Oregon State fell behind early Friday night and could never catch underdog St. Mary’s.
The No. 8 national seed Beavers got home runs from Gavin Turley and Trent Caraway but they weren’t enough as the Gaels claimed their first-ever NCAA baseball tournament victory with a 4-2 win in the NCAA Corvallis Regional at Goss Stadium.
If Oregon State wants to advance and host a super regional, it will have to win out, starting with Saturday’s noon game against 2 seed TCU, which was clobbered 13-1 by 3 seed USC in Friday’s other first-round game.
It was a rocky start for the Beavers and starting pitcher Eric Segura.
Segura recorded just one out while allowing three runs on two hits and one walk with three hit batters in the top of the first inning. It made for a quick exit for the right-hander and an early entrance for AJ Hutcheson.
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Oregon State climbed back in the game in the third when, with two outs, Aiva Arquette singled and Turley clobbered a home run to right-center to make it 3-2.
Hutcheson kept the Gaels at three runs before being replaced by Laif Palmer with one out in the sixth.
Palmer ran into trouble in the seventh when he allowed a walk, sacrifice bunt and another walk. Duroff made Palmer pay by sending a 0-1 pitch over the left field fence for a four-run advantage.
The Beavers for two back in the bottom of the frame to close the gap.
Caraway homered to left with one out. Jacob Krieg followed with a single, and with two outs Easton Talt hit a triple into the right field corner to make it 6-4.
That chased St. Mary’s starting pitcher, who finished with 10 strikeouts and one walk.
Oregon State didn’t have much luck against his replacement, Daniel Guevara Castro, who got the final out of the seventh, retired the Beavers in order in the eighth and worked around a one-walk walk in the ninth to preserve the win.
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Final — St. Mary’s 6, Oregon State 4
Daniel Guevara Castro strikes out leadoff batter Canon Reeder swinging for the first out in the bottom of the ninth before Trent Caraway walks.
Dallas Macias goes down looking at strike three for the second out.
Pinch hitter Bryce Hubbard strikes out, and the Beavers will have to win out in their home regional if they want to advance.
Oregon State plays TCU at noon Saturday PT in an elimination game.
St. Mary’s which claimed its first-ever NCAA tournament win, will play USC at 6 p.m. The winner there moves on to the regional championship.
Top of the 9th inning — St. Mary’s 6, Oregon State 4
The Gaels got a one-out since but nothing more as Beavers catcher Wilson Weber threw out a batter trying to steal second for the final out.
Bottom of the 8th inning – St. Mary’s 6, Oregon State 4
The Beavers went down in order against Daniel Guevara Castro and will have some work to do in the ninth to salvage a win against the 4 seed in their regional.
Top of the 8th inning – St. Mary’s 6, Oregon State 4
Kellen Oakes got the Beavers’ defense back to the dugout quickly with a 1-2-3 inning.
Bottom of the 7th inning — St. Mary’s 6, Oregon State 4
Trent Caraway gets a run back for the Beavers with his one-out solo homer to left field. OSU added another on an Easton Talt two-out triple into the right field corner.
The Beavers chased Gaels starter Dylan Delvecchio, who went 6 2/3 inning and struck out 10.
Top of the 7th inning — St. Mary’s 6, Oregon State 2
St. Mary’s DH Brian Duroff’s three-run homer to left field with two outs off Laif Palmer has busted open the game. The Beavers go to the bullpen for Kellen Oakes.
Bottom of the 6th inning – St. Mary’s 3, Oregon State 2
The Beavers couldn’t do anything with a two-out Wilson Weber single and head to the back end of the game down a run.
Top of the 6th inning – St. Mary’s 3, Oregon State 2
AJ Hutcheson, who took the mound to put out a first-inning fire for the Beavers, exits with one out and one on and the Gaels still sitting on three runs. Righty Laif Palmer (2-0, 1.35) comes on in relief and gets two quick out to keep the score the same.
Bottom of the 5th inning — St. Mary’s 3, Oregon State 2
St. Mary’s pitcher Dylan Delvecchio retires Oregon State in order for the second straight inning since Gavin Turley’s two-run homer in the third and strikes out to more to give him eight tonight.
Top of the 5th inning — St. Mary’s 3, Oregon State 2
St. Mary’s couldn’t do anything with a leadoff walk and stolen base as AJ Hutcheson drew a grounder then struck out the next two batter.
Bottom of the 4th inning — St. Mary’s 3, Oregon State 2
Two more strikeouts for Gaels pitcher Dylan Delvecchio, giving him six Ks for the game, as the Beavers go down in order.
Top of the 4th inning — St. Mary’s 3, Oregon State 2
OSU’s AJ Hutcheson worked around a one-out double to keep it a one-run game in front of an announced Goss Stadium-record crowd of 4,339.
Bottom of the 3rd inning — St. Mary’s 3, Oregon State 2
Back-to-back two-out hits for the Beavers, an Aiva Arquette single to left and a Gavin Turley two-run home run to right-center, closed the home team to within a run.
Top of the 3rd inning — St. Mary’s 3, Oregon State 0
St. Mary’s goes down in order in six pitches against AJ Hutcheson, with two fly outs sandwiching a grounder.
Bottom of the 2nd inning — St. Mary’s 3, Oregon State 0
Gaels left Dylan Delvecchio slings a 1-2-3 frame with a strikeout and two grounders.
Top of the 2nd inning — St. Mary’s 3, Oregon State 0
St. Mary’s leadoff man Eddie Madrigal, first cousin of former OSU star Nick Madrigal, tried to stretch a single to a double on a hard-hit ball to left field. But Gavin Turley had other ideas, throwing the runner out at second.
Beavers pitcher AJ Hutcheson needed just seven pitches to get through the inning as he quickly drew a fly out to left and struck out the next batter.
Bottom of the 1st inning — St. Mary’s 3, Oregon State 0
Oregon State had two runners on thanks to a leadoff bunt single by Easton Talt and a two-out Wilson Weber walk, but AJ Singer flew out to end the threat.
Top of the 1st inning — St. Mary’s 3, Oregon State 0
The Gaels get on the scoreboard first with a leadoff single, sacrifice bunt, hit batter and a Ryan Pierce RBI single, followed by another hit batter. There was one out with the bases loaded against Oregon State’s Eric Segura.
A bases-loaded walk brought home a run, and a third hit batter in the inning made it 3-0. That brings a pitching change for the Beavers, who turn to AJ Hutcheson. Hutcheson gets a strikeout and pop-up to get his team back to the dugout, but the No. 8 national seed has dug itself a hole.
Earlier today …
USC manhandled TCU 13-1 in the first game of the double-elimination NCAA Corvallis Regional on Friday afternoon.
The loser of tonight’s game will play second-seeded TCU at noon Saturday. The winner plays USC at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Oregon State’s starting lineup
- Easton Talt – RF
- Aiva Arquette – SS
- Gavin Turley – LF
- Wilson Weber C
- AJ Singer – 2B
- Canon Reeder – CF
- Trent Caraway – 3B
- Jacob Krieg – DH
- Tyce Peterson – 1B
Pitching: RHP Eric Segura (8-1, 4.24 ERA)
St. Mary’s starting lineup
- Eddie Madrigal – 1B
- Cody Kashimoto – 2B
- Aiden Taurek – LF
- Ryan Pierce – 3B
- Brian Duroff – DH
- Diego Castellanos – RF
- Jared Mettam – SS
- Ian Armstrong – C
- Tanner Griffith – CF
Pitching: LHP Dylan Delvecchio (6-3, 4.85 ERA)
How to watch No. 8 Oregon State vs. Saint Mary’s in Game 1 of Corvallis regional
Date: May 30
Time: 5 p.m.
Watch:ESPN+
Radio: KKNX 840 AM/105.1 FM (Eugene); KEJO 1240 AM (Corvallis); KBZY 1490 AM (Salem)
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