Bits And Pieces - Oregon State University Athletics

Oregon State head Pat Casey

Pretty good. Pretty good. I said yesterday it is about these guys and that is what it is. There are always so many emotions that go through your mind when you are playing and you know it is the last time you are going to play on this field with this team. I think today is one of those days where you really understand how blessed you are, not just to get the chance to coach but to coach such great kids.

It’s an unbelievable run and I give all the credit to the players.

(On Mike Stutes) He was as good as he’s been all year long. His breaking ball was actually down... and his fastball was electric. He knew we needed a big game out of him... just a great, great effort.

Oregon State shortstop Darwin Barney

I can’t stop smiling... it means just as much as it always did in the other years, this is the ultimate accomplishment you want to achieve as a college baseball player.

We’re not much of a team that likes to dogpile. We like to save that for a time when it is right. Everyone is excited... we’ve got some unfinished business. We are going back as defending champs and we’re not just happy to be there. I think that’s kind of the feeling across the whole club.

Oregon State catcher Mitch Canham

This is where we knew we should be. Just because we had a little bump in the road it didn’t change our minds about ending up in Omaha in the end. We were well capable of doing that.

Oregon State pitcher Mike Stutes

I just came out and tried to get ahead of hitters. I didn’t really get tired as I went deeper into the game. I found my curveball early which is something that I’ve struggled with. I felt real comfortable, I could work the fast ball in and out and the curveball down.

Michigan head coach Rich Maloney

Oregon State did a great job. They played extremely well, pitched extremely well, and they shut us down. You have to tip your hat to Pat Casey and the program he’s built. Three times in the row to the College World Series is an amazing accomplishment, especially in this day and age with parity in college baseball. On the flip side, I’m extremely proud of my guys and the way they’ve played all year. They took our program another step.

Hitting is a very contagious thing. I love my offensive team and unfortunately we didn’t get it done. A lot of it was Oregon State’s pitching.

I thought Mike Wilson had good stuff but he just couldn’t finish it. Against Vanderbilt, he was outstanding.

Michigan outfielder Eric Rose

Before my last two at-bats, as the season was winding down, I told myself to let it go. The count was 3-2 on both pitches and he left the pitches in a spot I could get my barrel on.

It’s a disappointing end to a great season. I would have liked to go out with a more eventful game in the end. Nobody expected us to do what we did this year and I am proud of all the players. I told them before the year started that this is the best team I have ever played on.

Michigan outfielder Brad Roblin

(On OSU pitcher Mike Stutes) He has a really good presence and he attacks the zone. He had shown that he would walk some guys, but today he was all over the strike zone. He had two very solid pitches and stayed very composed on the mound. He did not make it easy on us.

Game notes

Over the past three postseasons, Oregon State has a record of 22-6; that includes a record of 12-1 at home. OSU’s overall home record over the past three seasons is 70-16. The Beavers’ overall record over the past three seasons is 140-46.

Monday’s game was the 32nd time in 62 games this season that OSU has limited an opponent to three runs or less. It was also the 31st time that OSU has played errorless defense, and the Beavers have committed one or fewer errors 48 times.

Oregon State’s string of scoreless innings pitched reached 21 over three games before Michigan’s Eric Rose homered in the sixth inning on Monday. Prior to that, the Beavers had also pitched 27 straight scoreless innings in Super Regional play across four games, two against Stanford in 2006 and two against Michigan in 2007.

This was the first time Oregon State reached the College World Series without having a player collect five hits in the game that sent the Beavers to Omaha. Previously, Jay Dean had gotten five hits against Fresno State in 1952, Andy Jenkins had gotten five hits (and hit for the cycle) against Southern California in 2005, and Tyler Graham had gotten five hits against Stanford in 2006.

A day after being the only OSU player to collect a hit in the Beavers’ 1-0 series-opening win, Joey Wong had his hitting streak end at 10 games.

Oregon State pitcher Mike Stutes matched the longest outing of his career; he had pitched 8.0 innings on several occasions, most recently against Nevada-Las Vegas on April 20.

Michigan pitcher Mike Wilson suffered the first loss of his collegiate career.