The Oregon State Beavers is a name shared by all sports teams at Oregon State University, which is located in Corvallis, Oregon in the United States. The Beavers are part of the Pacific 10 (Pac-10) conference. Their mascot is Benny Beaver. Both the men's and women's teams share the name, competing in 7 NCAA Division I-A men's sports and 10 NCAA Division I-A women's sports respectively.

The primary rivals of the Beavers are the Oregon Ducks of the University of Oregon, located a mere 45 miles (75 km) to the south. The football rivalry between the Beavers and Ducks, known as the Civil War, is one of the longest-running in the country, having been contested 109 times as of June 2006.

As of June 2006, the Beavers have won two NCAA team national championships and one pre-NCAA team national championship. The 1961 men's Cross-Country team won the NCAA title, the 1926 wrestling team won the Amateur Athletic Association national championship, and the 2006 baseball team was the first team in College World Series history to win the national championship after having lost two games in the tournament. Other notable performances include the 1940 men's basketball team placing 2nd in the NCAA finals, the 2000 football team trouncing Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl (and finishing the season ranked #4 in the polls), and several individual NCAA champions in gymnastics and track & field.

Men's Sports

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Baseball

The Oregon State University baseball program was established in 1907. It has since seen dozens of players go on to play in the minor leagues and more than 15 go on to play in the MLB, including "Psycho" Steve Lyons and pitching All-Star Ken Forsch. The baseball team has won its conference championship 22 times and has made it to the College World Series 3 times, first in 1952 and more recently in 2005 and 2006. The team is led by head coach Pat Casey, and they play at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field.

The baseball team has recently established itself as a national contender by being the only team in the nation to reach the College World Series in both 2005 and 2006, winning the Pac-10 championship both years in the process. They were also the only 2005 College World Series team to make it to the 2006 Super Regionals. In the 2006 season, the Beavers swept the Corvallis Regional and Super Regional, culminating with a convincing 15-0 victory over Stanford. It was the largest margin of loss in the history of Stanford postseason play and the first time the team had been held scoreless in postseason play since 1992. The 2006 season also saw a school record nine players drafted in the MLB Draft. The Beavers were ranked #3 in the nation in the 2006 Collegiate Baseball preseason poll and remained in the top 10 in the coaches' poll most of the season.

In the 2006 College World Series, a double-elimination tournament, the Beavers dropped their first game, an 11-1 drubbing at the hands of Miami, which dropped the Beavers into the loser's bracket. They rebounded in their next game, defeating Georgia, and then got revenge on Miami (who was defeated by Rice), knocking the Hurricanes out of the tournament with an 8-1 victory. This set up a two-game series with #1 Rice, who emerged from the winner's bracket. The Beavers needed to win both games to advance. They did, holding Rice scoreless both games to record the first back-to-back shutouts in the College World Series since 1992. The Beavers advanced to the three-game championship series against North Carolina, which started on June 24, 2006. After losing the first game, Oregon State fell behind 5-0 after three innings of Game 2. They proceeded to light up Carolina's normally strong pitching for seven runs in the fourth and added four more in the sixth to cruise to an 11-7 win. They went on to a 3-2 win in Game 3 to secure their first baseball national championship.

The baseball team's all-time record is 1,875-1,267-15 (822-603 conference) through the 2006 season.

Basketball

The men's basketball team has had famous players come out of the program, including 9-time NBA All-Star Gary Payton and "Iron Man" A.C. Green. The Beavers also have the 13th most amount of wins of any program in the nation. They have participated in the NCAA Tournament 16 times, making it to the Final Four twice.

Football

The football program has been a part of Oregon State University since 1893, working as a platform for over a hundred players to enter the NFL, such as Heisman Trophy winner Terry Baker and Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson. They have won their conference championship 5 times. The football team has enjoyed a huge surge in popularity since the 2000-01 season, where they went 11-1 and dominated Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl, 41-9. They have made it to a bowl game every season since 1999, except in 2001 and 2005 where, both years, they were one win short of being bowl-elligible. Since 2000, the number of All-Americans and players declaring for the NFL draft has also surged. In 2005, Beavers wide receiver Mike Hass was awarded the Fred Biletnikoff Award for being recognized as the best wide receiver in the nation, and placekicker Alexis Serna was awarded the Lou Groza Award for being recognized as the best kicker in the nation.

The football team also holds the record for beating the biggest point spread in the history of the NCAA. On October 19, 1985, the Beavers were set to play against the Pac-10 leading Washington Huskies in Seattle. The point spread had been set at 38 in favor of Washington, and Oregon State was forced to play with a backup quarterback as starter Erik Wilhelm was sidelined with an injury. Oregon State managed what is considered the biggest upset in the history of the program, and perhaps the NCAA, when they beat Washington 21-20 with a last minute touchdown.

Golf

The golf teams practices at Oregon State's own Trysting Tree Golf Club, a nationally recognized course that has held numerous tournaments.

Rowing

Soccer

Wrestling

Traditionally, the Oregon State wrestling team has been a national powerhouse, winning their conference championship 44 times and finishing in the NCAA top ten 18 times. They have 12 individual NCAA champion titles, and have 81 All-American titles. Pre-NCAA in 1926, OSU won the Amateur Athletic Association team national championship. Dale Thomas, Oregon State coach from 1957-1990 and National Wrestling Hall of Fame member, holds the NCAA record for most dual meet wins in a coaching career at 616. Additionally, seven OSU alumni have gone on to represent the United States in the Olympics, including in 1924 where Oregon State alumni won both the gold and silver medals in the same weight class. Only 5 of Oregon State's 84 seasons have resulted in a losing record. Oregon State's all-time dual meet record (1909-2006) is 895-286-26 , ranked 3rd in the NCAA for most all-time wins. With the retiring after the 2005-06 season of one of OSU's most successful coaches, Joe Wells, National Wrestling Hall of Fame member Jim Zalesky was named head coach.

Women's Sports

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Basketball

The women's basketball team finished the 2006 season with a 16-15 record, making a postseason appearance in the WNIT tournament.

Cross Country

Golf

Gymnastics

The women's gymnastics team is historically known as one of the best teams in the country. They were ranked #13 in the nation in the 2006 Preseason Coaches’ Poll , and had one of the strongest schedules in the nation. The beavers came in second all-around at the 2006 NCAA West Regional, qualifying for the NCAA Championships hosted on their home turf at Oregon State.

Rowing

Soccer

Softball

The women's softball team were co-champions for the Pac-10 title in 2005, ending the season with a 43-16 record. They have made NCAA regional tournament appearances eight years in a row, including the 2006 season where they made it to the Women's College World Series for the first time in program history. They were ranked #12 in the nation in the 2006 ESPN.com/USA Softball Preseason Top 25 Collegiate Poll. They had a 28 game winning streak in the 2006 season, the longest win streak the NCAA had seen since 2002 and the longest in the history of the program at Oregon State. The 28-game streak ranks 16th(t) all-time in the NCAA Division I record book for longest win streak, and the Beavers are one of just 11 teams in NCAA history to win 28 straight games.

Swimming

The women's swimming team finished 31st in the NCAA champonships for the 2006 season. As of 2006, there have been a total of 5 women's NCAA All-American swimmers since the sport was added at Oregon State.

Track and Field

Oregon State track and field was cut in 1988, but began a comeback in 2004 with the return of a women's distance program, led by Kelly Sullivan, the former coach of Willamette University. The Beavers compete largely in smaller, Division 3 meets, but have enjoyed some success in the PAC-10, including a ninth-place finish by Ashley Younce in the 2006 Western Regional meet. Men's track and field is confined to the club level.

Volleyball

References

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External links

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• Official site of Oregon State athletics
• AP poll history of Oregon State men's basketball
• Building the Dam :: An Unoffical Oregon State Beavers Blog

Oregon State Beavers athletics | Pacific Ten Conference | Sports in Oregon

Oregon State Beavers