The Beavers accomplished something they had never done before on a hot, humid June 16 night:
Win their opening game in the College World Series.
In 2005, the Beavers lost their first game in Omaha to Tulane 3-1. In 2006, the Beavers lost their first game of the Series to Miami 11-1 before winning four straight games to advance to the Championship series.
But in 2007, everything was different. With junior phemon Wes Roemer on the mound for Fullerton, Oregon State knew they would need all the help they could get at the plate.
Scott Santschi went 2-for-3 with two RBI's and his first home run of the season to give the Beavers the offensive lift they needed to overtake the 2006 Co-National player of the year, Roemer.
But the Beavers didn't win the game just with their bats. Eventual College World Series MVP Jorge Reyes pitched beautifully, pitching six innings and giving up only one run on three hits. Joe Patterson took over the reigns where Jorge left off, recording eight outs before handing the ball over to Eddie Kunz. Eddie earned his 12th save of the season.
This game was also the game that brought us the incredible 6-4-3 double play in the bottom of the fourth inning:
The 3-2 win was the first time Oregon State ever defeated Cal State Fullerton, and it definitely did not come easy. It took great offense, defense, and pitching, and... a bit of luck.
In the top of the ninth with two outs and the Beavers clinging to a one run lead, Fullerton third baseman Even McArthur hit a pop fly to shallow left. Darwin Barney and John Wallace failed to communicate properly, causing Barney to peel off at the last minute. Wallace couldn't read the ball, and after taking a step left and lunging right, dropped the ball. I captured a video of this play on my camera, but accidentally deleted it on the ride home. However, I did come away with this video of the final out of the game:
And now, for your viewing pleasure, here's a collection of my personal photographs from before, during, and after the game. There's a lot.
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
If any of you have personal pictures from this game, feel free to send them in. Either post them as FanShots, add a comment with a link, or e-mail them to me. You can find my e-mail address by clicking on my username at the top of this post.
GO BEAVERS!
--JB--