The groundbreaking ceremony for the new basketball practice facility for the Oregon St. Men's and Women's basketball programs will be at 4 PM on Thursday, June 21. The building will be located directly west of Gill Coliseum, and adjacent to the Sport Performance Center, and overlook the football practice fields currently being prepared for the installation of a new field turf surface. The space is a parking lot at the moment, but there's a webcam that's great for monitoring the progress.


Oregon St. President Dr. Edward Ray, Director of Athletics Bob De Carolis, men's basketball head coach Craig Robinson, and women's basketball head coach Scott Rueck are scheduled to participate in the groundbreaking celebration.

"I'm extremely excited about the groundbreaking for the practice facility," Robinson said. "This is so very important to our program and future. It puts us on similar footing with our competition from a marketing and recruiting standpoint. In addition, this will go a long way to alleviating logistical issues that negatively affect our student-athletes. I'd like to thank all of our donors, fans and athletic department staff who made this groundbreaking possible."

The facility will be a 34,500-square-foot, four-story structure, and will feature 2 regulation basketball courts on the first and third floors, along with locker rooms, satellite training and medical areas, and service and mechanical space.

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Sweeping Oregon in the Civil War may not have helped the Beavers in the NCAA seedings, or hurt the Ducks, but it made a big difference in the BaseballAmerica.com top 25 poll. The Beavers vaulted all the way from #23 to #16, which should further fuel the fire of the debate and complaint about not only not getting to host a regional, but being sent to LSU. The Tigers, by the way, only fell from #2 to #3 after losing 2 of 3 games in the SEC Tournament.

Oregon dropped from #5 to #10, but is still ahead of one of the teams that passed them, as Arizona didn't move from the 13 spot despite taking 2 of 3 from Arizona St., which dropped the Sun Devils from #16 to #21, and claiming a share of the Pac-12 title.

The team that really made up some ground is UCLA, as the Bruins' win over UC-Irvine and their subsequent sweep of USC vaulted all the way from #9 to #2, trailing only Florida. The Gators climbed from #3 to #1 despite going 2-2 in the SEC Tournament. Florida St. had a disastrous 0-3 week that didn't hurt them at all in the eyes of the NCAA, in what appears to be a pattern, but dropped them from #1 last week to #5.

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Times are set for the Baton Rouge Regional in Alex Box Stadium in the NCAA Baseball Playoffs next weekend, and Oregon St. (38-18) will play Belmont (39-22) at 2 PM CDT Friday, which is noon PDT. LSU (43-16) will play Louisiana-Monroe (31-28) at 7 PM CDT.

The winners will meet Saturday night at 7 PM CDT (5 PM PDT), after the losers meet in the first elimination game, again at 2 PM CDT (noon PDT) Saturday.

The winner of the elimination game will face the loser of Saturday night's game at 1:30 PM CDT (11:30 AM PDT) Sunday, in another elimination game. The winner of that game will play again at 6:30 CDT (4:30 PDT) Sunday evening, and will need to win to force an "if" game. If an "if" game is necessary, it will be Monday evening, again at 6:30 PM CDT (4:30 PDT).

Here's the team's reaction during the selection show:

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Before we embark on a day of family barbeques and other fun functions, and begin to look forward to where Oregon St. will be headed for the NCAA Regionals, take a moment to remember those who we have lost, and especially those who have been lost ensuring we enjoy the freedom to enjoy the day, the weekend, and the week to come.

Last year, Oregon St. went to PK Park needing just 1 win in the season ending series at Oregon, and promptly got swept by the Ducks, losing the Pac-10 title and a "National" seed as a result. This year, it was Oregon's turn to travel to Goss Stadium, and leading the conference race as they did so. Once again, the home-standing underdog pulled off a sweep, when the Beavers posted a 5-0 shutout in the Sunday finale, and when both Arizona and then UCLA pulled out late wins over their rivals, it was the Ducks' turn to see the Bruins run a flag up the pole.

Technically, the Wildcats will share the first ever Pac-12 title, but the Bruins won 2 of 3 in Tucson, and will take the bragging rights, along with their first ever repeat baseball conference championship, again with an assist from within the state of Oregon.

Oregon St.'s leadoff hitter Joey Matthews was hit by a pitch to start both the first and third innings, and went on to score both times, on an RBI single, and then an RBI double, by Michael Conforto, which would prove to be the undoing of Oregon starter Jeff Gold. It also locked up the Pac-12 RBI title for Conforto, who finished the regular season with 71, an Oregon St. single season record.

But it was senior Taylor Starr who was the unexpected star of the game. After using usual Sunday starter Dan Child in relief to get the win Saturday that ensured both a Pac-12 series and season series win for Oregon St., a win Oregon St. head Coach Pat Casey felt "we really needed to get", Starr, who has been the midweek starter in the latter part of the season got the call.

And though he wasn't "sharp", allowing Oregon to get their leadoff hitter on base multiple times, Starr allowed only 7 hits and took advantage of good defense behind him, including multiple double plays, to work an out into the 7th inning.

Even after Oregon's Brett Hambright singled to lead off the 7th, Oregon St. pitching coach Nate Yeski allowed Starr to take on one more hitter, and after getting a strike out of Connor Hoffman, exit to a standing ovation from the paid crowd of 2,971, with a 2-0 lead.

Starr also got a pie in the face from Matt Boyd for his efforts.

Starr, who started both the mid-week, non-conference games at Oregon earlier in the year, improved to 5-2 for the season, and 2-1 against the Ducks (Starr got the win in the Beavers' 7-1 victory, and also the loss in the Ducks' subsequent 3-2 win), a remarkable way to end his Goss Stadium career, which saw Starr come back from 3 major shoulder surgeries, including 2 "Tommy John" ligament replacement operations.

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#5 Oregon (42-16, 19-10) at #23 Oregon State (37-18, 17-12) at 1:05 PM PDT at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field - KEJO 1240 AM & KPOJ 620 AM - Audio & Video Stream on Beaver Nation Online, for a fee

Gametracker

Oregon and Oregon St. square off in the final battle for this season in the Civil War, with the Beavers having already won both the Pac-12 weekend series and the season series, after beating the Ducks 3-2 yesterday. The game ended dramatically, on a put out at the plate by Ryan Gorton.

The win gave Oregon St. 3 wins in 4 Civil War battles this year. More importantly, the Beavers can sweep the weekend series, returning the favor to the Ducks, who did the same thing last year, in the season ending series, costing Oregon St. the Pac-12 title in the process.

Oregon got both their runs in the third, combining a walk, a steal, a pair of singles, the second of which, by Kyle Garlick, scored Aaron Jones, and then an RBI double by Brett Hambright.

Duck starter Jake Reed put the Beavers to sleep for most of the game, with a dominating pitching performance, but that all turned around in the 6th, when Michael Conforto drove a single to center, and Danny Hayes delivered a 2 run homer down the right field line, his 4th in the last 5 games, and 5th of the season, to tie the game at 2-2. It started a sequence that turned what had been a yawner into one of the more memorable finishes to a Civil War contest in any sport.

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Saturday saw some current and future Beavers in action in track and field on the state and national level.

Laura Carlyle qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the 1500 meters, with a 5th place finish in her heat in the West Regionals meet in Austin, Texas. Carlyle is the first Oregon State athlete to qualify for the NCAA Championships two years in a row since 1986.

Football WR Obym Gwacham was unable to advance, however, finishing in a 4 way tie for 22nd in the high jump in the field of 44 jumpers.

Carlyle was 8th overall in the preliminary heats, with a time of 4.30.01. The field of 48 was divided into 4 heats, with the top 5 in each heat plus the next 2 fastest times advancing to what amount to the national quarterfinals.

Two final heats were run, with the top 5 in each heat plus the next 4 fastest times advanced to the NCAA Finals, which will be held June 6-9 at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Carlyle finished 5th in her heat, with a time of 4.20.32, one of 4 Pac-12 runners in the event to advance. Oregon's Jordan Hasay won in a time of 4.16.29.

"She really has just done an amazing job with these last three opportunities with her qualifying last spring in the 5,000 meters, this spring when she made it to the NCAA Indoor Championships for the mile, and now to be able to come here and run all the way into the end of May is amazing," coach Kelly Sullivan said.

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#5 Oregon (42-15, 19-9) at #23 Oregon State (36-18, 16-12) at 1:05 PM PDT at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field - ROOT Sports NW - KEJO 1240 AM & KPOJ 620 AM - Audio & Video Stream on Beaver Nation Online, for a fee

Gametracker

Oregon and Oregon St. continue the Civil War today, with the middle game of their Pac-12 season ending series.

The Beavers had to come from behind twice Friday night, before pulling away for the 7-3 win that moved Coach Pat Casey ahead of Jack Riley for most wins by an Oregon St. coach. A video tribute to Casey and his 614th win followed.

The Ducks jumped all over Oregon St. starter Ben Wetzler right away, when Ryon Healey homered in the top of the first, with J.J. Altobelli aboard for a 2-0 lead. It could have been much worse, Oregon proceeded to load the bases, but Wetzler got back to back strikeouts to get out of the jam.

The Beavers bounced right back, with RBI singles by Danny Hayes and Ryan Dunn that drove in Max Gordon and Michael Conforto, in the bottom of the first, but it looked like it was destined to be the Ducks' night when Aaron Jones drove in Altobelli, who had doubled, to put Oregon back ahead 3-2 in the top of the second, and Alex Keudell, who had won his last 9 starts, settled down.

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#5 Oregon (42-14, 19-8) at #23 Oregon State (35-18, 15-12) at 5:35 PM PDT at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field - KEJO 1240 AM & KPOJ 620 AM - Audio & Video Stream on Beaver Nation Online, for a fee

Gametracker

Oregon and Oregon St. square off this weekend in the last 3 battles of this year's Civil War, and the 3 that count in the Pac-12 standings. Last year, it was the Ducks who hosted the season ending series, with the Beavers needing just 1 win to claim the Conference Championship. Oregon swept the Memorial weekend games, depriving Oregon St. of the title, and maybe a home Super Regional.

This year, the tables are turned, as the Ducks fly in leading the Pac-12, while the Beavers are 4 games back, in 6th place, and though they are almost assuredly headed for the NCAA tournament, they can not win the conference. But they may be able to spoil Oregon's title hopes, and win the Civil War for the year, which is currently tied at a game apiece.

Oregon holds the tie-breaker on second place Arizona, as well as all 3 teams tied 2 games back for third, UCLA, Stanford, and Arizona St., so their magic number is any combination of 2 Duck wins and Wildcat losses, and a single Oregon win or loss by the Bruins, Cardinal, or Sun Devils eliminates that team. So even a Beaver sweep will not by itself prevent the Ducks from winning the Pac-12.

However, a National Seed, which would guarantee hosting a Super Regional if Oregon can win their regional, could be at stake. For Oregon St., its unlikely that they will get to host a regional, as it would require other teams to stumble, and stumble badly, but its not impossible should they sweep. In any case, the Beavers' seeding will also be affected one way or the other by weekend's outcomes.

Oregon swept a 3 game series from Seattle last weekend, and then beat Portland 2-1 Wednesday in Eugene, after a Tuesday game in Portland was rained out, extending their current winning streak to 9 games, and 15 wins in their last 16 contests.

Oregon St. took 2 of 3 at Washington St. last weekend, with Sunday's 7-5 win over the Cougars the 3rd consecutive series winning Sunday victory, giving them 5 series wins in the last game of the series in 7 tries in the last 8 weeks.

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So says Oregon St. head football coach Mike Riley in an email statement about the recent rash of incidents involving many members of his secondary.

"This behavior is totally unacceptable, and the appropriate discipline started immediately with each event, and future incidences could result in exclusion from our football program," Riley said.

CB Sean Martin's DUII(*) and KR/CB Malcolm Marable's speeding ticket started the off-season of miscues, but things escalated with Marable's altercation in the wake of S Ryan Murphy's attempt to gain entry to the Impulse Bar and Grill using S Anthony Watkins' id. Subsequently, CB Jordan Poyer was arrested for attempting entry to the Impulse, and it came to light that he had previously attempted entry earlier this year, before he turned 21.

What Riley did NOT say was what penalties would be handed out, or when, and predictably that's already got the buzz going about what Riley should do. Specifically, there are calls for suspensions, and that they be served at the beginning of the season.

Last year's move to spread a variety of suspensions across the season in an attempt to avoid unduly punishing the rest of the team, and everyone else who might care about how the team does, was criticized then, and already is drawing fire again.

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Previous incidents involving Oregon St. football players, and especially DBs, at the Impulse Bar and Grill, suggest that the impulse to head down there on a Friday or Saturday night is not a good one. Now, we have confirmation that its an impulse that should be resisted.

Senior to be CB Jordan Poyer is the latest Beaver DB to appear in the Corvallis Police Deartment's reports.

Poyer, 21, was arrested at a "bar fight" incident reported at 1:52 AM, early last Saturday morning, and charged with second degree criminal trespass after he was detained by the bar's staff during a fight. Poyer apparently was not involved in the fight.

Corvallis police also included in their report that the bar's staff had previously excluded Poyer from the premises after a Feb. 5 incident.

Court proceedings are pending, and any actions taken by Oregon St. coach Mike Riley will probably follow.

It might be worthwhile considering having offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh sit in the door at the "Impulse", and help some of the players resist said impulse.

Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com

Oregon St. stayed at #23 in the BaseballAmerica.com top 25 poll for the third week in a row, after winning 3 of 4 games, including a home win over Portland, and then taking 2 of 3 at Washington St. Danny Hayes, who had 3 home runs and 8 RBIs against the Cougars, and was 8 of 14 (.571) with 10 RBIs in the 4 games, was named Pac-12 Player of the Week in the process.

Meanwhile, the other 5 Pac-12 teams ranked ahead of the Beavers, and ahead of them in the incredibly tight conference race, all edged upward on the strength of good weekends.

Oregon, the hottest team in the Pac-12, remains the conference leader, and still has a 1 game lead over Arizona. The Ducks climbed from 6th to 5th, after opening the week with a conference win over USC, and then a non-conference sweep of Seattle, giving them 8 straight wins, and pushing them to 41-14, and making them the first Pac-12 team to reach and surpass the 40 win mark this season.

Arizona moved up from 14th to 13th, after the Wildcats took a mid-week non-conference win at Arizona St., and then taking 2 of 3 at California. The Sun Devils bounced back to sweep Washington, and pull into a 3 way tie for third place in the Pac-12, just 2 games behind Oregon, and edged up from #18 to #16.

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Oregon St.'s softball season came to an end Sunday in the Norman, Oklahoma regional, when the Beavers couldn't overcome host Oklahoma.

The Beavers lost their first game Friday afternoon, falling to Tulsa 9-7 in 11 innings. As a result, Oregon St. had to win twice on Saturday to stay alive, and they were able to do so. The Beavers easily eliminated Lehigh 9-2, and then exacted a measure of revenge on Tulsa, defeating the Golden Hurricane 2-1 to advance to Sunday.

Their stay in the regionals was extended by a weather delay, but the Beavers couldn't earn a second game once the tarp was taken off. Needing to defeat Oklahoma twice, they didn't come close, as the Sooners ended the day sooner than later, taking a 6-0 win.

Oregon St. finished the season 36-23, their best in 5 years.

Oklahoma will stay home for the Super Regionals, and will face another Pac-12 team, as 5 of the 8 conference teams to make the post-season were able to advance. Arizona, one of 3 Pac-12 teams to sweep in their home regional, will next test Oklahoma.

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Oregon St. jumped ahead of Washington St., and then held on for the series winning 7-5 victory Sunday in Pullman, setting some records along the way.

The Beavers flirted unsuccessfully with scoring early, but then took a 4-0 lead in the 3rd inning, when Max Gordon doubled to score Jake Rodriguez, and after Tyler Smith singled, Michael Conforto clouted his 13th home run of the season, which co-leads the conference. The 3 run blast gave Conforto, the Pac-12 RBI leader, 69 RBIs this season, the most ever bye a Beaver in a single season, breaking Joe Gerber's previous record on 67 in 2000.

The Cougars countered with 2 runs in the 4th, when a pair of sacrifices scored Taylor Ard, who had led off with a walk, and Derek Jones, who had reached base with a double.

Oregon St. got the runs back in the 5th, when Ryan Dunn's double drove in Conforto and Danny Hayes, but Washington St. clawed their way back within 6-3 on Collin Slaybaugh's RBI triple that scored Kyle Johnson a half inning later.

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#23 Oregon State (34-18, 14-12) at Washington St. (26-25, 11-14) at Noon PDT at Bailey-Brayton Field in Pullman - KEJO 1240 AM & KPOJ 620 AM - Audio Stream (no Video) on Beaver Nation Online, for a fee

Gametracker

Oregon St. and Washington St. conclude their weekend Pac-12 series with a noon time showdown that will decide the series after the Cougars evened it up Saturday evening.

Washington St.'s P.J. Jones had never homered before in his brief college career, but he took care of that in about as memorable a manner as possible. With the bases loaded and 2 out, the freshman from Vancouver, WA, beat Matt Boyd, driving a fast ball off the scoreboard in left center for a walk off grand slam home run, and a 9-5 Cougar win.

Hot hitting Danny Hayes, fresh off a 2 home run, 5 RBI performance Friday night, got the Beavers going again, with a 2 run homer to right in the first inning, but Oregon St. starter Jace Fry had trouble finding the strike zone, and a walk and a wild pitch that went along with 3 singles allowed Washington St. to take a 3-2 lead after 1 inning.

Hayes, who went 3 for 4 for the night, singled again to drive in Ryan Barnes in the third inning, and tie the game at 3-3, but the Cougars went back ahead in the 4th when Tommy Richards scored on a passed ball.

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#23 Oregon State (34-17, 14-11) at Washington St. (25-25, 10-15) at 4:30 PM PDT at Bailey-Brayton Field in Pullman - ROOT Sports NW - KEJO 1240 AM & KPOJ 620 AM - Audio Stream on Beaver Nation Online, for a fee

Gametracker

Oregon St. and Washington St. continue their series, with the middle game a late afternoon affair in order to be aired by ROOT Sports Northwest. Friday night, the Beavers got the best of the Cougars, and the home run derby, hitting 4 of the 5 round trippers, which produced a 10-2 win.

Oregon St. got off to a fast start on Michael Conforto's 3 run homer to right in the first inning, and Danny Hayes backed that up with a solo shot also to right that put the Beavers ahead 4-0 before the Cougars first came up to bat.

Hayes was hot, hammering another homer in the second inning. That one was down the right field line, and drove in 3 runs for a 7-1 lead. Ryan Barnes got in on the home run derby too, leading off the 6th with a solo shot to left.

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#23 Oregon State (33-17, 13-11) at Washington St. (25-24, 10-14) at 5:30 PM PDT at Bailey-Brayton Field in Pullman - KEJO 1240 AM & KPOJ 620 AM - Audio Stream (no Video) on Beaver Nation Online, for a fee

Gametracker

There is a Washington St. video stream for a fee.

Oregon St. starts their last road trip of the regular season tonight, beginning a Pac-12 series at Washington St. Both teams are coming off Tuesday night home wins, as the Beavers beat Portland 12-4, and the Cougars conquered USC 3-1 in the makeup of a Pac-12 game rained out earlier in the season.

The Beavers are looking for their first series win in Pullman since 2006, with the Cougars having won 2 of 3 in both 2008 and 2010.

Outfielder Ryan Barnes, who missed Tuesday’s win over Portland due to a pulled hamstring, only the 2nd game he hasn't been in this season, will play this weekend, coach Pat Casey said. Outfielder Joey Matthews, who collided with Michael Conforto in Friday's game in Utah, also hopes to return to action this weekend, though it could be Saturday or Sunday, due to the length of the concussion evaluation cycle, before he gets back on the field.

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Oregon St.'s men's basketball team will be taking a trip to Europe this August 18th thru 28th, and will play several games against teams in Spain, and possibly southern France. The game schedule for the European trip is still being worked out, but head coach Craig Robinson said the Beavers will be facing some very good teams.

NCAA rules allow teams to take a preseason international trip once every four year, and 10 additional practice days are allowed in advance to prepare. With 4 new players now, and 2 players who did not play last year, red-shirt freshman Daniel Gomis and transfer Mike Moyer, and the need to adjust to life after Jared Cunningham, who left early for the NBA, the extra practice and game experience couldn't come at a better time.

"As far as our European trip goes, we wanted to do it in a year when we have a lot of incoming players," Robinson said. "The timing works out perfectly. We have 6 guys who are going to get some game experience from this trip, first and foremost. Secondly, with this trip in preparing for these games, you get 10 days of practice. So that's going to be real helpful for this group of newcomers."

Although the Beavers have 4 returning starters, plus forward Joe Burton who has been a starter at times, as well as a couple of others who have spot started, the adjustments to playing without Cunningham and expanding the role of Eric Moreland will still require some time to work through.

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23rd ranked Oregon St. bounced back from a potent second at bat by Portland, and pulled away for a 12-4 win, as the Beavers battered Pilot pitching for a dozen hits, including triples by Kavin Keyes and Dylan Davis that delivered 5 of the runs on 2 swings.

Oregon St. opened a 2-0 lead in the first inning of their last mid-week non-conference game of the season when Max Gordon used a piece of evasive base running to avoid the tag and score on a passed ball, and Michael Conforto scored the first of his 4 runs on the night on Ryan Dunn's RBI single. But Beavers' starter Taylor Starr struggled, and it looked like it would be a long night for Oregon St. when Portland pushed 4 runs across in the 2nd inning.

Starr served up a 1 out walk, and then consecutive singles, followed by a 2 RBI double by Bo Cornish, and also uncorked a wild pitch that allowed the 4th run of the inning, as the Pilots pulled ahead 4-2.

The Beavers quickly erased the deficit with a 5 run second at bat though. With 2 out but 2 on, Portland pitcher Kody Watts intentionally walked Conforto, the conference's RBI leader and home run co-leader, part way thru the at bat. Which didn't directly hurt the Pilots, but the consecutive walks he then issued to Danny Hayes and Dunn did, erasing Portland's lead and ending Watts' abbreviated evening.

J.R. Bunda took over, but after getting ahead of Keyes in the count, Keyes came through with a 3 RBI triple to right, and Oregon St. never looked back.

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Portland (25-18, 12-9) at #23 Oregon State (32-17, 13-11) at 5:35 PM PDT at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field - KEJO 1240 AM & KPOJ 620 AM - Audio & Video Stream on Beaver Nation Online, for a fee

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Its already time for the last mid-week game of the season for Oregon St., and tonight's outing is the third of the year against the Portland Pilots of the West Coast Conference.

The Beavers took 2 of 3 this last weekend at Utah, and have won 3 of their last 5 games, all decided by 1 run, and the last 2 in Salt Lake City in extra innings.

The Pilots, who are in the thick of the WCC race, took the last 2 of their 3 game series against St. Mary's, but are only 1-6 against the Pac-12, with another at Washington tomorrow, and 2 more games left against Oregon next week.

Both teams are still battling for a post season berth, as the Pilots are only 2 games behind San Diego in the WCC race, which any one of 5 teams could still win.

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The tweet from Oregon St. Coach Craig Robinson trickled in on the weekend while I (and a lot of people) were out of town, but its official, 3 star small forward Victor Robbins from Compton High in Compton, CA, is now a Beaver.

Robinson received Robbins' National Letter of Intent late last week, giving Oregon St. 4 signed recruits for this fall.

Robbins is 6'5", and weighs in at 195 lbs.

"He brings a combo of athleticism and (basketball) IQ," Robinson said, "that gives us versatility."

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Oregon St.'s game Saturday against Washington St., which was originally scheduled for an earlier afternoon start, has been rescheduled to 4:30 PM PDT, in order to have the game televised by ROOT Sports Northwest. It's the 4th Oregon St. Saturday Pac-12 game to be televised, with one more to come, in the season ending series against Oregon.

Go Beavers!

Oregon St. stayed at #23 in the BaseballAmerica.com top 25 poll this week, after going 2-2 last week. The Beavers lost to then #9, but now #6, Oregon, and then took 2 of 3 from Utah. All 4 games were decided by 1 run, and the last 2 contests went extra distance. All 4 were road games as well.

The Ducks were the biggest mover amongst the Pac-12 teams in the poll, climbing to their highest ranking ever after taking 2 games from USC on the heels of their win over the Beavers.

UCLA made no headway, staying at #11, despite beating Pepperdine and then sweeping Washington, all on the road. The Bruins continue on what will eventually be a 9 game series of road trips, with a big game a #8 Cal-St. Fullerton on Tuesday, and then 3 in a row at California.

While a mid-week game, the UCLA-Fullerton St. game could wind up being pivotal for possible Super-Regional sighting and seeding for both teams. The Titans took only 2 of 3 against UC-Santa Barbara (remember those are the guys Oregon St. took 3 of 4 from back on opening weekend?), but they were road games for Fullerton.

Its getting very interesting, as RPIs for everyone are being impacted by seemingly every game anyone plays these days.

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After a 34-21 campaign, including going 9-14 in the Pac-12 Conference, the toughest softball circuit in the country, the Oregon St. softball team is 1 of 8 Pac-12 teams headed for the NCAA tournament.

Actually, the Beavers are one of only two "headed" somewhere, along with Stanford, as the conference has 6 teams hosting regionals. Think about that if you need to know anything about how tough the Pac is, where a team that does not even finish in the top half of the conference gets to host a regional. It's why the conference has won 23 of the 30 CWS that have been contested.

The Beavers are headed for Norman, Oklahoma, and the Oklahoma regional, where they will face Tulsa (41-12) Friday at 5 PM CDT (3 PM PDT). The other half of the the regional has Oklahoma (45-8) hosting LeHigh (40-17). It's the first post-season appearance for Oregon St. in 5 years.

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Dan Child and Michael Conforto came through for Oregon St. as the Beavers came from behind to beat Utah 5-4 in 10 innings, which also gave them the series win Sunday in Salt Lake City. It was one of the most competitive series of the Pac-12 season, with all 3 games decided by one run, and 2 in extra innings. It was the 5th consecutive game decided by a single run for Oregon St., who has won 3 of them.

Child went the entire distance, his first complete game outing, and though he allowed 9 hits, he only walked 1 Ute, and struck out 11. Utah also never got a big inning, tallying only once in the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, & 6th innings. As a result, Child improved to 5-3 for the season.

And Conforto was the main reason why. Conforto was 3 of 5 for the day, and 2 of the hits accounted for 3 of Oregon St.'s 5 runs. A 2 run homer to left caped a 3 run third inning, and then in the 9th, a 2 out single scored Ryan Dettman to tie the game.

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#23 Oregon State (31-17, 12-11) at Utah (13-34, 7-19) at Noon MDT (11:00 AM PDT) at Spring Mobile Ball Park in Salt Lake City - KEJO 1240 AM & KPOJ 620 AM - Audio Stream only (No Video) on Beaver Nation Online, for a fee

Gametracker

Oregon St. concludes their first ever trip to Utah with the series on the line, after the Utes pulled out a 4-3 win in the 11th inning Saturday.

The Beavers took a 3-2 lead in the top of the 11th, their third 1 run lead of the day, when Max Gordon singled to score Ryan Dettman, who was running for Danny Hayes. But Oregon St. couldn't capitalize on their opportunity to open any breathing room, leaving the bases loaded.

The Utes didn't squander their chance though. After Tyler Relf and Parker Morin led off with consecutive singles, Oregon St. closer Tony Bryant got a sacrifice out, but then intentionally walked Trey NIelsen to load the bases. But the chance to get a force out never materialized, as Jo Jo Sharrar drove a single to right field to drive in both Relf and Morin, and win the game.

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Oregon St. red-shirt freshman WR Obum Gwacham got the Beavers 3 points at the Pac-12 Track and Field Championship meet being held this weekend at Hayward Field in Eugene. Gwacham placed 6th in the high jump, clearing 7'1 1/2". One of the vagaries of scoring of the high jump has to do with tie-breaking, and it really came into play Saturday, as Gwacham and 4 others all cleared the same height, with only winner Nick Ross from Arizona going higher, winning by clearing 7'2 1/2". Second thru sixth were sorted based on fewest misses, and then fewest misses at the highest height cleared, and so on.

So though Gwacham got over each height up to the elevation that was second best, he had more misses along the way. Gwacham still advanced to the NCAA Regionals, though.

The other members of the Beaver football team out for track were all in sprints, and none advanced to Sunday's finals. Junior WR Marcus Wheaton placed 18th in the 100 meters, with a time of 10.72, the same as freshman WR Brandin Cooks, who finished 19th. The difference was Wheaton's time was actually 10.711, while Cooks clocked at 10.718.

Junior CB Keynan Parker placed 23rd in the field of 27, with a time of 10.86. The winners of the 4 Saturday heats plus the 4 best times from the rest will contest the final today.

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