June 16, 2007

Beavers feel at home in Omaha
Oregon State opens today against Cal State-Fullerton

GARY HOROWITZ
Statesman Journal

BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Wearing their black practice jerseys on a humid Friday morning at Bellevue East High School, Oregon State players seemed relaxed during their final practice before the College World Series opener.

There was a been-there, done-that feel to the two-hour gathering.

Players stretched on the outfield grass. Coach Pat Casey threw batting practice, and pitching coach Dan Spencer worked with the pitchers and catchers in the bullpen down the right field line.

OSU assistant sports information director Kip Carlson was stationed in left field and almost snagged a few fly balls. At least the effort was there.

When you're the defending national champions, there's no reason to be nervous on the grand stage of college baseball.

Don't expect the Beavers to be overwhelmed when they take the field today to play Cal State-Fullerton at Rosenblatt Stadium.

"My first year I came here I was in such awe," junior shortstop Darwin Barney said after Friday's practice. "This year after we won the super regional I was telling the guys, 'Hey, we expected this all year. There's no need to jump around and push each other over.'

"This is where we're supposed to be in June. This is Oregon State baseball."

Making their third consecutive trip to Omaha, OSU has arrived as a national power.

The Beavers took a different road to Omaha this season. After winning back-to-back Pacific-10 Conference championships in 2005-06, OSU tied for sixth this year and was not assured of an at-large NCAA regional bid.

But when the bid came and OSU was sent to the Charlottesville (Va.) regional as a No. 3 seed, the Beavers did what comes naturally: Win when it matters most.

OSU, which survived six elimination games en route to the school's first national baseball championship last year, won three games in Charlottesville when a defeat would have ended its season.

The Beavers eliminated Michigan in two games in the Corvallis super regional, and packed their bags for Omaha.

"There's tons of Beaver supporters out here in Omaha," said first baseman Jordan Lennerton, a junior college transfer who is experiencing the CWS for the first time. "We're going to have a lot of fans rooting for us and it's going to work in our favor."

Much like OSU, Fullerton was hardly a lock to make the 64-team tournament field. The Titans were fifth in the Big West and lost 11 of their last 17 regular season games.

Given a chance to start anew, Fullerton swept through the San Diego regional and Fullerton super regional, knocking off UCLA in two games to earn its 15th CWS appearance.

The Titans have outscored their opponents 40-10 in the postseason.

"To say we're excited to be here might be the understatement of the century," Fullerton coach George Horton said. "From our standpoint, this was not one of our better seasons."

But the Titans have a chance to make amends for a subpar regular season now. They'll send junior Wes Roemer (11-6, 3.24 earned run average) to the hill today against OSU freshman Jorge Reyes (5-3, 3.13).

Roemer, selected No. 50 overall by Arizona in the 2007 Major League Baseball draft, is considered one of the premier pitchers in the nation. He recorded 143 strikeouts in 136 innings.

"I think that's kind of good for us," Casey said. "You've got to face somebody, why not the best? The challenge will be greater, so a bigger tree to drop."

OSU junior catcher Mitch Canham doesn't put Roemer "on a pedestal."

"I treat him just like he's anybody else," said Canham, who leads the Beavers with nine homers. "I know he's got good stuff, but shoot, we've faced other guys who have good stuff."

Including Michigan's Zach Putnam, who had a no-hitter going through 8 2/3 innings against the Beavers in game one of the super regional. Freshman second baseman Joey Wong came through with the game-winning hit in a 1-0 victory.

The Beavers side of the two, four-team brackets in the CWS includes Fullerton, Pac-10 champion Arizona State, and UC Irvine. The other bracket features North Carolina, which lost to OSU in last year's national championship game, Rice, Louisville,and Mississippi State.

The winners of the double-elimination brackets advance to the best-of-three championship series.

"We definitely think we should be here and we're not just happy being here again," Wong said. "We're coming here to win the whole thing. We're pretty excited to get going (today)."

Casey said his team had "a great practice" Friday.

"We know what we've got to get done," he said.

Win or lose today, OSU's next game will be Monday against either ASU or UC Irvine. The Beavers, who lost their CWS opener last year to Miami (Fla.) and we're immediately placed in a win or go home scenario, hope it's in the winner's bracket.