The anticipation is building around Corvallis and Beaver Nation as the baseball team gears up for their trip to Fort Worth later in the week. In preparation, here are some links from various sources around the internet regarding the Beavers.
First of all, if you haven't already, you can always check out Building the Dam's preview of the three other teams involved in the Fort Worth Regional that were posted yesterday. They are:
(1) TCU, (2) Texas A&M, and (4) Wright State.
Pat Casey joined Brian Wheeler, Kenny Vance, and Jay Allen on Wheels at Work today. I definitely encourage you to check out the podcast for the full interview, which begins about halfway through the file. Pat Casey is a great interview, and this one was no exception. Here are a select few quotes:
On the experience of the two National Championship teams compared to this season's team: The 2006 club had a lot more experience. You could hit them with a stick and know how they were going to react. The club in 2007 was a bit more gun-shy until we got to the end. The one thing that we had was a stabilizing factor was that Canham and Barney were back. Canham was a guy who would storm the village and take everybody-- Barney was a guy who would cut your throat but he'd leave you with a band-aid. It was a good mix of guys, so I felt like they caught fire. This particular club-- there's not a lot of experience. We're not a great offensive club, so we really have to execute. But I'll play anybody in the country and think that it's all fair.
On how he is scouting Texas A&M, and his general impressions: You get all kinds of tape-- and you call someone in the Big-12 who doesn't like A&M. Then they call someone in the Pac-10 who doesn't like Oregon State. But they're good-- they're going to go with a kid named Raley. He's only walked 23 guys on the year, he'll throw 88-91 mph, his ERA is about 3.72 I believe [no coach, it's 3.74], second pitch is a breaking ball, third is a change. [Casey proceeds to drops mad knowledge on A&M's lineup]. There was a reason they were ranked No. 1 in the country heading into the year. They're going to be hard to handle. I kinda like that. I make our guys feel like we're driving in there with a Volkswagon and parking in the Mercedes parking lot, and they're going to have to somehow get out alive. And when you do that, if they believe in it, you have a chance.
Then, he drops this gem after talking about some of his former players:
On former players coming back to Corvallis: It's a great family atmosphere down here as far as the guys we've coached, and I really encourage the guys to pick a football game in the fall, because that's when things start to slow down for everybody, and get back here all together. But I have to call the Corvallis Police Department and let them know when weekend that is, just in case guys get out and start stealing sheep or something.
Again, I definitely encourage you to check out the whole interview by following this link and going to about halfway through the podcast.
Casey also made it sound like the Beavers were going to go with Gaviglio on Friday against Texas Tech, then come back with Robles on Saturday. From there, he said that they would scout the teams at the tournament and see how things match up, then make a decision on going with either Peavey or Reyes from there on. He also stressed the fact that the Beavers need to pitch better in the middle of the game, but he's confident in what Rhoderick can do if he does things right.
Mike Parker also was on 95.5 The Game today, joining the MSP this morning. You can listen to the full interview by checking out the podcast and moving the cursor to again, about halfway through the podcast.
Jim Beseda's regional preview that was in the print edition of the Oregonian this morning has been getting lots of attention throughout yesterday and today. His piece on the Beavers' selection to the tournament is also worth the read. A brief except of quotes from Casey:
"Where we play is less important to us than the fact that we're in," Casey said. "As I look at the field and see the clubs that are in it, we feel like there isn't anybody there we can't play with.
"Texas A&M was ranked No. 1 in the country at the beginning of the season and they'll be a challenge, but our guys I think would be OK with anything. We feel like we're playing well right now, and I think we can even play better."
The Tribune's Kerry Eggers also weighs in with a Fort Worth preview of his own.
Brooks Hatch sheds some light on the Monday's annoucement:
A small cheer erupted in the Omaha Room at Goss Stadium on Monday when Oregon State's name was called very early in ESPN's broadcast of the NCAA baseball tournament's selection show.
"I thought we did enough at Stanford that we were going to get in. I was pretty confident but you never know what is going to happen," said center fielder John Wallace, a veteran of such get-togethers as one of OSU's four four-year seniors. "You can listen to what everybody says but it's not for sure official until it comes up on the screen."
So, once the show ended they went to the Sports Performance Center for a weight workout and then returned to Goss Stadium for their penultimate pre-regional practice. They'll practice at 2 p.m. today and then take the first step on the road to Omaha and the College World Series when they leave for Dallas on Wednesday.
The Beavers know that they'll be playing a tough opponent in once-No.1 ranked Texas A&M. But you also have to take into consideration that the Aggies will be playing six or so hours down I-37 away from home, and will likely have the crowd on their side, as there are sure to be Aggie fans scattered throughout the Dallas area, and the entire state of Texas. As A&M's head coach, Rob Childress said:
"It's exciting to be playing in the state of Texas. We're going to travel well and we'll have a lot of maroon in the stands when we do play, and that's a good feeling. I don't think any of us were surprised when we saw where we were going today. We open against a perennial national power in Oregon State and are very familiar with the other two teams. It ought to be a great tournament."
Feel free to share your favorite links from today in the thread below.
--Jake (jake.buildingthedam@gmail.com)