Beavers' Gillespie, Buck Earn All-America Honors

(CORVALLIS) - Oregon State outfielder Cole Gillespie earned first-team honors and starting pitcher Dallas Buck was a second-team pick when the Louisville Slugger NCAA Division I All-American baseball was announced Friday by "Collegiate Baseball" newspaper.

The 17-man first team, chosen by performances up to regional playoffs and picked by the staff of "Collegiate Baseball" newspaper, features 10 conference players or pitchers of the year, including Pac-10 Player of the Year Gillespie.

Gillespie (West Linn, Ore./West Linn HS), a junior, finished the regular season batting .370 with 11 home runs, three triples, 20 doubles, 50 runs batted in, and a school-record 69 runs scored. Buck (Newberg, Ore./Newberg HS), a junior righthander, concluded the regular season with an 11-2 record and a 2.92 earned run average; opponents are batting just .199 against him.

Civil War Moves to Friday

(CORVALLIS) - The 110th Civil War, sponsored by the Northwest Dodge Dealers, will be played Friay, Nov. 24th at 12:30 PM and will air live over FSN to a national audience. The game will be played at Reser Stadium in Corvallis.

“We are cognizant of the difficulty some fans may have with a Friday game,“ Oregon State University Director of Athletics Bob De Carolis said. “

But, in the overall picture, the exposure for the state and the two institutions could not be overlooked. We also explored playing at night, but that was a concern due to weather and the stress that puts on our fans traveling great distances.“

Western Oregon MVP`s Will be Honored at Saturday`s Wolfpack Auction

The event, held at Salem’s Mission Mill, will begin at 5:00 PM.

(MONMOUTH) - Four Western Oregon University athletes will be honored as the Athlete of the Year of their sport on Saturday night at the Wolfpack Auction.

The awards were selected by the coaching staffs of each sport. Each student-athlete`s name will be placed on a perpetual plaque that will be on display in the PE Building.

Bridget Johnson and Anthony Marin will be honored as WOU`s track and field MVP`s, while Nick Waechter is the baseball selection and Lydia Foster is the Athlete of the Year in softball.

Stampede in Bay Area For Three Game Road Trip

(SALEM) - The Salem Stampede (8-7) are traveling to the California Bay area this weekend. First up are the Tri City Ballers (7-4) on Friday.

The Stampede then take on the Oakland Slammers (8-6) on Saturday.

And finish their road trip against the Chico Force (7-6) on Sunday.

Stampede center Eric Fiegi leads the IBL in scoring with 33.7 points per game average.

No. 7 Seeded OSU Drops Opening Game of Women's College Series in 9th Inning by a 3-2 Score to No

(OKLAHOMA CITY) - The No. 7 seeded Oregon State Beavers suffered a heart-breaking 3-2 loss in the ninth inning against No. 2 seeded University of Arizona on Thursday afternoon in the opening game of the 2006 NCAA Women`s College World Series.

Making their first ever appearance in the WCWS, the Beavers (43-15) suffered their eighth loss of the season by a single run as Arizona (50-10) shortstop Kristi Fox blooped an RBI single into shallow center field to drive in Caitlin Lowe for the game-winner in the bottom of the ninth.

OSU junior pitcher Brianne McGowan (29-8) went the distance and helped her own cause by belting a fifth inning home run to spark the OSU offense after the Beavers fell behind by a 2-0 score.

OSU Women`s Golf Signs Brittany Stewart of Phoenix, Ariz.

(CORVALLIS) - Oregon State women`s golf coach Rise Lakowske announced that Brittany Stewart has signed a letter-of-intent and will join the program in the fall. Stewart, a senior at Desert Vista High School in Phoenix, Ariz., was a 2005 EA Sports High School All-American.

Stewart placed in the top eight at both the state and regional meet in all four of her years on the varsity, including a second-place finish in November 2005 at the state 5A meet. She was the medalist at six events during her senior year and made the East Valley Tribune`s All-Girls Golf Team.

“Brittany will add considerable depth to our returning squad,“ Lakowske said. “She has made dramatic improvement in her golf game over the past three years and we expect that to continue into her collegiate career. She is dedicated to improving the mental part of her game, and is actively seeing a noted sport psychologist in the Phoenix area. That, along with the competition she`ll have in college, will take her to the next level.“

Nash Out as Blazers GM

(PORTLAND – AP) - John Nash will not be back as general manager of the Portland Trail Blazers, who finished with the worst record in the NBA this season.

The Trail Blazers released a statement late Tuesday that said Nash's contract, due to expire in a month, will not be extended for next season.

President Steve Patterson will serve as interim general manager.

"All of us at the Trail Blazers appreciate John's effort and hard work under difficult circumstances and thank him for the enormous class he displayed throughout his time here," Patterson said.

Hearing Wednesday on NASCAR Track Proposal

(SEATTLE – AP) - Wednesday could be a turning point for the NASCAR race track proposed near Bremerton.

State lawmakers led by Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen are holding a hearing in Seattle to hear from supporters and critics.

The developer, Florida-based International Speedway, wants the state to pay almost half of the cost of the 345 million dollar speedway.

Waechter Earns All-American Honor

Western Oregon pitcher named to ABCA/Rawlings second-team squad.

(MONMOUTH) - Western Oregon junior pitcher Nick Waechter has been named to the ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Division II All-American second team, announced Tuesday.

The right-hander, who led the Wolves to a 40-16 record and sixth straight Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship, was selected earlier this month as the west region pitcher of the year by the ABCA and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

Waechter is WOU`s first player ever selected to the ABCA squad, since the Wolves moved to the NCAA Division II level in 2002. Catcher Greg McCarthy was a second-team All-American pick last spring in the NCBWA listing. The 2006 version of that All-American team will be released later this week.