Down to #9

I am surprised it is that high. Go Beavs. Better to lose a few now then later...

Isn't this about the point where some posters start screaming about firing Casey?

The Pac-12 is strong, stronger than it was the past two years.  There appears to be a lot of parity.  UCLA is in first at 8-4.  Washington State is in last at 4-8.  That's four games separating the top from the bottom.  Arizona was voted to finish fourth in the Pac-12 by the coaches.  Several of the players played on the team in 2016, the same team that outscored Coastal Carolina but lost two one run ballgames to lose the National Championship.  The Tucson trip was always going to be the toughest road trip for Oregon State and the least likely the Beavers were going to be able to take.

In the Pac-12, the Beavers have played three of their five road conference series and are only a game back of #1 UCLA.  If Oregon State had eked out one more win, the Beavers would be atop the conference with UCLA.  The Beavers  play the Bruins in Corvallis to end the season.  Stanford and Washington are tied for second.  The Beavers already beat the Huskies and get the Cardinal at home for the third-to-last weekend of the season.  The #5 Devils travel to Corvallis over the final weekend in April.  Four of the final six conference series are at Goss.  The only two road conference trips are to Pullman and Dedeaux Field against the current cellar-dweller and a team tied for eighth, respectively.  

Oregon State's current non-conference RPI is 7.  The Beavers are three games up on where they were in 2006 and have an identical record to the 2007 National Champions.  In 2006, Oregon State went 21-5 to punch a ticket to the Corvallis Super Regional.  Since this year's Beavers have a three-game cushion, 18-8 puts Oregon State in an identical spot.  In 2007, the Beavers went 15-11 (a dismal 4-8 in May) down the stretch and still managed to claim an at large berth.

There is a lot of baseball still left to play.  If getting punched in the mouth a couple of times by Arizona and Utah is what gets this team going, then so be it.  Oregon State, its players, and especially its fans need to wake up to an improved Pac-12, a Pac-12 that will take advantage of miscues.  The Beavers have to get healthy and get their swagger back.  

Madrigal is a huge part of this team.  When the middle of the infield is great, the Beavers are darn near unstoppable.  That was true in 2006, it was true in 2007, and it is true today.

Verburg is another guy that Oregon State is missing right now.

Get healthy and dominate.  Tread water until then.