CORVALLIS, Ore. — Following the Oregon State Beavers’ second baseball national championship in as many years, the team will travel to Washington, D.C., to visit the White House and to be greeted by President George W. Bush on Friday, Sept. 21.

While the team was unable to make the trip after winning the 2006 championship, the back-to-back champions will head to the east coast to be honored as the 2007 College World Series champions.

“I think it is kind of cool for the kids to go back there and be honored,” coach Pat Casey said. “It is a great time for our guys to stand outside the nation’s capital and realize what it means to live in this country and have the opportunity to chase dreams.”

Last week the Beavers were named to Rivals.com’s Top 25 Teams for 2008. According to the report, the return of pitchers Jorge Reyes and Mike Stutes is a big reason for Oregon State to be in the top 25. The Beavers are also expecting a strong recruiting class, led by middle infielder Garrett Nash, who was ranked by Rivals as the No. 6 freshman coming into college.

“We have such a good freshman class that will have an influence on our club, especially on the mound,” Casey said. “We have to replace Darwin [Barney] at shortstop, which means if Joey [Wong] moves over, then we need to replace [him] at second base. We need somebody to establish themselves at third base.”

Although Stutes and Reyes return to the mound for the Beavers, the team lost much talent in pitchers Eddie Kunz, Joe Paterson and Daniel Turpen. The team also lost keys to their offense in Barney and catcher Mitch Canham. While the pitching staff looks solid without question, the offense only raises questions. Solid improvement of players like first baseman Jordan Lennerton in the 2007 campaign could come up big next year to help alleviate the missing offensive production of Barney and Canham.

“The one thing that is hard is that people talk about how many people you have returning, and it really doesn’t matter how many people you have returning – it’s the guys you have returning,” Casey said.

The Beavers began fall practice Monday and will be holding practices at Goss Stadium until their trip to the White House.