homered this season. When OSU tied a school record with 7 home runs against Washington on March 7, 7 different Beavers homered ... catcher Bryan Ingram currently has a 12-game hitting streak, during the streak, Ingram is batting .467 (21-for-45) with 3 doubles, 1 triple, 1 homer and 8 RBIs ... Carter leads the Beavers with 17 multi-hit games this season while third baseman Brian Barden has 15, leftfielder Chris Biles 14, Ingram 13, designated hitter Curtis Davis 12, shortstop Will Hudson and Jarvis 11 each and centerfielder Eric Stark 10 ... Carter and Jarvis each have 10 multi-RBI games while Barden has 9 and Biles 6 ... OSU's recent 18-game surge has produced some strong individual statistics. In that time, Ingram is batting .419 (26-for-62) with 2 homers, 1 triple, 4 doubles, 10 RBIs and 13 runs, designated hitter Jason McBride is batting .400 (14-for-35) with 3 homers, 2 triples, 1 double and 8 RBIs, Biles is batting .392 (20-for-51) with 3 homers, 4 doubles and 15 RBIs, Davis is batting .385 (15-for-39) with 1 double and 5 RBIs, Barden is batting .375 (27-for-72) with 3 homers, 1 triple, 3 doubles and 13 RBIs, and Hudson is batting .322 (19-for-59) with 1 homer, 2 doubles and 8 RBIs ... in the last 18 games on the pitching side, Copeland is 1-0 with 3 saves and a 1.29 ERA, Nicholson is 5-0 with a 1.79 ERA, Ben Rowe is 0-0 with a 2.53 ERA, Craig Hays is 2-2 with a 3.45 ERA, Chris Wilkins is 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA, and Johnson is 3-2 with a 4.69 ERA ... in the Pacific-10 through April 8, Oregon State is first in home runs (40) and slugging percentage (.495), second in batting average (.326), on-base percentage (.396), total bases (602), fewest walks allowed (116) and most double plays turned (37), and third in runs (254), hits (396), RBIs (235), and triples (12).
HEAD COACH PAT CASEY: Pat Casey is in his seventh season as Oregon State's head baseball coach. Casey has a record of 198-141-4 with the Beavers for a winning percentage of .583. His career record is 369-254-5, which includes 7 years at George Fox University in Newberg, for a winning percentage of .592.
Casey was named the Pacific-10 Northern Division Coach of the Year in 1997 after leading the Beavers to a 38-12-1 mark, a school record for wins in a regular season. During Casey's time at OSU, the Beavers have had 13 players drafted by Major League Baseball teams and had 3 more players sign as free agents.
Casey came to OSU from his alma mater, George Fox, after leading the Bruins to a 171-113-1 record and winning 3 NAIA District 2 titles at the school in Newberg, Ore.
OREGON STATE IN NATIONAL POLLS: Oregon State began earning national notice on March 12, when the Beavers broke into the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association top 35. On March 19, the Beavers began earning votes in the Baseball Weekly/ESPN coaches poll. A summary of OSU's national rankings this season:
Baseball Weekly/ Natl. Coll. Baseball Collegiate Date ESPN coaches Bsbll. Writers America Baseball March 12 NR 33rd NR NR March 19 NR (votes, 44th) 32nd NR NR March 26 NR (votes, 44th) 34th NR NR April 2 NR (votes, 38th) 31st NR NR April 9 NR (votes, 38th) 29th NR NR
OREGON STATE RECORD BOOK ENTRIES IN 2001: Oregon State has made several new entries in its record book this spring. Here are the records OSU has set, and where the Beavers rank on career and single-season leaders lists through April 8:
INDIVIDUAL HOME RUNS Game: (tied) 3, Andy Jarvis vs. Washington State, 2001. TEAM HOME RUNS Game: (tied) 7, vs. Washington, 2001. CAREER DOUBLES LEADERS 4. (tie) Josh Carter, 1999-2001 35 CAREER TRIPLES LEADERS 4. (tie) Eric Stark, 1998-2001 8 SEASON HOME RUN LEADERS 8. (tie) Andy Jarvis 11 CAREER SAVE LEADERS 4. (tie) Stephen Copeland, 2000-01. 5 SEASON SAVE LEADERS 2. (tie) Stephen Copeland, 2001 . 5 CAREER SHUTOUT LEADERS 10. (tie) Scott Nicholson, 2000-01 2 SEASON SHUTOUT LEADERS 8. (tie) Scott Nicholson, 2001 2
OREGON STATE AMONG PACIFIC-10 LEADERS: Here is where Oregon State ranks among the Pacific-10 leaders through April 8:
TEAM BATTING AVERAGE 2. Oregon State .326 TEAM RUNS SCORED 3. Oregon State 254 TEAM HITS 3. Oregon State 396 TEAM RUNS BATTED IN 3. Oregon State 235 TEAM HOME RUNS 1. Oregon State 40 TEAM TRIPLES 3. Oregon State 12 TEAM DOUBLES 5. (tie) Oregon State 62 TEAM TOTAL BASES 2. Oregon State 602 TEAM SLUGGING PERCENTAGE 1. Oregon State .495 TEAM WALKS (BATTING) 8. Oregon State 114 TEAM HIT BY PITCH 3. Oregon State 37 TEAM ON-BASE PERCENTAGE 2. Oregon State .396 TEAM STOLEN BASES 8. Oregon State 26 TEAM EARNED RUN AVERAGE 8. Oregon State 5.66 TEAM OPPONENTS BATTING AVG. 8. Oregon State .297 TEAM INNINGS PITCHED 6. Oregon State 297.1 TEAM STRIKEOUTS (PITCHING) 7. Oregon State 198 TEAM WINS 5. (tie) Oregon State 21 TEAM SAVES 7. (tie) Oregon State 5 TEAM FIELDING PERCENTAGE 9. Oregon State .953 TEAM DOUBLE PLAYS 2. Oregon State 37 INDIVIDUAL BATTING AVERAGE 3. Curtis Davis .417 6. Chris Biles .384 8. Josh Carter .375 INDIVIDUAL HITS 7. Josh Carter 48 10. (tie) Brian Barden 46 INDIVIDUAL RUNS BATTED IN 6. (tie) Andy Jarvis 39 6. (tie) Josh Carter 39 INDIVIDUAL RUNS 6. Josh Carter 32 7. (tie) Brian Barden 31 INDIVIDUAL HOME RUNS 2. Andy Jarvis 11 6. (tie) Chris Biles 6 6. (tie) Josh Carter 6 INDIVIDUAL TRIPLES 4. (tie) Eric Stark 3 INDIVIDUAL DOUBLES 6. (tie) Josh Carter 11 INDIVIDUAL TOTAL BASES 9. (tie) Andy Jarvis 81 9. (tie) Josh Carter 81 INDIVIDUAL SLUGGING PERCENTAGE 5. Josh Carter .633 8. Chris Biles .616 INDIVIDUAL HIT BY PITCH 3. (tie) Curtis Davis 10 INDIVIDUAL ON-BASE PERCENTAGE 2. Curtis Davis .533 INDIVIDUAL EARNED RUN AVERAGE 6. Scott Nicholson 2.68 INDIVIDUAL INNINGS PITCHED 1. Scott Nicholson 77.1 3. Thad Johnson 74.2 INDIVIDUAL WINS 3. (tie) Scott Nicholson 7 9. (tie) Thad Johnson 7 9. (tie) Craig Hays 4 INDIVIDUAL SAVES 2. (tie) Stephen Copeland 5 STRIKEOUTS 8. (tie) Thad Johnson 60 OPPONENTS' BATTING AVERAGE 6. Scott Nicholson .229 APPEARANCES 9. (tie) Craig Hays 15 9. (tie) Stephen Copeland 15
PACIFIC-10 COACHES POLL: When the Pacific-10's baseball coaches voted on a predicted order of finish for the 2001 conference race, Oregon State was tabbed for seventh place. However, only 4 points separated the fourth- through seventh-place selections. Results of the balloting:
(1st-place votes) Pts. 1. Southern California (6) 52 2. Arizona State (1) 49 3. Stanford (1) 37 4. Arizona 31 5. California 30 6. UCLA 29 7. Oregon State 27 8. Washington 15 9. Washington State 8RETURNING DRAFT PICK SCOTT NICHOLSON: Lefthander Scott Nicholson opeted to return to Oregon State after being selected by the Texas Rangers in the 15th round of the 2000 Major League Baseball draft, and Nicholson has shown this spring why he attracted the pros' interest.
Nicholson is 7-1 with a 2.68 earned run average, he's thrown 6 complete games and has pitched at least 7.0 innings in all 8 of his starts. In 77.1 innings, he's allowed just 65 hits and 14 walks while striking out 48 and opponents are batting just .229 against him.
Nicholson owns wins over nationally-ranked Clemson and Arizona State this season, and his only loss was a 2-1 defeat by San Francisco. He also shut out Arizona and defending Big Ten champ Minnesota, his pair of shutouts tie him for eighth place on OSU's list of single-season leaders and they also tie him for 10th place on OSU's list of career leaders.
PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA BRIAN BARDEN: Third baseman Brian Barden was named a third team preseason All-America in selections made by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, and Barden is living up to expectations.
Barden is batting .317 with 5 homers and 31 RBIs, he also has 5 doubles and 1 triple. He's 3-for-4 on stolen bases and has walked 12 times while striking out just 15.
In the past 18 games, Barden is batting .375 (27-for-72) with 13 RBIs, 3 homers, 1 triple and 3 doubles. He's the only Beaver to have started every game this season, and he has a hit in 26 of 34 games this spring.
JARVIS NAMED NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK: First baseman Andy Jarvis was named one of four Louisville Slugger National Players of the Week for March 5-11, and was the only non-pitcher among the group. He was also named the Pacific-10 Player of the Week for that week. In 5 games against Washington and Washington State, Jarvis batted .478 (11-for-23) with 5 homers, 2 doubles, 13 RBIs and 8 runs scored. On March 11, he tied a school record with 3 homers in a game against WSU.
The last OSU player to earn Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week honors was pitcher B.R. Cook for his 1-hitter in a 1-0 win over Oklahoma State on Feb. 18, 1999 in the San Diego Classic.
PACIFIC-10 PLAYERS/PITCHERS OF THE WEEK: Oregon State has had 3 selections as the Pacific-10 Player of the Week or Pitcher of the Week this season: first baseman Andy Jarvis, catcher Brian Ingram and pitcher Scott Nicholson.
Jarvis was named for March 5-11, he was also named a Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week. In 5 games against Washington and Washington State, Jarvis batted .478 (11-for-23) with 5 homers, 2 doubles, 13 RBIs and 8 runs scored.
Ingram was named for March 19-26. In a 3-game series against Arizona State, Ingram batted .636 (7-for-11) with 3 RBIs and threw out 5 Sun Devils attempting to steal.
Nicholson was named for March 27-April 1. At Arizona, he pitched a 5-hit shutout and needed just 82 pitches in an 8-0 victory. He walked 0 and struck out 4 in his third straight complete game.
BASEBALL AMERICA PICKS: Baseball America magazine tabbed Oregon State for a seventh-place finish in the Pacific-10, and ranked the Beavers at No. 75 on its list of the top teams among the 281 Division I programs.
In its "Best Tools" listings, Baseball America rated OSU's Bryan Ingram as the conference's Best Defensive Catcher and Brian Barden as the Pac-10's Best Defensive Third Baseman.
COLLEGIATE BASEBALL PICKS: Collegiate Baseball newspaper picked Oregon State to finish seventh in the Pacific-10. Collegiate Baseball's list of Players to Watch in the conference included OSU pitcher Scott Nicholson, first baseman Andy Jarvis and third baseman Brian Barden.
BEAVERS FACE TOP-FLIGHT SCHEDULE: Oregon State again faces one of the nation's most challenging schedules. The Beavers have 12 games against teams ranked in the top 25 of the Baseball Weekly/ESPN coaches poll of April 2, facing No. 1 Stanford (3 games), No. 7 Southern California (3 games), No. 12 Arizona State (3 games) and No. 18 Clemson (3 games). OSU has 4 more games against teams that received votes in the poll but didn't make the top 25: Texas Tech (1 game) and Arizona (3 games).
