2011 Baseball Season In Review
June 17, 2011
Complete Oregon State 2011 Baseball Season In Review 
Beavers Overall
Oregon State finished the season 41-19 overall and 17-10 in Pacific-10 Conference play. The 41 wins were the fourth-most in school history, and the 17 wins league play marked the second-most for the club since the league unified in 1999, and trailed only the 2005 club, which won 19.
Postseason Trip
Oregon State advanced to the postseason for the sixth time in the last seven years, and played in an NCAA Super Regional for the first time since 2007. OSU swept through its NCAA Regional, winning all three games for the third time in the six trips.
Postseason Wins Note
Oregon State tallied three wins in the postseason in 2011, and thanks to research by North Carolina, it is known that the team’s 28 postseason wins since 2006 is tied for second-most in the nation with South Carolina, trailing only the Tar Heels. The Beavers have 33 wins in the postseason dating back to 2005, all under head coach Pat Casey.
Pac-10 Honors
Oregon State saw three players selected to the league’s first team - Sam Gaviglio, Tony Bryant and Kavin Keyes. The three first-round selections are the most in a single season since the Beavers had five first teamers in 2006. Overall, OSU also had six honorable mention selections, and the nine players honored by the league is the most since OSU had 11 in 20005.
Casey Named Pac-10 Coach Of The Year
Oregon State head coach Pat Casey guided the club to a second-place finish in the Pac-10 despite the fact the Beavers were voted to finish eighth in the preseason. For that, Casey was named the Pac-10 Coach of the Year for the third time. He was also named the league’s top coach in 2005 and 2006.
Gaviglio An All-American
Junior right-hander Sam Gaviglio became the program’s 20th all-time All-American when he was selected to the Louisville Slugger (Collegiate Baseball) All-America second-team. He went 12-3 in 2011, tying for the fourth-most wins in a single-season at Oregon State. OSU’s last All-American prior to Gaviglio was Mitch Canham in 2007. Pat Casey has now coached 10 All-Americans while at Oregon State.
Six Players Of The Week Honors
Five different Beavers were honored by the Pac-10 a total of six times throughout the regular season, the most for OSU in a season since 1998, a year before the league unified. Sam Gaviglio was named Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week twice, giving him three for his career, which ties him for fourth-most in program history. Josh Osich was also named Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week, while Andrew Susac, Kavin Keyes and Ryan Dunn were named Pac-10 Players of the Week.
Two Big Win Streaks
The Beavers posted two win streaks of 10 or more games in the same season for the first time in program history. OSU won 12 straight from Feb. 27 through March 19, tying the longest such streak under head coach Pat Casey. They also went on an 11-gamer from April 2 to April 22. The second streak came after losing an 18-0 contest at Arizona to start Pac-10 play.
Against The Postseason Field
Oregon State went 16-8 against teams in the 2011 NCAA postseason field, and 13-6 in the regular season. OSU was 10-2 against Pac-10 foes that made it to the field of 64.
Pac-10 Note
The Beavers’ 17 victories in Pac-10 play was the second-most by an OSU squad since the league unified in 1999, trailing only the 2005 team which had 19 wins. The Beavers finished in second place in league play, and held the top spot in the Pac-10 for 19 of 27 possible Pac-10 dates.
Attendance Note
OSU finished 29th nationally with an average attendance of 2,285, which is second only to No. 20 Arizona State and third amongst teams west of Texas (Hawaii was 17th). The Beavers set single-season school records for average attendance and most fans total at Goss Stadum (68,558).
Playing At Goss Stadium
The Beavers went 23-7 at Goss Stadium during the 2011 season, and the 23 victories is the third-most in a single-season at home for OSU, trailing only 2005 (26) and 2007 (27). The 23 wins is the fourth time OSU has reached the 20-win plateau, and the 30 games overall marked the fourth-most played at home.
Kavin Keyes, Freshman All-America
Kavin Keyes became the fourth Beaver with a Freshman All-America honor in as many years when he was named by Louisville Slugger. He led the Beavers with four hit streaks of more than five games, including a 14-gamer from March 23 through April 17 that tied Andrew Susac for the longest on the team.
Draft Notes
Oregon State had eight players selected in the 2011 MLB First-Year Player Draft, tying the 2007 and 2010 clubs for the most in a year. OSU had three players taken in the first nine 10 rounds - Andrew Susac, Sam Gaviglio and Josh Osich - giving the Beavers nine such selections over the past two years. OSU has had at least one player selected in the draft every year since 1993, a span of 19 years.
Some Key Feats For The Beavers In 2011
Oregon State had some great successes in 2011, with three standing out significantly. Josh Osich threw the program’s first complete-game no-hitter since 1947 when he no-hit UCLA in Los Angeles on April 30. Ryan Dunn hit for the cycle against Portland on May 10, which was the second in the team history. To top it off, Sam Gaviglio held opponents scoreless for 41 2/3 innings through the first month-and-a-half of the season, coming up less than six innings shy of tying the NCAA single-season record.
An ERA Drop
The Beavers posted their lowest team ERA since 2005 (3.06) when finishing at 3.14 this season. The 3.14 ERA is the second-lowest since the 1979 club finished at 2.96. Tony Bryant (fifth, 1.52) and Matt Boyd (seventh, 1.57) both finished in the top in individual ERA for a season at OSU.
An Obscure Pitching Note
Not only did the Beavers’ staff ERA go down, so did the pitcher’s number of errors. The team’s pitchers committed two errors in 2011, down from 12 in 2010. The team’s staff had a fielder’s percentage of .986 in 2011 (two errors in 147 chances), compared to .903 in 2010 (12 errors in 124 chances).
Gaviglio In The Top 10
Sam Gaviglio had an outstanding 2011 season, finishing with 12 wins, which ties him for fourth-most in a season at OSU. He also had 116 strikeouts (sixth), 120 2/3 innings (tied for eighth) and two shutouts (tied for ninth). Tony Bryant joined Gaviglio in the top 10 lists in the aforementioned ERA and 12 saves (tied for third).
Walks And Saves
The Beavers are set to lead the Pac-10 in walks for the first time since 2007 as OSU tallied 258 during the regular season, with UCLA (221) No. 2. The Beavers will also end the year with the league lead in saves at 19, marking the fourth time in seven seasons OSU will lead that stat.
Catching Note
OSU had 35 steal attempts against, the least by any Pac-10 team. OSU’s catchers threw out 18 of the steal attempts, for a 51.4 percentage. OSU was the only Pac-10 team to throw out better than 50 percent.
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