BEAVERS INSIDER
OSU baseball program recognized among nation's best
Gary Horowitz
CORVALLIS – The Oregon State baseball program is considered among the best in the nation.
With back-to-back national championships in 2006-07, and four appearances at the College World Series in Omaha in the past decade, OSU is consistently among the premier baseball teams in the nation.
The Beavers have been rated as the No. 8 program in the nation by D1Baseball.com in a ranking of the top 100 programs, which is not intended to be a prediction for the 2016 season.
The ranking is based on several factors, including overall health of the program, recent history, coaching staff, facilities and player development.
Pat Casey, who is in his 22nd season as head coach, had led the Beavers to seven consecutive postseason appearances.
"The Beavers have materialized into one of the real monster programs during the Pat Casey era," Kendall Rogers of D1 wrote.
The 2016 squad should contend for top honors in the Pac-12 once again led by sophomore first baseman KJ Harrison, the Pac-12 freshman of the year last season, and pitcher Drew Rasmussen. Both players were all-Pac-12 selections in 2015.
Three former Beavers – outfielder Michael Conforto (New York Mets), and pitchers Matt Boyd (Detroit Tigers) and Jose Osich (San Francisco Giants) made their major league debuts this season.
New York Yankees outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, an all-American at OSU in 2005, finished runnerup in the American League MVP voting in 2011. He played on World Series championship teams in 2007 and 2013 with the Boston Red Sox.