Rain Delay

Gunderson makes list.

He's been put on the watch list for second annual "Stopper of the Year" award.

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State’s Kevin Gunderson has been named to the watch list for the second annual Stopper of the Year Award, given to the nation’s top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I baseball. Gunderson (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic HS) is one of 30 players on the watch list for the award, given by by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

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The 2006 watch list represents 13 conferences, led by five players from the Atlantic Coast, and four from the Big 12. The Conference USA, Missouri Valley, Pac-10, and Southeastern each have three players represented, while the Atlantic 10 and Big West both have two players representing their leagues. The Atlantic Sun, Big Ten, Big East, Northeast, and Patriot each have one player.

Last year the left, posted a 6-4 record, 2.76 ERA and 14 saves in 65.1 innings, not to mention collecting 62 strike outs in the process. This season he is a pre-season All-American second team pick. He'll be called on again this season to be the Beavers closer, a roll he excelled in last year. I think that OSU's bull-pen is one of the strongest in the Pac-10 if not the nation, and I'm getting the feeling this is going to be an exciting season.

Beavers Broadcast Schedule

I know, I know college ball. But hey the Beavers are ranked 6th in the Nation in the Preseason poll and are the odds on favorites to Win the Pack 10 and advance to Omaha. They have released their radio broadcast schedule for the up coming Season that kicks off this Friday.

CORVALLIS, Ore. - The tentative radio broadcast schedule for Oregon State’s 2006 baseball season has been announced, with games being carried in the mid-Willamette Valley on KEJO-AM (1240) and in the Portland area on KUIK-AM (1360); games can also be heard via the Internet on www.osubeavers.com.

Word of warning though, you have to pay a (at the least) monthly fee to listen to the games on the Internet. I'll end up paying that fee as I'll be moved to Medford by the time the season kicks off and not of the stations in the area carry college ball. The company I'm going to work for just flipped their AM ESPN station, to another format and sadly it has nothing to do with sports. So my only hope to catch any of their games is to listen to them over the Internet. I'm really excited about this season, I think these guys can make a run at the National Championship this year.

They've got all the tools to do it.

Click the link below to see the OSU Beavers 2006 radio broadcast schedule.

College Ball

Normally I wouldn't talk all that much about College Baseball, but here in Oregon we enjoyed a fine season from the team at Oregon State, who were oh so close to a National Championship. With the College season due to kick off here soon, Baseball Analysts had a College Baseball preview. To kick it all off, Rich Lederer did a Pac Ten 9 Preview.

It should come to no surprise who the coach's ranked #1, in their preseason poll.

2005: 46-12 | College World Series | 7th in final poll | 9th RPI
Coach: Pat Casey (341-234-4, 11 years)
Preseason Rankings: (8th by Baseball America, 3rd Collegiate Baseball and NCBWA)

A "feel good" story last year, Oregon State now has to live up to the huge expectations placed upon the program. Picked by the coaches to finish eighth in the league before the year began, the Beavers surprised everyone by winning the conference with a school-record 46 wins and advancing to the College World Series for the first time since 1952.

Led by one of the best pitching staffs in the country, OSU was selected by seven of the nine coaches to capture the Pac-10 title this year. The team's three starting pitchers--Dallas Buck (12-1, 2.09 ERA with a .194 BAA), Jonah Nickerson (9-2, 2.13 with a nearly 4:1 K/BB ratio), and Anton Maxwell (11-1, 4.33)--return for their junior years.  Ace reliever Kevin Gunderson (6-4, 14 saves, 2.76)--all 5-foot-8, 155 pounds of him--is back as well. 

Buck wasn't as sharp in the Cape Cod League as he was the summer before but is still expected to be no worse than a mid-first round selection in the June draft. Nickerson and Gunderson, meanwhile, pitched for Team USA last summer.

Whether Buck, Nickerson, and Maxwell can combine to go 32-4 again will be largely determined by how well the offense performs this year. Senior Tyler Graham (.307 with 0 HR and 21 SB), a speedster who was drafted in the 15th round by the Chicago Cubs, takes over for first-round draft pick Jacoby Ellsbury in CF and at the top of the lineup. Sophomore shortstop and Pac-10 Freshman of the Year Darwin Barney (.301, 2 HR, 44 RBI), sophomore catcher Mitch Canham (.325 with a team-leading 8 HR), and senior third baseman Shea McFeely (.319, 5 HR) will be asked to generate power in the middle of the order. 

Put it all together and the Beavers are not only the favorite to win the Pac-10 title but are a legitimate contender for the national championship.

Now had this been with in the confines of the football season, you wouldn't be seeing a write up about OSU, at all. But this is different, though every fiber in my body tells me it's wrong to root for the Beavers when one is born and raised in Eastern Washington. Now with that said, I am not nor will I every be a Washington State University fan. Period.

Though I've never attended UW, I'm a Husky through and through. Talk about being an outsider, all the more so when I was working in Eugene, Oregon home of the Ducks.To make a long story short, I can't wait for the Beavers to kick of their season. I look forward to them making a return trip to Omaha, and returning with a National Championship.

From time to time I'm sure I'll blog about the Beav's and their quest to dominate the Pac 10 er 9.