OSU beats Missouri for Casey's 400th win

No. 15 Beavers bounce back after loss to Gonzaga to grab Coca-Cola Classic title

By: The Daily Barometer

Posted: 2/19/07

SURPRISE, Ariz. - Oregon State's Mike Lissman homered, doubled and drove in a pair of runs as the 15th-ranked Beavers beat Missouri 9-2 on Sunday morning for the championship of the Coca-Cola Classic baseball tournament at Surprise Stadium. It was the 400th win at OSU for head coach Pat Casey, who is in his 13th season at Oregon State (9-1 overall).

OSU will spend next weekend at the River City Classic in Davis and Sacramento, Calif. The Beavers open the tournament at California-Davis on Friday at 2 p.m.; the game can be heard on KUIK-AM (1360) in the Portland area and via subscription at www.osubeavers.com.

On Sunday, the Beavers put three runs on the board in the fifth and seventh innings to build a 7-2 lead over Missouri (5-2), a team that had reached the NCAA Super Regionals in 2006. OSU, the defending national champion, saw Joey Wong go 3-for-4 with a double and Jason Ogata go 3-for-4 with three runs batted in.

"We've got a lot of work to do," said Casey, who has a 400-254-4 record at OSU. "We were fortunate that we did some things right and had some big innings, but we've got a lot of work to do offensively. And we have to have some guys get consistent in the positions they're playing. But it was nice, after playing poorly on Friday (in a 6-5 loss to Gonzaga) to come back and beat two good teams (having beaten 14th-ranked Arizona State 12-4 on Saturday). Now we're looking forward to going to practice."

Daniel Turpen pitched into the sixth inning to earn the win for OSU, improving to 2-0 this season. In his five-plus innings, the junior righthander allowed two runs on six hits and three walks while striking out five.

Blake Keitzman picked up his first career save, going the final 3 1/3 innings. The freshman lefthander allowed one hit while walking none and striking out four.

OSU took the lead for good with its three-run fifth inning after Missouri had tied the game 1-1 with a run in the bottom of the fourth. Lissman pulled a run-scoring double down the leftfield line, Wong had a run-scoring bunt single and Darwin Barney drove in another run with a groundout to make it 4-1.

Missouri got back within 4-2 with a run in the bottom of the sixth, but the Beavers again responded in a hurry. Lissman led off the top of the seventh with his second homer of the season, a towering drive over the bullpen behind the leftfield fence. Wong followed with a double just inside first base, then with one out Mitch Canham's fly to left was dropped to put runners at second and third. Ogata then drilled a single up the middle to drive in two runs for a 7-2 lead.

Oregon State got its final runs in the top of the ninth inning on Dale Solomon's pinch-hit two-run double to right-centerfield.

Wong's pair of hits give the freshman second baseman a six-game hitting streak, the longest of the season thus far for Oregon State. Wong was named to the all-tournament team along with Ogata, Canham, infielder Lonnie Lechelt and pitcher Eddie Kunz; Canham was named the Most Valuable Player.

Casey's overall coaching record, which includes seven seasons at George Fox, is now 571-367-5.