Top 5 Moments in 2018 Oregon State Athletics

With 2018 now in the rearview mirror, BeaversEdge.com senior writer Brenden Slaughter takes a look at the five best moments in Oregon State athletics during the 2018 calendar year. There were plenty of highlightable moments throughout the year, but we’ve narrowed it down to five.

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One of the earliest moments in the 2018 calendar year, the Oregon State men’s basketball teams won 76-64 over Oregon in Gill Coliseum on January 5 comes in at No. 5 on top five moments of 2018.

The 2017-18 season was full of ups and downs for Wayne Tinkle and Co. as the only thing consistent about the season was the win-loss count with OSU finishing 16-16, but the win over the Ducks stands tall as one of the better games they played all season.

While the senior day win over NCAA Tournament bound Arizona State certainly ranks near the top in best wins for Beaver MBB last season, seeing Oregon State dismantle the Ducks by way of holding them to less than 37 percent shooting from the field and 27 percent from three while having four Beavers reach double-figures stands tall in 2018.

While he was technically hired in November of 2017, former Oregon State quarterback Jonathan Smith’s return to Corvallis was one of the most special moments of the 2018 year. After the dust settled from the Gary Andersen departure and the end of the brief Cory Hall regime, the Beavers went back to their roots in hiring one of the most decorated quarterbacks in school history. While the 2018 season didn’t go the way that Smith and the Beavers would have liked, the foundation has been laid for what should be a steadily improving team over the next few seasons.

Smith not only helped created a high-output, low-ego mantra that has been embraced by the Oregon State football program at large, but he helped guide the team out of the rough waters created by the previous regime. There’s a long way to go to get the Beavers out of the cellar of the Pac-12, but with a solid incoming recruiting class, high-impact transfers, and solid coaches in place, Smith’s hire made the 2018 year much more pleasant for Beaver fans wanting to forget the past few seasons of frustrations.

Heading into the 2017-18 basketball season, many pundits penciled the Beavers to take a step back as they graduated a large majority of their tenured core of players in the offseason prior. But instead of listen to the noise and place a ceiling on themselves, Scott Rueck and Co. put on their hard hats and went to work.

There were plenty of reasons as to why the Beavers could have struggled last season… Then-sophomore guard Mikayla Pivec was shifted to full-time point-guard duty for the first time since high school. Gone were the likes of Sydney Wiese, Gabby Hanson, Kolbie Orum, and Breanna Brown.. But none of that seemed to matter as the Beavers got better and better as the season went on.

There were several moments were the Beavers went through a learning curve, such as two losses to the L.A. schools early in the season, or a first-game exit to Arizona State in the Pac-12 Tournament. However, Rueck always has Oregon State playing their best basketball in March and that’s exactly why this takes the No. 3 spot on our list.

The Beavers were forced to head to Knoxville for the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament and defeated Western Kentucky and Tennessee before advancing to the Sweet Sixteen for a matchup with Baylor. What happened in that game will forever live in OSU WBB history as the underdog Beavers upset the Lady Bears in the Sweet Sixteen to advance to just the second Elite Eight in program history. If the 2017-18 season proved anything, it’s that you can never count out the Beavers when Rueck is leading the charge.

Coming in at No. 2 on the list of top-moments in 2018, the Oregon State football team's come-from-behind win over Colorado was one of the most special moments in recent memory for OSU football.

Trailing 31-3 early in the second half, the Beavers appeared to be on their way to their 23rd straight road loss, but quarterback Jake Luton and the Beavers had other plans. Behind a once in a lifetime performance from Luton - who went 28-of-39 for 310 yards and two touchdowns, all in the second half - the Beavers rallied in overtime for a 41-34 win in what was Smith’s first Pac-12 win and a signature one at that. The Beavers were able to erase the ghosts of the Andersen regime and more with this win and in doing so, proved that they are are 100 percent behind Smith and his vision, and that bodes well for the future prospects of Beaver football with him at the helm.

Was there any doubt what would be No. 1 on this list?

Of course it’s the Oregon State baseball team winning its third national championship in program history. Behind an incredible regular season that saw the Beavers finish second in the Pac-12 and earn the No. 3 national seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Beavers rolled through the Corvallis Regional and Super Regional, dispatching of Northwestern State, LSU, and Minnesota, respectively, to earn their seventh appearance to the College World Series. Once there, the Beavers took the road less traveled as they became just the second team in CWS history (the other was Oregon State in 2006) to lose their first game in Omaha and win the national championship.

After falling to North Carolina in game one, the Beavers responded with wins over Washington, North Carolina, and Mississippi State (twice) to advance to a best-of-three series against the Arkansas Razorbacks. What happened over those three games will forever live on in Beaver Baseball history as the Beavers dropped game one before storming back in game two and cruising in game three to finish off the Razorbacks.

As for whether game two or game three was most special is very much up for debate as I’m torn between whether watching Arkansas drop a fly ball that would have ended the series in game two before Cadyn Grenier responded with a base hit to tie the game at three in the ninth. Once the game was tied at Grenier safely on first, Trevor Larnach and his 18 home runs stepped to the plate. On a 2-0 count, Larnach sent a fastball over the right field fence to give the Beavers a 5-3 that not only won the game, but crushed the spirits of the Razorbacks along the way.

The next day, freshman pitcher Kevin Abel followed up the Beavers’ dramatic game-two win by etching his name in CWS history by throwing a complete-game shutout of one of the most dynamic offenses in college baseball. With a blend of fastballs, changeups, and nasty curveballs, Abel stymied the Razorbacks all afternoon in game-three and led the Beavers to their first national championship since 2007.

Sophomore catcher Adley Rutschman was named the CWS MVP for his efforts as he had one of the most impressive individual performances in Omaha as he tallied a CWS-record 17 hits to go along with 13 RBIs. The 2018 baseball season for Beaver baseball was one of the most special moments in the history of Oregon State athletics, and that’s why the national championship was undoubtedly the best moment in 2018.