Top of the heap
OMAHA, Neb. — Kevin Gunderson carried the College World Series trophy into Oregon State's postgame news conference, smiling as his teammates followed him up to the podium.
The Beavers were unlikely national champions, and their star closer was having fun basking in the moment.
"I think we came here and a lot of people out there picked us to lose every single game, so thank you for doing that," Gunderson said. "It gave us a lot of motivation to go out there and prove those people wrong."
Bill Rowe scored the go-ahead run on second baseman Bryan Steed's throwing error in the bottom of the eighth inning, and Oregon State held on to beat North Carolina 3-2 on Monday night for its first College World Series title.
"We're going to enjoy it, and nobody can take it away," Gunderson said. "We're the 2006 national champions."
That appeared improbable when Oregon State arrived in Omaha and lost its first game 11-1 to Miami. The Beavers (50-16) bounced back and fought off elimination six times, becoming the first team in CWS history to lose twice in Omaha and win the national championship.
"It's just a dream come true the way it happened," said Jonah Nickerson, who was a big part of it all with three gutty starts in eight days.
Oregon State also had geography working against it — and the perception that a team from the Pacific Northwest could never hang with traditional college baseball powerhouses from warm-weather climates.
"This team is made up of guys mostly from the Northwest, and I think we proved a lot of people wrong," Gunderson said.
Oregon State became the first truly Northern-based school to win the series since Ohio State in 1966.
"It feels great to finally get some respect," Nickerson said.
With Monday's game tied at 2 in the eighth, Rowe drew a two-out walk and Tyler Graham blooped a single into left. Tar Heels ace Andrew Miller, the No. 6 overall pick by Detroit, came on in relief of starter Daniel Bard and got pinch-hitter Ryan Gipson to one-hop a grounder to Steed.
The second baseman, who came in as a defensive replacement in the fifth, threw wide and past first baseman Tim Federowicz — who splits time at catcher — for the Tar Heels' fourth error as Rowe scored the go-ahead run from second.
"I turned third, looked and saw the ball going toward the dugout, took two hard steps and realized I was going to be able to coast into home," Rowe said.
