July 2, 2012
Complete Season In Review (.pdf)
Beavers On The Year
Oregon State finished the 2012 season with a 40-20 record, reaching the 40-win plateau for the fifth time in school history and second consecutive season. OSU advanced to its fourth consecutive postseason - a program record. The club finished in a tie for fourth in the Pac-12 Conference with an 18-12 record, two games behind league co-leaders Arizona and UCLA.
18 In Pac-12 Play
The Beavers won 18 games in Pac-12 Conference play, one shy of the program's single-season record for league wins in 2005. That season, of course, came when the then-Pac-10 had a 24-game schedule. OSU's 18 win season gave the Beavers 35 conference victories over the last two seasons. That ties the 2005 and 2006 (16 wins) teams for the most league wins over a two-year stretch.
Casey Is New Leader
Pat Casey surpassed Jack Riley (1973-94) as the program's all-time leader in victories. Casey and the Beavers defeated Oregon, 7-3, on May 25 to give Casey his 614th victory at the time. Casey is currently ranked 13th in Pac-12 Conference history for wins and will enter the 2013 season with 618 in his 18 seasons at Oregon State.
Postseason Play Again
Oregon State's trip to the Baton Rouge Regional was the club's fourth consecutive postseason appearance, surpassing the 2005-2007 clubs for the best stretch in school history. The Beavers went 2-2, meeting LSU, Belmont and Louisiana-Monroe all for the first time. Oregon State improved to 40-26 (.606) all-time in 13 postseason appearances and has a 23-17 (.575) record in NCAA Regional games.
Golden Against Pac-12 Hosts
The Pac-12 had four teams - Arizona, Stanford, Oregon and UCLA - that hoste an NCAA Regional in 2012. The Beavers went 9-5 against such clubs, sweeping Oregon (and 4-1 overall) and going 2-1 against both Stanford and UCLA. Arizona won the series between the clubs, 2-1.
Against The Field
The Beavers played a bulk of their games against postseason clubs during Pac-12 play as the league continued to be one of the strongest in the country. Overall, the Beavers went 10-5 against NCAA tournament clubs during the regular season, also defeating Oklahoma, 11-7, at Goss Stadium after finding themselves down 7-0 after two innings.
That's A Lot Of One-Run Games
It would be fitting that the Beavers' season-ending loss, coming 6-5 in 10 innings at LSU, would be a one-run game. Nearly one-third of the team's games this season were decided by one run and OSU went 10-9 in those games. That comes one year after Oregon State was 4-7. Five of the Beavers' 12 losses in Pac-12 in 2012 play came by just one run. On the other hand, the Beavers won six league games by one run.
Score Runs, Win Games ... Limit Runs, Win Games
There are undeniable truths in baseball and some state that when you score a lot of runs, you win games. When you limit what opponents do, you win games. For the Beavers in 2012, both held true. Oregon State was 27-0 when six or more runs in a game in 2012. Conversely, the Beavers were 18-0 when holding opponents to two runs or less. OSU was 1-12 when scoring two runs or less - the lone win was in the postseason against Belmont - while the Beavers were 6-11 when an opponent scored six or more.
Strong Staff
A starting pitcher gets credited for a qualitry start when throwing at least six innings and allowing three earned runs or less. The OSU starting staff accounted for 29 quality starts in 2012, and the Beavers went 22-7 when that happened. Seventeen of the 29 quality starts came at Goss Stadium. The trio of Ben Wetzler, Jace Fry and Dan Child combined for 26 of the 29 quality starts, with 18 coming in league play.
Excellent April
The Beavers went 12-6 in the month of April, posting a batting average of .266 when an earned run average of 3.00. OSU has combined to go 26-8 in April the last two years and has had winning Aprils in 13 of Pat Casey's 18 seasons as head coach.
Staying At An Average Of 40
Oregon State's 40 wins in 2012 gave the club 323 over the last eight seasons, which is still second to Arizona State, which finished with 36 wins and has 359 since 2005. The Beavers did move into a tie for the Pac-12 lead with seven postseason appearances in the past eight seasons; Arizona, Stanford and UCLA are all third with six. Oregon State is also averaging just shy of 15 league wins over that same stretch, seocnd to Arizona State, which is at 17 1/2 a year.
Road Warriers
Oregon State played 36 of the team's 60 games away from Goss Stadium in 2012 and ammassed a 22-14 record in such games. The Beavers have become accustomed to hitting the road, and are 318-261-4 (.549) in road and neutral-site games in 18 seasons under head coach Pat Casey. That's an average of nearly 18 wins a year away from Goss Stadium.
Mr. Award Winner
Michael Conforto had a simply outstanding freshman campaign in 2012 and was rightly recognized for his efforts. He was named a second-team All-American by Baseball America, the National College Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA). The NCBWA also named him the national Freshman Hitter of the Year, as did Louisville Slugger. The Pac-12 Conference's coaches named him the league's Freshman of the Year. His first honor of the year was as a member of the Baton Rouge Regional All-Tournament Team.
More On Conforto
So what exactly did Michael Conforto achieve during the 2012 season? The freshman had arguably the best offensive season in OSU history. He set the school record with 76 runs batted in, breaking Joe Gerber's previous record of 67 in 2000. He hit 13 home runs, good for fourth in a season at OSU, while also batting .349. He one of just two players in the Pac-12 to rank in the top 10 in batting average, home runs and RBI.
Fry Had An Outstanding Freshman Campaign, Too
Jace Fry was named a Freshman All-American by Louisville Slugger as well and deservedly so after leading the Beavers with a 2.45 earned run average. The left-hander went 5-3 in 88 1/3 innings. Opponents batted just .215 against him and he allowed a total of seven extra-base hits; his five doubles allowed were the least amongst qualified Pac-12 pitchers.
Dan Child With Solid Sophomore Campaign
Dan Child went 6-4 and posted a 2.95 earned run average, leading the Beavers with 106 2/3 innings pitched. He finished with 10 of the Beavers' 29 quality starts and is one of two Beavers - along with Michael Conforto - to represent the club on the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team.
All He Does Is Hit
Tyler Smith finished with a .343 batting average, second only to Michael Conforto's .349. Smith came into the season with a .236 career average and upped that to .284 after his outstanding junior campaign. He picked up his first All-Pac-12 First Team selection in 2012.
Matt Boyd Breaks In
Matt Boyd posted a 4-0 record and 3.41 earned run average in a team-leading 31 appearances in 2012. He now has a career ERA of 2.22, which ranks him fifth in Oregon State history (of pitchers with 120 or more innings). He is the first Beaver to break into the top 10 since Scott Anderson ended his OSU career with a 2.15 ERA in 1984.
Three More Draft Choices
The Beavers saw three players selected by MLB clubs - Matt Boyd, Ryan Dunn and Ryan Gorton - giving the team at least one every year dating back to 1993. All three had never been drafted prior to the selection; OSU head coach Pat Casey has had at least three players improve their draft stock every year dating back to 2004.
Walk This Way
The Beavers led the Pac-12 with 263 walks this season, marking their second consecutive year atop the list after leading the league with 258 in 2011. Since the Pac-12 unified in 1999, only Oregon State and Arizona State have led the league in walks. OSU has led the league four times while the Sun Devils have been atop the list 10 times.
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