2007 Corvallis Super Regional

(capsules compiled by Jamie Learakos, Stuart Smith, Scott Day, Sean Ryan, Phil Stanton)

Oregon State Beavers
Corvallis, Ore.

At-large bid from Pac-10

Won Charlottesville Regional

2007 record: 10-14, 42-18 (tied for sixth in Pac-10)
Coach: Pat Casey (George Fox, 1990)
Record at school: 425-269-4, 13 years
Overall record: 596-382-5, 20 years
Assistant coaches: Dan Spencer, Marty Lees, David Wong
Team offense: .285 BA, 405 R, 38 HR, .409 SLG, .385 OBA, 64/85 SB
Team pitching: 3.60 ERA, 537.2 IP, 495 H, 176 BB, 432 K
Top hitters: Mike Lissman (.327/8/56), Jordan Lennerton (.325/7/47), Mitch Canham (.323/9/54), Darwin Barney (.296/4/48), Jason Ogata (.295/4/40), Joey Wong (.283/0/13), John Wallace (.271/1/23) Chris Hopkins (.266/2/24/14 SB).
Top pitchers: Eddie Kunz (3-1, 10 SV, 3.05, 44.1 IP, 29 H, 18 BB, 37 K), Jorge Reyes (5-3, 3.48, 62 IP, 59 H, 15 BB, 57 K), Daniel Turpen (9-1, 3.65, 88.2 IP, 89 H, 22 BB, 57 K), Joe Paterson (9-6, 3.81, 118 IP, 120 H, 25 BB, 74 K), Mike Stutes (9-4, 4.05, 113.1 IP, 98 H, 51 BB, 111 K).

Last NCAA appearance: 2006 (won Corvallis Regional, won Corvallis Super Regional, won College World Series)
Notes: The Beavers are in the Super Regionals for the third straight year, and like 2006, it wasn’t easy. OSU won three straight must-win games, giving them nine straight wins in elimination games over the past two years. You could argue they’ve won more than that as OSU likely needed a series win over UCLA the last weekend of the year to reach the postseason. The Beavers are shooting for their third straight trip to Omaha, having won the national title last year. The 2007 Beavers looked like the 2006 Beavers in Charlottesville, getting huge pitching performances on short rest from the likes of MVP Joe Paterson (2 wins, save), Mike Stutes and Eddie Kunz. Darwin Barney, the heart of the team, hit a monster homer in the 7-4, 13-inning loss, after which he said “you’re going to have to break our necks to beat us tomorrow,” epitomizing the refuse-to-lose attitude. Chris Hopkins hit a big homer in win over Virginia on Monday and hit the ball hard all weekend. Jason Ogata had four RBI in the clinching win. John Wallace’s father, Mike Wallace, played baseball for Nevada and the San Francisco Giants; and uncle, Steve Senini, played football for Nevada and the Denver Broncos and Cleveland Browns. Joey Wong’s father David is a volunteer assistant coach. Assistant coach Dan Spencer contributed a journal to CollegeBaseballInsider.com in 2007. The Beavers' pitching staff allows under 4 runs a game. Coach Pat Casey was named the CollegeBaseballInsider.com Coach of the Year in 2005 after the Regional round and before two straight trips to Omaha. Pitching and defense continue to be huge - OSU fields at a .977 clip, and opponents hit .247.

Michigan Wolverines

Ann Arbor, Mich.

At-large bid from the Big Ten Conference

Won Nashville Regional

2007 record – 21-7, 42-17 (first in Big Ten)

Coach – Rich Maloney (Western Michigan)

Record at school – 191-110, five years

Overall record - 447-254-1, 12 years

Assistant coaches – Bob Keller, Jake Boss Jr., Aaron Hepner

Team offense: .337 BA, 403 R, 44 HR, .496 SLG%, .412 OBA%, 85/120 SB

Team pitching: 4.31 ERA, 440.2 IP, 442 H, 196 BB, 333 K

Top hitters (RBI/HR through 5/25): Derek VanBuskirk (.386/3/31), Kevin Cislo (.372/1/21), Nate Recknagel (.359/10/54), Doug Pickens (.347/5/38), Zach Putnam (.341/8/58),  Jason Christian (.335/7/40), Adam Abraham (.330/5/43), Brad Roblin (.327/1/21/20 SB).

Top pitchers (through 5/25): Adam Abraham (4-1, 2.97, 30.1 IP, 29 IP, 10 BB, 22 K), Mike Wilson (7-0, 3.00, 63 IP, 50 H, 36 BB, 54 K), Andrew Hess (7-1, 3.76, 64.2 IP, 69 H, 31 BB, 35 K), Zach Putnam (7-4, 3.78, 85.2 IP, 84 H, 32 BB, 72 K), Chris Fetter (6-3, 4.71, 63 IP, 77 H, 17 BB, 45 K).

Last NCAA appearance: 2006 (1-2 at Atlanta Regional)

Notes: The Wolverines made the NCAA field for the third straight year after winning the Big Ten regular-season title and did the unthinkable in Nashville - knock off Vanderbilt twice. Alan Oaks was one of many heroes, hitting a 3-1 pitch from All-World David Price over the wall in left-center in the top of the 10th of the deciding game. The freshman, who also pitches, entered hitting .188 with 1 homer. His pinch-hit game-winner was the second of his career. Kevin Cislo made a game-saving catch in the ninth, ranging from his second base position to the outfield grass. And Derek VanBuskirk took a possible homer away from Pedro Alavarez in the bottom of the 10^th to preserve the huge win. Chris Fetter gave the Wolverines seven strong innings. Coach Rich Maloney, who was inducted into the Western Michigan hall of fame in 2004, served as head coach at Ball State before arriving in Ann Arbor. Two-way player Adam Abraham was a star defenseman in the Ontario Hockey League before deciding to play baseball at Michigan. Starter Mike Wilson has won his first 15 college decisions. Zach Putnam was named all-Big Ten as a pitcher and as a designated hitter. Eric Rose has stolen 33 bases, second-most in school history, and Brad Roblin has 20 steals.