SPORTS
Saturday, July 1, 2017
East Oregonian
Page 3B
College Baseball
Sour end doesn’t devalue Beavers’ remarkable season
Oregon State’s
KJ Harrison,
right, cele-
brates his
grand slam
with Steven
Kwan (4), Mi-
chael Gretler
(10) and Jack
Anderson (29)
in the sixth
inning of an
NCAA College
World Series
baseball game
against LSU
in Omaha,
Neb., Mon-
day, June 19,
2017. Harrison,
Kwan, Gretler
and Trevor La-
mach, unseen,
scored on the
play.
By BOB LUNDEBERG
Gazette-Times
CORVALLIS (AP) — While
falling three wins shy of the
ultimate goal, it’s hard to contend
the Oregon State baseball team’s
redemption tour was anything but
fruitful.
Last May’s bitter NCAA
tournament snub triggered a
record-shattering regular season
that set the stage for the program’s
first College World Series appear-
ance since 2013. After starting 2-0
at TD Ameritrade Park, a pair of
losses to LSU abruptly ended the
extraordinary run.
The Beavers finished 56-6
overall, matching Texas’ 1975
team for the fourth-best winning
percentage of the CWS era (1950-
present) at .903. OSU’s 49 regu-
lar-season and 56 overall victories
are both school records.
“It’s hard to explain,” outfielder
Jack Anderson said in a phone
interview Wednesday morning.
“There was just a lot of trust within
our team, within our players and
within our coaches that we could
win every day. As the season went
on and we kept winning, it just
became what we expected.”
OSU compiled two separate
23-game winning streaks and
went 15-0 in March and May. The
Beavers finished 27-3 in Pac-12
play, the best mark in conference
history.
The team’s only two-game skid
occurred at the CWS.
“You come back and lose in
the World Series, there’s a lot of
pain with that and a lot of disap-
pointment with that and it’s hard
to reflect on the season,” coach Pat
Casey said. “It’s just really impres-
sive what these guys accomplished.
I know how much it hurt them to
lose and I want them to understand
what an unbelievable run they had.
And they will appreciate that.”
Pitching and defense paved
the way for the Beavers, who led
Division I in team ERA (1.93), hits
allowed per nine innings (6.27),
shutouts (14) and WHIP (0.98).
Sophomore second baseman
Nick Madrigal won Pac-12 player
and defensive player of the year
AP Photo/Nati Harnik
while junior left-hander Luke
Heimlich was voted the confer-
ence’s pitcher of the year. Seven
different Beavers (Jake Mulhol-
land, Max Engelbrekt, Brandon
Eisert, Drew Rasmussen, Mitchell
Verburg, Grant Gambrell and Mitch
Hickey) recorded at least one save.
“It was a tremendous effort by
all the guys that toted the rubber
at one point,” pitching coach Nate
Yeskie said. “Nobody was selfish
in the sense of what they wanted
to accomplish. They put their egos
aside for wanting to be a Friday
night guy or wanting to be a closer.
There was a genuine desire to want
to win together.
“I think the bonds that are built
at this level, in the college game,
are pretty special and pretty unique,
and I think this group certainly
personifies that.”
OSU opened the season 28-1,
including conference sweeps of
Arizona State, Arizona, Stanford
and Utah.
Arizona, last year’s CWS
runner-up, entered the series ranked
seventh in D1Baseball.com’s top
25 while the Cardinal checked in at
11th. The Utes were the defending
Pac-12 champions.
OSU got off to a similar start
in 2016, winning 16 of its first
18 before losing Rasmussen in a
sweep at California. The Beavers
never fully recovered and missed
the postseason for the first time
since 2008.
“So we were trying not to get
too high on ourselves because of
how it ended the year before,”
Anderson said. “But with how we
went through the first three series
in the (Pac-12), that showed us that
we can really do some damage and
make a run at this.”
The Beavers dominated their
first conference set, outscoring
ASU 16-1 in the desert. Trailing
late in its first two matchups with
Arizona, OSU fought back for a
pair of walk-off victories to seize
control of the Pac-12 race.
Two more walk-offs against
Utah helped push the winning
streak to 23.
OSU began its second 23-game
march in late April and clinched
the outright conference title May
12 at Oregon. It was also Casey’s
1,000th career victory.
After earning the No. 1 national
seed and breezing through the
Corvallis Regional, the Beavers sat
52-4 entering their super regional
matchup with Vanderbilt. But a
firestorm was about to hit.
The morning before the
Corvallis Super Regional opener,
The Oregonian released a report
detailing Heimlich’s juvenile
record. Heimlich, owner of the
country’s lowest ERA, requested
to be excused from playing the
following day.
Casey said it was among the
most challenging developments of
his coaching career.
“I have never been through
something like that,” said Casey,
who just completed his 23rd season
at OSU. “I’ve been in some tough
situations, but I’ve never seen
anything taken to that level.”
The Beavers responded like
champions, blitzing Vanderbilt in
consecutive games to reach the
CWS for the sixth time in program
history.
Jake Thompson was effective
in Game 1 while Bryce Fehmel
outdueled Kyle Wright, who was
later taken fifth overall in the Major
League Baseball First-Year Player
Draft, in the finale.
“I think we were just able to
trust each other and love each
other through it,” Anderson said.
“Adversity is a thing a lot of teams
go through and we were kind of
able to love each other through it
all.”
OSU defeated Cal State
Fullerton (6-5) and LSU (13-1) in
Omaha before things fell apart. The
Beavers were just 5 for 59 at the
plate (.085) in the losses.
Florida went on to sweep its
SEC rival in the best-of-3 champi-
onship series.
“I always say there are 1,000
trails, but there is only one
summit,” Casey said. “Only one
team can stand there and it wasn’t
us this year. I feel for the guys
because they haven’t had a chance
to sit back and enjoy the year, but
that bond will be for a lifetime.”
Most of the team will be back
when the Beavers embark on
another national title chase next
February.
Rasmussen (31st overall, Tampa
Bay Rays), infielder/catcher KJ
Harrison (third round, Milwaukee
Brewers), Thompson (fourth
round, Boston Red Sox), infielder
Michael Gretler (39th round, Pitts-
burgh Pirates) and Engelbrekt (40th
round, Washington Nationals) were
the Beavers’ draftees. Only Engel-
brekt is out of eligibility.
“I think everyone understands
what it takes and we now have
that experience under our belts,”
Anderson said. “The biggest thing
is coming back next year with that
same fire.
“As a team, the motivation will
really be there to get to that next
step. It’s going to be a cool year;
I know a lot of guys are already
looking forward to it.”
NASCAR
NBA
Earnhardt Jr. lands pole for what
could be Cup finale at Daytona
Pacers trade all-star forward Paul
George to Thunder
By MARK LONG
AP Sports Writer
By JON KRAWCZYNSKI
AP Basketball Writer
DAYTONA
BEACH,
Fla. — The chances are
dwindling for Dale Earnhardt
Jr. this season, the final shot
for NASCAR’s most popular
driver to win a coveted Cup
title.
First he has to make the
playoffs, and his best oppor-
tunity at one of those 16
slots is a win Saturday night
at Daytona International
Speedway.
Earnhardt will start from
the pole, the first time in
nearly four years that his No.
88 Chevrolet will lead the
field to the green flag. Next to
him will be Chase Elliott, his
Hendrick Motorsports team-
mate who has made clear that
he’ll pass Earnhardt to win at
Daytona even though Earn-
hardt is scheduled to retire at
the end of the year.
“We are running out of
time, and I am aware of
that,” said Earnhardt, who is
winless this season and ranks
22nd in points, well out of the
playoff picture. “Yeah, this
is probably our best shot to
win, but we can win at other
race tracks. We’ve got that
ability to do that. It’s been a
very frustrating, tough year
statistically.”
In winning his first pole
since September 2013, Earn-
hardt is now eligible to run a
preseason race next February
at Daytona.
“I’ll talk to my boss and
see what he has in the shed,”
Earnhardt quipped.
Earnhardt is on a farewell
tour and admittedly afraid to
miss a moment in his final,
full-time season. He’s feeling
nostalgic — even though
he’s made clear he’ll race
a handful of Xfinity Series
events in 2018 — and in two
insightful visits to the media
center Friday, he touched
on his favorite Daytona
memories. He recalled eating
fried chicken at a post-race
picnic to celebrate Richard
Petty’s 200th victory, which
came with President Ronald
Reagan on hand. There was
the 1999 IROC race at Mich-
igan in which Rusty Wallace
inexplicably helped rival
Dale Earnhardt Sr. instead of
Paul George has a
new home, and Russell
Westbrook has a new star
teammate.
The Indiana Pacers have
agreed to trade George to
the Oklahoma City Thunder
for Victor Oladipo and
Domantas Sabonis, said
two people with knowledge
of the details. The stunning
deal gives Westbrook,
the newly crowned NBA
MVP, some serious help
next season and makes the
already rugged Western
Conference even more
daunting.
The two teams came
together on the trade Friday
just hours before the free
agent market was set to
open. It is not expected
to be finalized until the
moratorium ends, but that
didn’t stop the rest of the
league from reacting about
the newest dynamic duo to
form.
The
entire
league
expected George to be on
the move after he informed
the Pacers of his plans to
leave as a free agent next
summer. That forced Kevin
Pritchard, who was recently
elevated to take over basket-
ball operations after Larry
Bird’s abrupt resignation,
to find a trade before losing
him for nothing. Pritchard
called George’s decision
“a gut punch,” but didn’t
panic. He resisted offers
on draft night, when many
analysts said he would get
the best package, and waited
AP Photo/John Raoux
Dale Earnhardt Jr. completes a lap during a NASCAR
cup practice at Daytona International Speedway,
Thursday, June 29, 2017, in Daytona Beach, Fla.
pushing Junior to the win.
He recalled spending
Speedweeks as a kid in
beachside hotels. “You’d
have drivers in the pool after
practice,” he said. “That was
cool for those guys to be able
to do that.”
Elliott welcomed being
the bad guy Saturday night,
if he can. But he also said
Earnhardt has a different
edge this week.
“I won’t say he has a chip
on his shoulder, but I do
think he has been very, very
determined this weekend on
making sure his car is driving
exactly like he wants it,”
Elliott said. “He doesn’t want
it good. He doesn’t want it
great. He wants it perfect, and
I think he has made that very
apparent in our post-practice
meetings.
“Yes, I think he is very
determined to run well here.”
Earnhardt was the final
driver to qualify and bumped
Elliott to second. It was
a strong day overall for
Hendrick, with Kasey Kahne
qualifying fourth. Wedged
between the top Hendrick
cars was Brad Keselowski,
who qualified his Ford third
for Team Penske.
All the attention, though,
was on Earnhardt. No
surprise for NASCAR’s
favorite son, especially this
weekend.
Although
Earnhardt
expects to race at Daytona
in the future, his trip to
NASCAR’s birthplace is
being treated like a career
finale.
The track developed a
“Daletona” mosaic in the
stadium’s Axalta Injector that
allows fans to create a piece
of artwork to commemorate
what could be Earnhardt’s
final start at Daytona. Offi-
cials also presented Junior
with a painting featuring three
of his most memorable wins
at the superspeedway: His
July 2001 victory that came 4
1/2 months after his father’s
fatal crash in the Daytona
500; his July 2010 win in the
second-tier series in which he
drove a No. 3 Chevrolet with
a throwback paint scheme;
and his February 2014 win in
“The Great American Race.”
“A lot of great things have
happened here,” he said. “A
lot of drivers have made their
careers here. It is something
to be proud of if you are in
the industry. It is a pretty fun
race track.”
He hasn’t gotten too
emotional yet. But he expects
the weight of walking
away to hit him during the
finale at Homestead-Miami
Speedway in November.
“I’m not having any
anxiety about the end
coming,” he said. “I feel
pretty good about that. I feel
pretty good about my deci-
sion. I haven’t had any second
guesses or regrets about that.
So, I don’t believe I will have
any anxiety as it starts to get
closer to Homestead. I just
don’t want to miss anything. I
don’t want to miss a moment
that I should take in. I don’t
want to miss opportunity to
let people know how much
they mean to me, everybody
in the industry means to me.”
until just
before the
free agent
market’s
opening
bell.
Paul
George
traded?
George
N
o
surprise.
To the Thunder to team
up with Westbrook? That
was a stunner.
The trade was first
reported by ESPN.
George could have been
in line for the so-called
“Supermax” extension — a
five-year pact worth about
$205 million — with Indiana
this summer, had he been
voted onto the All-NBA
team this offseason.
He wasn’t, though if he
is an All-NBA player next
season — which is certainly
possible with the numbers
he could post playing along-
side Westbrook — George
would be eligible for a huge
payday again. And the irony
there is that if he is set on
joining the Los Angeles
Lakers in 2018, as has been
reported for some time,
George would miss out on
that massive extra windfall.
George is the second
Eastern Conference All-Star
from this past season to
join the already-loaded
Western Conference in the
last few days. Jimmy Butler
was traded by Chicago to
Minnesota on draft night.
But the West just keeps
getting tougher and tougher.
The Wolves grabbed Butler,
the Houston Rockets traded
for Chris Paul to pair with
James Harden and the
Warriors locked up two
vital championship pieces
in Steph Curry and Shaun
Livingston just after the
market opened Saturday.
Thunder GM Sam
Presti then went all-in in a
manner he has yet to do in
Oklahoma City, putting two
of the league’s best athletes
together to make a run at
Golden State. George’s
defensive versatility and
shot-making
alongside
Westbrook’s explosiveness
and competitive intensity
creates an imposing tandem.
George broke his left
leg in a gruesome scene
while playing with USA
Basketball in Las Vegas in
2014, which prompted fears
he would never be the same.
Those fears were most
unfounded, since George
has better than ever in the
last two seasons — aver-
aging 23.1 points and 7.0
rebounds in 2015-16, and
following that up with aver-
ages of 23.7 points and 6.6
rebounds this past season.
Indiana will be Oladipo’s
third team, after starting
his career in Orlando and
spending last season in
Oklahoma City. He’s aver-
aged 15.9 points per game
in his four pro seasons, on
43 percent shooting and
returns to the state where
he starred in college for the
Hoosiers.
Sabonis started 66 games
as a rookie last season with
the Thunder, averaging 5.9
points.
BRIEFLY
Lingmerth leads
at PGA Quicken
Loans National
POTOMAC, Md.
(AP) — David Lingmerth
knows he won’t have to
shoot 20-under par for
the week to win at tricky
TPC Potomac. After two
near-flawless rounds in the
Quicken Loans National,
he was halfway there.
The 29-year-old Swede
shot his second straight
34 straight holes without a
5-under 65 on Friday to
bogey and he finished his
extend his lead to two
round with a birdie from
shots over Geoff Ogilvy.
7 feet.
Ogilvy played in the first
Daniel Summerhays
group off the 10th tee and
shot 68 and was alone in
also shot 65.
third, four shots back.
Lingmerth won a Web.
com Tour event on the
Sale In Progress
punishing Washington-
area layout in 2012. On
Saager’s Shoe Shop
Friday, he used his reliable
fade off the tee to avoid
trouble and set up birdie
Milton-Freewater, OR
opportunities. He’s gone
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