Oregon State, the Cinderella team of the 2006 College World Series, dispatched the 2007 Cinderella on Wednesday night, sending the Beavers to the championship series for the second straight season.

Braden Wells squeezed the final out in right field to conclude a 7-1 OSU victory over UC Irvine.

The Beavers will open the best-of-three championship series on Saturday against either North Carolina or Rice. Those two teams play today for the remaining berth.

Oregon State defeated North Carolina in last season’s championship series by taking the final two games after losing the first.

The Beavers lost their CWS opener to Miami in 2006 and had to win six elimination games to capture the crown. They defeated Rice twice to reach the

championship series.

Losing 10 players to the professional ranks from that historic team, the Beavers were far from favored to return to the final series. They struggled to score runs during a stretch of the Pacific-10 Conference season and finished sixth, making the NCAA Regional field on the final weekend.

Since then, the Beavers (47-18) have been all but unbeatable.

They defeated Virginia twice to win the Charlottesville Regional and advance to the Super Regionals. They then swept Michigan at OSU’s Goss Stadium to reach the CWS for the third straight season.

In three games in Omaha, Neb., they have handled all challenges, winning twice in convincing manner.

Catcher Mitch Canham and shortstop Darwin Barney were the only starters returning in the field from last year’s team, and those two led the way offensively against the Anteaters.

Canham belted a two-run homer and Barney had two RBI singles as both players went 3-for-5.

UC Irvine had captured the imagination of the fans in Omaha with its moxie and antics, defeating Cal State Fullerton and Arizona State in extra innings to earn Wednesday’s date with the Beavers.

OSU squashed the Anteaters’ magic behind pitcher Daniel Turpen, who threw eight innings, giving up one run, three walks and five hits, none after the fourth inning.

Oregon State is bidding to be the first repeat national champion since Louisiana State managed that feat in 1996-97. Only four schools have won NCAA championships in back-to-back seasons. Stanford was the last Pac-10 school to manage the feat, winning titles in 1987-88.

To view a slide show from the College World Series, go to http://gazettetimes.com/shared-content/story_tools/slideshow/?type=slideshow&id=3

For more about the series, go to http://www.democratherald.com/sports/world_series/.