Oregon State Beavers are NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!

Photo Courtesy: OSU Sports

OMAHA, Neb. - Oregon State beat North Carolina 3-2 in its first College World Series title Monday night. All those sharing the jubilation agree that the team worked hard for it.

The Beavers (50-16) became the first team in

It is the first time in CWS history that the Beavers (50-16)lost twice in Omaha but won the national title. Oregon State also is the first truly Northern-based school to win the series since Ohio State in 1966.

The Associated Press quoted Kevin Gunderson saying, "You've got to be lucky to win a national championship,"

He said everything fell into place, "We got the right breaks when we needed them. Someone was looking out over our heads tonight. For everyone who doubted us all year, it proves we can play ball."

The game was tied at 2 in the eighth when Rowe drew a two-out walk and Tyler Graham hit a single into left. Andrew Miller, who was the No. 6 overall pick by Detroit, came on in relief of Daniel Bard and got pinch-hitter Ryan Gipson to one-hop a grounder to Steed.

The AP also reports that the second baseman, who came in as a defensive replacement in the fifth, threw wide and past first baseman Tim Federowicz for the Tar Heels' fourth error of the game as Rowe slid into home with the go-ahead run. The Beavers stormed out of their dugout and mobbed Rowe as the Tar Heels (54-15) grew silent on the other side of the field.

"I probably got rid of it too quick," Steed said.

North Carolina put two runners on against Dallas Buck (13-3) with one out in the ninth, but Gunderson got Josh Horton to hit into a fielder's choice, and -- with the tying run on third -- got slugger Chad Flack to fly out to center to end it.

Gunderson, who won Game 2 by pitching a season-high 5 1/3 relief innings, threw his glove and hat in the air, and waited as his teammates ran to the mound and piled on each other to begin the celebration.

The victory marked a remarkable run for the Beavers, who lost their first game in Omaha but reached the championship with four straight wins. After losing Game 1 to North Carolina, Oregon State pulled out two victories.

"I think we were picked to lose every game here," Gunderson said. "We came out and battled hard."

The Tar Heels had a chance in the eighth when they loaded the bases with one out, but Buck -- making his first relief appearance of the season -- struck out Seth Williams. Buck got ahead in the count on Benji Johnson, when Horton sprinted home from third, but Johnson swung through a pitch out of the strike zone to end the inning.

"They were tough," said North Carolina coach Mike Fox, fighting back tears. "Obviously, it's a huge disappointment for us. To get this close and not win it certainly is disappointing."

Oregon State scored twice against Bard (9-4) in the fourth, helped by two errors on one play by the pitcher.

After Graham hit a leadoff single and stole second, John Wallace bunted to the right side of the mound. Bard dashed over and barehanded the ball but dropped it for an error. He picked it up and threw to first, but the throw sailed past Federowicz. Second baseman Garrett Gore backed up the errant toss and threw home, but Graham slid headfirst ahead of Johnson's tag, and the Beavers stormed out of the dugout to greet him.

After Chris Kunda sacrificed Wallace to second, Shea McFeely's single to center made it 2-0.

North Carolina came right back with two runs in the fifth against Jonah Nickerson, making his third start in eight days for the Beavers.

Jay Cox reached on shortstop Darwin Barney's throwing error and scored one out later on Seth Williams' double to right-center that rolled all the way to the wall. Johnson followed with a single to put runners on first and third, and Mike Cavasinni lined a single over third baseman McFeely one out later to tie it at 2.

North Carolina ran itself out of a scoring opportunity in the sixth. Horton led off with a single, and one out later, Cox hit a hard grounder that deflected off Nickerson's left leg and into right field, putting runners on first and third.

Federowicz followed with a grounder to third that McFeely fielded and threw home, and catcher Mitch Canham tagged a sliding Horton for the out. Canham, seeing Cox rounding second, threw to Kunda and caught Cox in a rundown, with shortstop Barney tagging him out to end the inning.

Bard, a first-round pick by Boston, allowed three runs -- one earned -- and six hits in 7 2/3 innings.

Nickerson, the crafty and gutsy right-hander who was selected the series' Most Outstanding Player, allowed two unearned runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings. He came out after his 100th pitch -- getting Steed to ground out -- and received a standing ovation from the 18,565 at Rosenblatt Stadium, including the powder blue-clad North Carolina fans.

POSTGAME QUOTES/NOTES/BOXSCORE

Oregon State Head Coach Pat Casey (opening statement): "I really don`t know what to say. It`s an unbelievable feeling. These young men worked their fannies off. I told them at the beginning of the year, if you give 100 percent and never allow your opponent to be tougher than you, we`ll win a lot of games."

(about the pitching performance): "Jonah (Nickerson) felt like he had a day off with three days of rest instead of two. Spence has done a great job all year long managing the pitching staff. They all wanted to pitch and get in the game. It`s appropriate that it went Jonah, Buck and Gundy. I can`t tell you how proud I am of them."

(about his team): "They`re the ones that did it between the white lines. I told our team everything here done outside the white lines is for the fans. When you cross the white lines, it`s a baseball game. I told them you can`t play under pressure. It`s just a game. Get `em on, get `em over and get `em in."

Oregon State Relief Pitcher Kevin Gunderson (about what he`s going to do now): "Go back to the hotel. We`ll get on the plane tomorrow and go back to Oregon where it all started. We`re going to live it up until we can`t live it up no more."

(about people not respecting Oregon State): "A lot of people picked us to not win any games and thank you to you. All that matters is that we know in our hearts that we can win."

Oregon State Pitcher Dallas Buck (about what he was thinking when he entered the game in the 8th inning): "Don`t let them score. They had two guys on with no outs so you can`t let them score. I can`t say I was surprised because I knew I could do it. That fired the team up. It got a little mo on our side."

Oregon State Starting Pitcher Jonah Nickerson (about getting treatment in the dugout) "I was trying to stay loose. I was a little tight, but it was precautionary. They trust me to go out with everything I have."

NOTES

Tonight`s game marks the second time in Men`s College World Series history in which there have been 16 games. The only other MCWS with 16 games was in 2003 when Rice defeated Stanford in three games of the Championship Series.

Oregon State becomes only the second team to play eight games at the MCWS, joining Stanford in 2003, the only other year where the Championship Series went to a decisive third game.

With tonight`s win, Oregon State becomes the first team to win six elimination games at the College World Series and the first team to lose twice in one Men`s College World Series and win a national title.

Oregon State is only the second team to win six games at the College World Series, joining Holy Cross in 1952.

Oregon State becomes the 10th team in MCWS history to lose its first game and come back to win a national title. The other schools include: Texas (1950); Southern California (1958); Southern California (1963); Arizona State (1969); Southern California (1970); Arizona (1976); Cal State Fullerton (1979); Arizona (1980) and Southern California (1998).

Oregon State became the first team since Georgia in 1990 to win its first CWS game and a national title in the same season.

Since Wake Forest`s national title in 1955, ACC schools are 0-4 in games that would earn the school a national title (North Carolina twice in 2006; Florida State in 1999 and Georgia Tech in 1994).

With tonight`s win, Oregon State has won two NCAA titles in its program History. The 2006 baseball team joins the 1961 men`s cross country team as the school`s NCAA team champions.

With tonight`s win, Oregon State becomes the sixth current Pacific-10 member school to win a MCWS title, joining Arizona, Arizona State, California, Stanford and USC.

11 of the 16 games in the MCWS were decided by two runs or less, setting a MCWS record. The previous best for 1-and-2 run games was 10, set in 1968, 1972 and 1983.

Oregon State 2B Chris Kunda`s assist for the first out of the game tied the Men`s College World Series record for assists in a single-series. He finished the MCWS with 36 assists, breaking the record of 32 set by Cal Meier of Southern California (1970) and P.J. Forbes of Wichita St. (1989).

Oregon State 1B Bill Rowe set the Men`s College World Series single-series record for putouts on Sunday night and he finished the Series with 87 putouts, topping the mark set by Tim Wallach of Cal St. Fullerton (1979). Rowe also set a record for most chances without an error in a Men`s College World Series. His 95 total chances without an error tops the mark set by Arizona State`s Steve Willis in 1988.

Oregon State starter Jonah Nickerson tied the Men`s College World Series record for starts with his third of the series. He tied the record set many times and last set by Arizona State`s Jason Urquidez in 2005. Nickerson did not allow an earned run in his last 16 and 1/3 innings of work at the MCWS.

The fifth-inning error by Oregon State SS Darwin Barney was the first error in the last 51.1 innings, spanning five-straight errorless games before tonight. It was just the Beavers fourth error of the series.

Tonight`s attendance of 18,565 raises the total attendance to 310,609 and marks the first time in Men`s College World Series history that the total attendance topped the 300,000 mark and it breaks the previous total attendance record of 263,475 set in 2005. The average attendance for the 2006 MCWS finishes at 22,186 per session.

With his save against North Carolina this evening, Kevin Gunderson moves into the national lead for saves with 20. Gunderson, who had three saves and a win in the CWS, also tied a series record as he finished five games.

North Carolina`s four errors set a single-game Championship series record. The previous high was three, set three other times.

Oregon State finished the MCWS with a .987 fielding percentage, the best fielding percentage for a champion since Miami also fielded .987 in 2001.

Pitchers drafted in the first round of the 2006 MLB Draft finished with a 1-5 record in seven games against Oregon State in 2006

-- Courtesy NCAA

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