2006 Corvallis Super Regional

(special thanks to Steve Jones for his assistance in compiling information for these capsules)

Oregon State Beavers
Corvallis, Oregon
Automatic bid from Pac-10 for winning regular-season crown

Won Corvallis Regional (3-0)
2006 record - 16-7, 42-14 (first in Pac-10)
Coach: Pat Casey (George Fox, 1990)
Record at school: 383-251-4, 12 years
Overall record: 554-364-5, 19 years
Assistant coaches: Dan Spencer, Marty Lees, David Wong
Team offense: .303 BA, 406 R, 31 HR, .435 SLG, .402 OBA, 69/91 SB
Team pitching: 3.50 ERA, 496.1 IP, 435 H, 209 BB, 400 K
Top hitters: Cole Gillespie (.383/12/53/15 SB), Darwin Barney (.339/0/33/14 SB), Bill Rowe (.323/5/44), Shea McFeely (.295/2/44), Chris Kunda (.294/2/37), Mitch Canham (.289/7/44), Scott Santachi (.288/1/27)
Top pitchers: Kevin Gunderson (2-2, 2.40, 16 SV, 41.1 IP, 31 H, 16 BB, 39 K), Jonah Nickerson (10-4, 2.67, 107.2 IP, 97 H, 31 BB, 105 K), Mike Stutes (7-2, 2.88, 72 IP, 63 H, 35 BB, 71 K), Dallas Buck (11-2, 3.01, 107.2 IP, 76 H, 51 BB, 82 K)
Last NCAA appearance: 2005 (won Corvallis Regional, won Corvallis Super Regional, 0-2 at College World Series)

Notes: Oregon State is the only Super Regional team remaining from last year’s College World Series field. The Beavers’ trip to Omaha last season was their first since 1952. OSU has won eight of its past nine contests. The Beavers are 25-4 at home this season and 51-9 over the past two campaigns. OSU swept a three-game series from Stanford earlier this season by a combined score of 16-1. It was the least number of runs surrendered by the Beavers in a three-game series in school history. OSU is 0-5 against Stanford in postseason play. Cole Gillespie has a 14-game hitting streak and leads the Beavers with 26 multi-hit games. Chris Kunda was the Most Outstanding Player of the Corvallis Regional, hitting .357 with one double, two homers, four runs and seven RBI. Pitching is still the ticket for the Beavers. Right-hander Dallas Buck is 23-3 over the past two seasons. Buck played defensive back on the Beavers’ football team as a freshman and sophomore. Jonah Nickerson has 19 victories over the past two springs. Closer Kevin Gunderson has recorded 30 saves over the past two seasons. Twenty-six players on the OSU roster are from the state of Oregon.

Stanford Cardinal

Stanford, Calif.

At-large bid from Pac-10

Won Austin Regional (3-0)

2006 record: 11-13, 33-25 (tied for fifth in Pac-10)

Coach: Mark Marquess (Stanford, 1969)

Record at school: 1,257-615-5, 30 years

Overall record: Same

Assistant coaches: Dean Stotz, Tom Kunis, Dave Nakama

Team offense: .289 BA, 332 R, 39 HR, .416 SLG, .361 OBA, 31-48 SB

Team pitching: 4.46 ERA, 521 IP, 570 H, 179 BB, 410 K

Top hitters: Chris Minaker (.363/11/68), Michael Taylor (.326/5/39), Ryan Seawell (.323/2/14), Chris Lewis (.311/8/48), Randy Molina (.305/0/10), Jason Castro (.286/3/18), John Hester (.273/2/25).

Top pitchers: Austin Yount (4-0, 2.42, 22.1 IP, 18 H, 9 BB, 14 K), Greg Reynolds (7-5, 3.36, 120.2 IP, 111 H, 28 BB, 99 K), Nolan Gallagher (5-4, 3.75, 62.1 IP, 60 H, 28 BB, 48 K), Erik Davis 1-1, 3.82, 4 SV, 33 IP, 36 H, 16 BB, 22 K), Jeremy Bleich (4-4, 4.05, 7 SV, 60 IP, 63 H, 16 BB, 37 K), Matt Leva (2-1, 4.43, 40.2 IP, 36 H, 23 BB, 28 K).

Last time in tournament: 2005 (2-2 at Waco Regional)

Notes: Stanford likely was one of the last at-large teams to make the NCAA field and took advantage of the chance by winning the Austin Regional. It will be looking to win its sixth Super Regional. The Cardinal averaged about 5.5 runs a game in the regular season and averaged 12 runs per game in three Regional wins, including 12 in a win over Texas. In its past 16 games, Stanford is hitting .340 as a team and is averaging about eight runs a game. Greg Reynolds gives the Cardinal a chance to win every time he pitches. Chris Minaker was the team’s only All Pac-10 performer. He also was All-Academic with a GPA of 3.75 in Sociology. The Cardinal was swept in three games at Oregon State earlier this season, scoring just one run in the series.