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The OSU baseball team travels to Los Angeles, Calif. this weekend for a three-game series against the USC Trojans in their final Pac-10 series of the season, followed by one game at Long Beach State Monday.

USC series to set up postseason

Coach Casey expects strong performance in final Pac-10 series before postseason

By: Kacy Hochstatter

Posted: 5/16/08

With seven games remaining in the regular season, it is crunch time for the Oregon State baseball team.

The Beavers (25-20, 11-10) travel to Southern California to face the Trojans in what will be the final conference series of the season, followed by a one-game stop at Long Beach State on Monday.

The Beavers are cutting it close as far as their postseason hopes are concerned, and they still have some work to do against a traditional national powerhouse if they want to guarantee themselves a spot in the field of 64.

Although Oregon State's record is nothing spectacular, the Beavers have played an extremely difficult schedule this season and that has given them a solid RPI of 36 headed into the final two weeks.

"It's gonna be huge going down to [Southern California]," Daniel Robertson said. "It's gonna be a huge series, and we're gonna need that momentum going down there. If we pull two out of three, or get something going down there, we can take that right into the regionals."

Gaining momentum at the end of the season has been the pattern of Oregon State baseball over the past few years, and coach Pat Casey preaches that it is more important for the team to play well down the stretch than it is to hit their stride too early.

Because of their up-and-down play throughout the season, it is hard for anyone to gauge whether the Beavers are getting on track or taking steps backwards. One thing is for sure: the team still has room for improvement, especially if it is to compete for another College World Series bid.

Southern Cal (24-26, 7-11) will be a big test on the road for this young team, and with the Trojans still hanging on to slim postseason hopes of their own, it will be a critical series for both teams.

The Trojans have some tough bats in their lineup that the Beavers will have to deal with and none are tougher than shortstop Grant Green. The sophomore is batting .392 with eight home runs and 42 RBIs. Green also leads the team in hits (71), on-base percentage (.443) and slugging percentage (.657). Three Trojans are batting .349 or better, and six players have at least four home runs on the season.

USC also has one of the better starting pitchers in the conference, and Oregon State will see him in game one of the series. Lefthander Tommy Millone is 5-5 on the season with a 3.01 ERA and 83 strikeouts in 80.2 innings pitched. Opposing batters hit only .244 against him, and he has good control, allowing only 18 walks in his 80-plus innings of work.

The Beavers will have their work cut out for them, and getting at least one win is a must if the team is going to hold its spot in the postseason.

The team has its sights set on winning the series and finishing the regular season strong. Last year that was ultimately what fueled the Beavers' run toward their second consecutive national championship. With a little luck, maybe that could happen again.

"It's a huge series," Blake Keitzman said. "If we do make a regional… we want momentum going in, so our ultimate goal is just to go in there and take all three [games]."

Friday's game starts at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on the Beaver Sports Network. Saturday's game starts at 1:30 p.m., and Sunday's starts at 1 p.m.

Kacy Hochstatter, sports writer

sports@dailybarometer.com