Canham Just can’t get it done

You made no point. That’s why regionals were rare. The conference was not good.

I believe the last national #1 seed to win it all was Miami in 1999.  So yeah.. it's incredibly tough to win - an absolute grind.  


Makes me really appreciate the 3 times we did it.   Makes me still want to kick a garbage can when I think about the 2017 team.

Pat Casey played his college ball at the University of Portland.

28 teams in 1974.
32 teams in 1975.
34 teams from 1976-1981.
36 teams from 1982-1984.
38 teams in 1985.
40 teams in 1986.
48 teams from 1987-1998.

Jack Riley won six Pac-8/10 North Championships.

In 1975, Oregon State entered the second-to-last weekend up two games on Wazzu atop the Pac-8 North.  The Beavs had won two-of-three of the games in Pullman, and the Beavs had gone 7-2 against Oregon and Washington to that point to Wazzu's 6-3.  The Beavs lost the first two in Corvallis but rebounded to win the third, 7-6.  Oregon State had a one-game lead with three to play.  Each team finished with their rival.  Oregon State lost the opener against Oregon 7-1, and Wazzu won 10-8.  Both the Beavs and Cougs won the final two.  Both teams were 13-5 in the Pac-8 North and 3-3 against each other.  (As an aside, 1975 Oregon State was, record-wise, the best team in Beaver history at that time.  Oregon State finished the regular season 28-9-1.)  The tiebreaker was a one-game playoff, which was held in Pullman.  Wazzu won 6-4.  Wazzu made the Tournament and almost came out of the losers' bracket but lost to the host, Arizona State 5-1 in the Regional Championship Game.  Arizona State wound up finishing third at the College World Series, losing to the eventual runner-up, South Carolina, 4-1.

In 1982, Oregon State won the Pac-10 North, going 16-8.  Oregon State and Wazzu tied atop the Pac-10 North at 16-8, but the Beavs won three-of-four in the season series to win the tiebreaker.  Wazzu won the final four games, so Oregon State had to win one of the final three to win the Pac-10 North with the tiebreaker and won exactly once.  At the time, the Pac-10 North Champion played the Pac-10 South #2, and the winner would go to the Tournament.  Oregon State travelled down to Stanford and were swept out of the postseason.

The 1983 regular season ended with a two-game series in Corvallis with Wazzu up one game.  Oregon State won both, 2-1 and 14-5 to win the Pac-10 North by a game.  The Pac-10 North was treated as a separate conference in 1983, so the Champion went straight to the Tournament, the Beavers' first Tournament appearance in 20 years.  The West I Regional was held at Sunken Diamond.  Stanford won the opener 14-0 and Santa Barbara won Game Two 7-3 to sweep Oregon State out of the Tournament.  

1984 was the first year of the Pac-10 North Tournament.  In Portland, Oregon State beat Portland State and Eastern Washington but lost two to Wazzu, 7-4 and 7-2, the latter of the two being the Pac-10 North Championship Game.  The Cougs won the Pac-10 North regular season and Tournament Championships.  Wazzu lost to Arizona State 8-4 and Stanford 3-1 in The West II Regional in Tempe.  The Devils finished tied for fourth, losing to champion Fullerton and runner-up Texas in the process.  

In 1985, Wazzu hosted the Pac-10 North Tournament.  The Beavs swept through the Tournament, beating Wazzu 8-7, Washington 5-2, and Wazzu 4-2.  Oregon State was sent to the West I Regional at Sunken Diamond.  Stanford beat Oregon State 17-3, and Pepperdine beat Oregon State 6-1.  The Cardinal finished tied for fifth in Omaha.

In 1986, Oregon State won the Pac-10 North Regular Season Championship.  The Beavs went to the Pac-10 North Tournament, which had expanded to include six teams to mirror the six-team Regional format at the time.  Oregon State won the first two to Washington 10-2 and Portland 6-5 but lost to Portland State 4-3.  The Beavs had to won out of the losers' bracket, beating the Cougs 11-4 and then beating the Vikings twice, 7-4 and 8-7.  Oregon State went to the Midwest Regional in Stillwater and lost to Arkansas 4-3.  Oregon State rebounded to beat Richmond 7-1 and Arkansas 1-0.  However, Oregon State lost to Stanford 10-7 to be eliminated.  Stanford lost to Oklahoma State 3-0 in the Championship Game.  Oklahoma State finished fourth, losing to runner-up Florida State by a single run.

Oregon State finished second in the Pac-10 North every year from 1987-1990 (Media Guide is wrong) but went 0-2, 2-2, 2-2, and 1-2 in the Pac-10 North Tournament, respectively.

In 1991, Oregon State finished second again in the Pac-10 North Tournament.  The Beavs dropped the opener to the Pilots but won through the losers' bracket to play their way into the Pac-10 North Championship Game, losing to the Pilots again 8-5.  Portland went to the West II Regional in Fresno.  Miami beat Portland 13-1.  Portland beat San Diego State 12-5 but lost to CSUN 12-7.  CSUN wound up pushing Fresno to a Championship Game but lost 6-5.  Fresno upset Florida State 6-3 in Omaha but lost to Champion LSU and Florida in consecutive games to finish the College World Series. 

1991 was the final year of the Pac-10 North Tournament after its eighth year.

Washington won the Pac-10 North in 1992 and 1993.  Oregon State won the Pac-10 North in 1994 but were jobbed out of a Regional appearance, because Washington had a better RPI and a better conference record outside of the series with Oregon State.  Riley quit after that season, and Casey took over.

The North tournament was held at Spokane for a while and the teams stayed in the dorms at Gonzaga, since school was out. Games were played at the Spokane Indians ballpark. It was later shifted to Yakima and played at YCC for several years before it was permanently canceled.