Casey Picks Up A National Honor
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Head Coach Pat Casey of Oregon State has been named National Coach of The Year by Collegiate Baseball newspaper. It marks the first time Casey has been honored as National Coach of The Year by Collegiate Baseball.
Casey led Oregon State to its first national championship with a 3-2 win over North Carolina at the College World Series. It wasn’t easy; the Beavers lost their first game of the CWS, 11-1 to Miami (Fla.). OSU then had to win four straight elimination games to win their bracket and set up a best-of-three championship series with North Carolina.
Oregon State lost the first game of the championship series, 4-3 to the Tar Heels. But once again, OSU bounced back from an early five-run deficit to win the second game, 11-7 and then the deciding game, 3-2 to become the first team from Pacific Northwest to win the College World Series. The CWS celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2006.
Casey, who completed his 12th season as skipper of the Beavers, has performed an amazing building project at Oregon State. Prior to Casey being named head coach in 1995, Oregon State had only qualified for the College World Series once, in 1952 where the Beavers went 0-2.
It took Casey 11 years to capture his first Pac-10 championship and also bring the Beavers to the College World Series in 2005 with a 46-12 record, the most wins in school history at the time. However, OSU was eliminated in two straight games.
One year later, he again led OSU to the Pac-10 title and a CWS berth. This time, the Beavers won the national championship with a 50-16 overall record, the most wins in school history.
