College World Series: Oregon State captures title

OMAHA, Neb. — Oregon State was an underdog the moment it took the field at the College World Series.

The Pac-10 Beavers didn't come from the right part of the country. They didn't have enough pitching. They couldn't keep fighting off elimination.

Bill Rowe had one parting message for all those who doubted them:

"This is how the ring looks," the senior first baseman said.

Rowe scored the go-ahead run on second baseman Bryan Steed's throwing error in the bottom of the eighth inning, and Oregon State held on to beat North Carolina 3-2 Monday night for its first College World Series title.

The Beavers (50-16) became the first team in CWS history to lose twice in Omaha and win the NCAA Division I national championship.

"I think we came here and a lot of people out there picked us to lose every single game, so thank you for doing that," Oregon State closer Kevin Gunderson said. "It gave us a lot of motivation to go out there and prove those people wrong."

With the score tied at 2 in the eighth, Rowe drew a two-out walk and Tyler Graham blooped a single into left. Tar Heels ace Andrew Miller, the No. 6 overall pick by Detroit in this year's draft, came on in relief of Daniel Bard and got pinch-hitter Ryan Gipson to one-hop a grounder to Steed.

The second baseman, who came in as a defensive replacement in the fifth, threw wide and past first baseman Tim Federowicz for the Tar Heels' fourth error of the game as Rowe slid into home with the go-ahead run.

"There was two outs, so I was just thinking about getting to third and I knew it was going to take either a bad hop or a bad throw to score me on that," Rowe said. "I turned third, looked and saw the ball going toward the dugout, took two hard steps and realized I was going to be able to coast into home."

The Beavers stormed from their dugout and mobbed Rowe as the Tar Heels (54-15) grew silent on the other side of the field.

"I probably got rid of it too quick," Steed said. "It was a little bit up the line. Didn't make the play."

North Carolina put two runners on against Dallas Buck (13-3) with one out in the ninth, but Gunderson got Josh Horton to hit into a fielder's choice, and — with the tying run on third — got slugger Chad Flack to fly out to center to end the game.

Gunderson, who won Game 2 by pitching a season-high 5-1/3 relief innings, threw his glove and hat in the air, and waited as teammates ran to the mound and piled on each other in celebration.

Beavers third baseman Shea McFeely of Federal Way was 2 for 3 and drove in a run. Sophomore catcher Mitch Canham of Lake Stevens was 1 for 4.

McFeely, a senior, was selected to the all-tournament team.

Oregon State pitcher Jonah Nickerson was voted Most Outstanding Player of the CWS. Nickerson, who threw 100 pitches, allowed two unearned runs and six hits in 6-2/3 innings in Game 3.

The victory concluded a remarkable run for the Beavers, who lost their first game in the tournament 11-1 to Miami, but reached the best-of-three championship round with four straight wins. After losing Game 1 to North Carolina, Oregon State pulled out two victories.

"This week in Omaha, the heart and character and fight that this team has — to come through the losers' bracket after getting spanked pretty good last Saturday and beat four great teams in the World Series," Gunderson said. "This team is made up of guys mostly from the Northwest, and I think we proved a lot of people wrong."

The Atlantic Coast Conference Tar Heels had a chance in the eighth when they loaded the bases with one out, but Buck — making his first relief appearance of the season — struck out Seth Williams. Buck got ahead in the count on Benji Johnson. Horton sprinted home from third to try to steal a run, but Johnson swung through a pitch out of the strike zone to end the inning.

"We just took a gamble," North Carolina coach Mike Fox said. "We should have done it the pitch before. Just kind of crazy baseball. Two strikes, I told Josh, 'Duck your head and say a prayer.' If we take that pitch, then we probably have it stolen."

Oregon State scored twice against Bard (9-4) in the fourth, helped by two errors on one play by the pitcher.

"They [the Beavers] were tough," said Fox, fighting back tears. "Obviously, it's a huge disappointment for us."

Washington connections
Oregon State has five players from Washington who played this season (Bret Bochsler of Inglemoor High School, Sean Rockey of Eastlake and Reed Brown of Edmonds-Woodway did not play this year). A look at how each fared during the College World Series:
Pos.	Player	High school	CWS stats
3B	Shea McFeely	Federal Way	9 for 27 (.333), 2 HR, 5 RBI
C	Mitch Canham	Lake Stevens	9 for 27 (.333), 4 RBI
INF	Lonnie Lechelt	Southridge (Kennewick)	Did not play in CWS
OF	Scott Santschi	Skyview (Vancouver)	Four games, 1 for 11
C	Casey Priseman	Woodinville	Did not play in CWS

College World Series championship box score

OREGON STATE 3, NORTH CAROLINA 2

NORTH CAROLINA	AB	R	H	BI
Cavasinni, cf	4	0	3	1
Fronk, dh	3	0	0	0
Shelton, ph	1	0	0	0
Horton, ss	4	0	1	0
Flack, 3b	5	0	1	0
Cox, lf	4	1	1	0
Federowicz, 1b	3	0	0	0
Williams, rf	3	1	1	1
Johnson, c	4	0	1	0
Gore, 2b	1	0	0	0
Spencer, ph	1	0	0	0
Steed, 2b	2	0	0	0
Totals	35	2	8	2

OREGON ST.	AB	R	H	BI
Barney, ss	4	0	1	0
Canham, c	4	0	1	0
Gillespie, lf	3	0	0	0
Rowe, 1b	3	1	0	0
Graham, cf	4	1	2	0
Wallace, rf	2	1	0	0
Gipson, ph	1	0	0	0
Kahalehoe, rf	0	0	0	0
Kunda, 2b	3	0	0	0
McFeely, 3b	3	0	2	1
Lissman, dh	2	0	0	0
Totals	29	3	6	1

E — Johnson (6), Steed (13), Bard 2 (6), Barney (24). DP — Oregon State 1. LOB — North Carolina 7; Oregon State 11. 2B — Williams (12). SB — Barney (16), Canham (11), Graham (11). S — Wallace (6), Kunda (12), Lissman (5).

North Carolina	000 020 000	—	2	8	4
Oregon State	000 200 01x	—	3	6	1

NORTH CAROLINA	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Bard (L, 9-4)	7.2	6	3	1	1	2
Miller	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
Hovis	0.1	0	0	0	0	0

OREGON STATE	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Nickerson	6.2	6	2	0	1	7
Paterson	0.0	0	0	0	1	0
Kunz	0.1	1	0	0	1	0
Buck (W, 13-3)	1.1	1	0	0	2	3
Gunderson	0.2	0	0	0	0	0

HBP — by Bard (Gillespie). Time: 3:09, Att: 18,565