June 15, 2007

Oregon State arrives back in Omaha

From staff and wire reports

CORVALLIS — They're back.

Somehow, some way, Oregon State is back in the College World Series for a third straight season. The Beavers will start the 2007 CWS against Cal State-Fullerton on Saturday at 4 p.m. after finding ways to win over the past three weekends to advance to college baseball's biggest stage.

After spending most of the day in transit, Oregon State's base ball team arrived in Omaha on Wednesday evening. The Beavers were greeted at the airport by CWS officials and representatives of their hosts for their stay, the Omaha Kiwanis.

Then, for many of the Beavers, it was off to study or take exams — this is Finals Week at OSU — while others reacquainted themselves with Omaha or took their first look around the downtown area.

"It doesn't get old at all," said OSU pitcher Joe Paterson, who is making his second trip to the College World Series with the Beavers. "I'm definitely not as nervous this time around. I was kind of already shaking at this time last year. This year, I'm more excited and ready to go after it and soak up everything we're going to do."

For outfielder Chris Hopkins, who joined the Beavers this season, it's his first taste of Omaha.

"I'm still in shock," Hopkins said. "It's a great thing to come to; I hope we play hard and have fun on the field."

In the meantime, the Beavers are hitting the books, not baseballs. Academic counselor Ardell Bailey spent part of Wednesday evening in a meeting room at the Doubletree Downtown hotel proctoring final exams.

Oregon State spent nearly two weeks on the road to close out the season, with a trip to UCLA, followed by the regionals in Virginia. That's kept Bailey busy making sure the Beavers haven't neglected the academic side of being a student-athlete.

"I spent most of the first part of the week communicating with professors, letting them know what was going on with the game (against Michigan) being pushed back to Monday," Bailey said. "And the professors have been communicating with the players, letting them know when they'll be available, when they'll be able to take the exams, whether they can take them on the road or take an ‘incomplete' until the team returns to take their exams. All the guys have done a great job communicating with their professors and communicating with me."

Bailey carried with him approximately 35 exams to be administered to OSU players while they're in Omaha.

"Hopefully we can get them done by Friday," Bailey said. "The guys were to be studying on the plane on the way over, and tonight we're going to have a study hall. Then we're going to try to have study hall twice Thursday."

What words of wisdom does Bailey have for the Beavers when it comes to keeping their grades up with these circumstances?

"I tell them to take the same approach as baseball," Bailey said. "Be comfortable, be calm with it, and communicate — work with each other, work with the professors, and just do the things you would normally do.

"It's easy if they communicate with the professors and communicate with me so they know what's going on. So far, they've done a good job of that."

Paterson admits it's been tougher to do that in 2007 than it was in 2006.

"Last year was a walk in the park compared to this because we were at home for the regional and at the end (of the regular season) when we played UCLA at home," said Paterson, a Pacific-10 All-Academic second team selection. "This time, I'm struggling to keep up. Right before we left I took an exam, and I took another one later the next day. I'm barely getting by, but we'll see how it goes."

After winning the 2006 national championship, the Beavers lost six starting position players, two-thirds of their starting pitching rotation and their closer. After a strong nonconference campaign, OSU had its ups and downs during the Pacific-10 schedule, finishing tied for sixth place in perhaps the nation's toughest conference.

But with holdover players drawing on the experience of win-or-go-home games from the past two seasons, OSU (44-18 overall, 10-14 Pac-10) found ways to win when it counted.

The Beavers closed the regular season by winning two of three games at UCLA to squeeze into the 64-team NCAA field. Oregon State then went to seventh-ranked Virginia, lost a 13-inning heartbreaker in the second round, and the won three straight elimination games to live to play another weekend.

OSU wound up at home in the NCAA Super Regionals against Michigan, the team that had beaten top-seeded Vanderbilt in the NCAA Regionals. OSU found itself being no-hit with two outs in the top of the ninth inning, but Joey Wong's single both broke up the no-hit bid and drove in the only run of the game in a 1-0 victory; the Beavers then won 8-2 the next day to book their third straight trip to Omaha.

"Pretty good, pretty good," OSU head coach Pat Casey surmised after the Super Regionals. "I said yesterday that it's about these guys and that is what it is ... 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."

Today there will be a press conference for all eight coaches at Rosenblatt Stadium and each team will have a practice session at the ballpark with OSU going from 4 to 5 p.m. Prior to the practice session, the Beavers will take a team photo in front of the stadium and do interviews with ESPN.

After an NCAA informational session in one of the clubhouses, OSU will be featured in an autograph session at the stadium from 5:30 to 6 p.m. There is a barbecue dinner for the participating teams at 7 in the ballpark parking lot, and the opening ceremonies will follow from 8:30 to 10 p.m. at Rosenblatt Stadium.

OSU will likely practice on Friday at either Creighton University or a local high school.