Oregon State Extends Mitch Canham, Rich Dorman, Ryan Gipson

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University Vice President and Director of Athletics Scott Barnes announced Friday that Mitch Canham, the Pat Casey Head Baseball Coach, has received a five-year contract extension through the 2029 season, while assistant coaches Rich Dorman and Ryan Gipson have received two-year extensions through 2024.

“Coach Canham was a perfect fit for this program when he was hired in 2019,” Barnes said. “Mitch was the epitome of a successful student-athlete during his playing career at Oregon State, and embodies what Oregon State University is about. He knows what it means to be a Beaver, loves this program and University and that has shown in his three seasons as our baseball head coach.

“He and his staff have been exemplary leaders for this program while making their mark in the Pac-12 and on a national level in a short time. I’m excited to announce these extensions.”

“This is our home,” Canham said. “It means everything to myself, my family and the rest of the coaching staff to be given more opportunity to carry on the tradition of Oregon State baseball. We promise to always be dedicated to the development of our student-athletes on and off the field. That will never change.

“The Beaver Baseball family and Oregon State University live deeply within the hearts and souls of all of us and we are proud to continue the legacy. To Beaver Nation: your love and support is undeniably transformational. You give us a home-field advantage everywhere you go.”

Canham and the Beavers won 48 games in 2022 – tied for third-most nationally – and he took Oregon State to its eighth NCAA Super Regional. OSU finished second in the Pac-12 with a 20-win season and advanced to the championship game of the inaugural Pac-12 Tournament. Left-hander Cooper Hjerpe was named the unanimous National Pitcher of the Year by multiple media organizations and Jacob Melton, who belted 17 home runs and tied the OSU single-season record with 83 runs batted in, was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year.

Canham’s accomplishments as head coach at Oregon State include:

- 90 wins over his first three seasons, including 85 the last two after Covid-19 ended his first season prematurely. Canham is 90-51 (.638) during his OSU tenure.

- The team’s 48 wins in 2022 mark the sixth-most in a single-season at OSU.

- Oregon State has won 36 conference games during his tenure for a .600 winning percentage. Those 36 wins are the most by a Beaver coach in his first two seasons in conference action.

- He is the first OSU head coach to take the Beavers to the postseason within his first two seasons at the helm.

- He has won seven games over two postseason appearances, the second-most at OSU.

- Six different Beavers have been named All-Americans, including four in 2022. Those four selections are tied for the second-most in a single-season at OSU.

- Hjerpe and Melton became the fifth and sixth unanimous First-Team All-Americans in OSU’s history after having historic seasons in 2022.

- Eleven Oregon State players have been named All-Pac-12 First Team selections the last two seasons, including eight in 2022, the most for a Beaver squad since the then-Pac-10 unified in 1999.

- Five Beavers have been selected in the MLB Draft in Canham’s first two seasons, with more selections to come starting Sunday when the 2022 MLB Draft is set to begin. Hjerpe and Melton have been prominently projected as potential first-round selections.

- The 2022 Beavers led the nation with 389 walks. OSU also finished fifth with 2.85 walks issued per nine innings, seventh in fielding percentage (.982), 12th in hits (683), 11th in triples (23), 20th in on-base percentage (.407) and 22nd in earned run average (4.19). The Beavers led the Pac-12 in OBP.

- The 2021 Beavers ranked fourth in fielding percentage (.982), ninth in ERA (3.48), 17th in hits (585) and 17th in walks (282).

- Oregon State’s players have been named to the Pac-12’s Academic Honor Roll 44 times in Canham’s first three seasons. The Beavers have earned a team GPA of 3.0 or better every term during his tenure.

Canham lettered at Oregon State from 2005-07, earning All-American honors in his final season. He led the Beavers to trips to Omaha and the College World Series in all three seasons, helping the club to back-to-back national championships in 2006 and 2007. He was a first-round MLB Draft selection by San Diego in 2007, and played professionally until 2015. In 2016, he started his coaching career as the manager at Single-A Clinton in Seattle’s organization. He later managed with Single-A Modesto and Double-A Arkansas, amassing a 264-220 record before being announced as OSU’s head coach on June 13, 2019.

Dorman, who played at OSU in 1999, recently completed his third season as the program’s pitching coach in 2022. He had served as the pitching coach at Grand Canyon from 2016-19 after working in the same position at different levels in the Seattle Mariners’ organization from 2009-16.

OSU Athletics

Story continues below

Dorman’s accomplishments as pitching coach at Oregon State include:

- Worked Hjerpe, who set the OSU single-season record with 161 strikeouts in 2022, which also led the nation. Hjerpe became just the second unanimous First-Team All-American pitcher in OSU’s history.

- Oregon State has set its single-season record for strikeouts in back-to-back seasons, 2021 (611) and 2022 (628).

- The Beavers, in 2022, ranked fourth nationally in WHIP (1.25), fifth in walks per nine innings (2.85), fifth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.34) and 10th in shutouts (six). OSU was also 22nd in ERA at 4.19.

- The 2021 Beavers ranked first in the Pac-12 and ninth nationally in ERA (3.48). OSU was also 11th with a 1.22 WHIP.

- OSU ranked first in the Pac-12 in ERA (3.47), fewest hits allowed (221), fewest runs allowed (110) and fewest walks allowed (78) in conference play in 2022. The Beavers also struck out a Pac-12-best 299 batters.

- Right-handed pitchers Ryan Brown and Jacob Kmatz were earned named Freshman All-Americans in 2022. RHP Will Frisch was selected in 2021.

Gipson recently completed his fourth season as an assistant at Oregon State. He lettered for the Beavers in 2005 and 2006, winning a national championship in his last season. He served as an undergraduate assistant coach at OSU from 2011-12, before moving to Dixie State (now Utah Tech) for two years as an assistant. He served as the head coach at Linn-Benton Community College from 2015-18 before returning to OSU in 2019.

Gipson’s accomplishments as an assistant coach at Oregon State include:

- Oversaw an offense that led the Pac-12 with a .407 on-base percentage in 2022. OSU also finished first with a program-record 389 walks, first with 141 doubles – and 10th nationally – in addition to scoring 490 runs, which also led the conference.

- Worked with Melton, who batted .360 with 17 home runs, setting an OSU single-season record with 175 total bases. He also tied the OSU record with 83 RBI, highlighting his Pac-12 Player of the Year campaign.

- Worked Justin Boyd, one of OSU’s four All-Americans. Boyd led the Pac-12 with a .373 batting average, .490 on-base percentage and 24 stolen bases.

- Five of Oregon State’s school-record eight First-Team All-Pac-12 selections were position players. That included Wade Meckler, who tied for the Pac-12 lead with 23 doubles and batted .347.

- Infielder Travis Bazzana was named a Freshman All-American five times after the 2022 season, becoming the first Beaver to earn that recognition since current MLB infielder Nick Madrigal in 2016.

- Worked with the offense and infield during the 2019 season when Adley Rutschman, who was selected first overall in that year’s MLB Draft, was named the National Player of the Year by the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy.

“Both Coach Gipson and Coach Dorman carry the heart of a champion and would do anything for their guys,” Canham said. “Their wisdom and experience makes them elite developers of both student-athletes. With all the things that make them each so special, it is easy to see that they carry the mentality to compete and teach their skills. The world can see the huge growth of our student-athletes, and now, for years to come.”