July 31, 2007

Volcanoes honor OSU, welcome Mac grads

From staff and wire reports

SALEM — Pat Casey, who led Oregon State to its second consecutive College World Series championship, will be the honored guest at Volcanoes Stadium tonight when Salem-Keizer meets Eugene at 6:35. Casey will throw out the ceremonial first pitch and sign autographs for fans.

McMinnville High School graduates Daniel Turpen and Joe Paterson — San Francisco Giants 8th and 10th round selections in the 2007 draft — have joined the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes. The McMinnville residents and former Oregon State teammates will be making their home debut.

Paterson pitched one inning in the Volcanoes' game on Saturday, allowing one run and striking out two.

Both pitchers had outstanding seasons at Oregon State. Paterson pitched in relief in all five games of the College World Series and was named the Most Outstanding Player at the 2007 Charlottesville Regional with two wins and a save while allowing one run in 12 2/3 innings. For the season, he was 10-6 with a 3.61 ERA in 26 games.

Turpen defeated UC Irvine, 7-1, in the CWS, allowing only five hits and one run in eight innings. He was 10-1, 3.44 in 23 games for the Beavers this spring.

After winning their final 10 games and leading the Beavers to a perfect 5-0 record in the College World Series, Casey was named National Coach of the Year for the second straight year by Collegiate Baseball newspaper. He is the second coach to win the honor in consecutive seasons. OSU was 50-18 in 2006 and 49-18 this season. In 13 years at Oregon State, Casey's record is 440-271 (.619).

After losing seven position players, his top two starters (Dallas Buck and Jonah Nickerson) and his All-American closer (Kevin Gunderson) from the 2006 National Championship team, Casey's club defied the odds by returning to Omaha and winning back-to-back titles. The Beavers accomplished this despite a sixth place finish in the Pac-10 (10-14) after claiming Conference titles in 2005 and 2006.

They were the last school selected for the 64-team tournament field. After winning the NCAA Regional in Charlottesville, Va., Oregon State defeated Michigan, 2-0, in the Super Regionals before running the table in Omaha, recording victories over Cal St. Fullerton (3-2), Arizona State (12-6), UC Irvine (7-1) and North Carolina (11-4, 9-3).

In addition, former OSU catcher Mitch Canham, has signed a professional contract with the San Diego Padres, and is on the Eugene Emeralds roster, and is expected to be at Volcanoes Stadium with his Emeralds teammates. OSU Baseball Coach, Dave Wong, is also expected to be on hand for Beavers Baseball Night.

Fans are encouraged to wear their Beavers gear and come out and show their support of the Beavers National Championship Team.

Tickets are still available and can be purchased in advance by calling the Volcanoes ticket office at 1-503-390-2225, ext. 3007.