Oregon State Regional Notes
Beavers In The Postseason
Oregon State has advanced to the 2014 postseason and will be hosting the Corvallis Regional. The Beavers are the No. 1 national seed for the first time in school history. OSU will be hosting No. 2 UNLV, No. 3 UC Irvine and No. 4 North Dakota State.
Postseason History
Oregon State is making its 15th visit to the postseason since the program’s first season in 1907. The Beavers carry a 47-29 (.618) postseason record into the regional, with the current head coach, Pat Casey, claiming 42 of those victories. Oregon State’s visit is the team’s sixth consecutive, which extends the program’s record stretch. The Beavers are 26-16 in NCAA Regional games (.619), including a 12-0 mark at Goss Stadium. OSU is 21-7 (.750) in NCAA Regional games since the NCAA adopted the current postseason format.
Against The Corvallis Regional Field
Oregon State will be matching up with North Dakota State for the first time in school history when the teams play at 8 p.m. on Friday. The Beavers have met UC Irvine twice - the last time coming in the 2007 College World Series - and are 1-1. OSU is 5-4 all-time against UNLV, last meeting in 2007. The Beavers swept a three-game series at home that season.
National Seed
Oregon State has been named the No. 1 national seed in this season’s tournament. It’s the third time the Beavers have been named a national seed. The 2005 club was the No. 8 seed while the 2013 team was seeded No. 3.
Corvallis Regional History
Oregon State is hosting an NCAA Regional for the fifth time in school history since the curent postseason format was adopted in 1999. The Beavers are a perfect 12-0 in NCAA Regionals at Goss Stadium, most recently sweeping UTSA, UC Santa Barbara and Texas A&M in 2013. Only five Corvallis Regional games have seen the Beavers win by two runs or less: 4-3 over Ohio State in 2005, 5-3 against Wright State in 2006, 6-4 over Georgia in 2011, 4-3 over UTSA in 2013 and 3-2 over UC Santa Barbara, also in 2013. OSU set a program postseason record for runs scored in a 19-3 win over St. John’s to advance to the 2005 Corvallis Super Regional.
In Non-Conference Action
Every game played by the Beavers throughout the postseason are non-conference contests, even if Oregon State takes on a Pac-12 foe. OSU finished the regular season with a 19-5 record in non-conference games, including a 9-1 mark at home. The Beavers hit .284 as a team in non-conference games, with Michael Conforto pacing the club at .400. Opponents hit just .222 as the team’s pitching staff recorded a 2.43 earned run average.
At Home
Oregon State defended its home turf well during the 2014 season, going 21-4 at Goss Stadium. The Beavers hit .257 at home while opponents batted just .184. OSU was led offensively by Jeff Hendrix, who batted .328 with one home run and five runs batted in. The OSU staff finished the regular season with a 1.38 earned run average, allowing a total of 44 runs in 25 games - and 35 earned runs. Starter Ben Wetzler was 7-0 with a 0.63 ERA at Goss Stadium. Jace Fry was 6-1 with a 1.27 ERA.
Great Crowds At Home
Oregon State is dominant at home and that’s due in large part to the team’s fans, which came out in record numbers in 2014. The Beavers averaged 2,828 fans per home game in 2014, which easily surpassed the previous school record in 2013. The 2,828 is expected to increase during the postseason, and should it do so even nominally, OSU will end 2014 with the highest average attendance on the West Coast.
Dominating Weekly Honors
The Beavers had a number of weekly honors during the regular season, pulling in six from the Pac-12 and two nationally. Jace Fry was the most honored, with three Pac-12 Conference Pitcher of the Week awards. He was also named the NCBWA’s National Pitcher of the Week after throwing a one-hitter against California. Ben Wetzler earned his first Pac-12 weekly honor and was also named the NCBWA’s top pitcher after shutting down Washington. Rounding out Oregon State’s weekly honors were Players of the Week Michael Conforto and Jeff Hendrix.
Pat Casey Hits 700
Pat Casey reached a couple milestones this season. OSU’s head coach, now in his 20th year, reached 689 wins early in the season, which vaulted him into 10th place in the Pac-12 Conference record books. Later on, against Oregon, he won his 700th game at Oregon State.
Win Streaks
The Beavers seem to have at least one win streak of 10 or more games every season. The 2014 season was no different. OSU won 11 straight from March 2 through March 21, then bettered that with a 12-gamer from April 22 through May 13.
