We saw 28 pitches from starting pitcher Eric Segura, and that was his night.

An RBI single followed by an RBI walk to plate the second run of the game quickly forced head coach Mitch Canham to do something that he most likely hadn’t planned to do for at least a couple of innings: reach for the bullpen — resulting in the 6-4 loss against the Saint Mary’s Gaels College of California on Friday night at the Corvallis Regional.

The Beavers saw a two-week break from their last outing to Friday’s against the Gaels, but Canham didn’t think that had any effect.

“I don’t think the two weeks off was a negative at all,” Canham said. “Each guy last weekend had ten plus at-bats.”

Segura faced seven batters and secured one out in his shortest college stint to date, allowing three runs, hitting three batters, and exiting with bases loaded.

Submarine pitcher AJ Hutcheson found himself walking from left field, hoping to get some crowd control and keep the score feasible. 

“It’s gonna come into you more than you think,” Gaels outfielder Brian Duroff said on Hutchesons arm slot. “I struggled with it early, like you put a normal swing on it, you are probably gonna get jammed. You knew he was probably coming with the heater, you knew where it was probably going to be, but it was still a struggle.”

After he survived the first inning, a nuke from left fielder Gavin Turley erased an attempted double by Cody Kashimoto, shortly followed by the second strikeout for Hutcheson on a foul tip held on by catcher Wilson Weber.

Pure defense highlighted the next part of the game, with Gaels starting pitcher Dylan Delvecchio making batters go empty-handed until Aiva Arquette and Gavin Turley had enough. 

Arquette rocketed one to left for a single with two outs, and then Turley skied one straight up that had just enough to travel 378 feet and leave the park in front of the right field fans.

The two-run homer closed the gap that Segura had drawn, and with it, Turley tied Michael Conforto for the most RBI’s in a Beaver uniform, which he set back in 2014 at 179.

Hutcheson secured another scoreless inning, with the help of Aruquette, who ran from his typical spot at short to deep in the left field foul territory to catch a ball that was skied by Eddie Madrigal, cousin of former OSU player Nick Madrigal, who was 2-2 on the night prior to the spectacular speed shown by the Beaver shortstop.

The top of the fifth saw the first challenge of the night made by Gaels head coach Eric Valenzuela, a successful one where Kashimoto was initially called out on a steal, and eventually was deemed safe.

It ended up not mattering much, as Hutcheson struck out his fifth batter of the night, and leaped off the field screaming as he stranded the runner on third, marking the longest outing he has had as a member of Oregon State. 

“It meant a lot,” Hutcheson said. “Eric doesn’t have his greatest stuff, and just went out there and do whatever is asked of me.”

Hutcheson recorded one more out in the following inning before passing the ball off to pitcher Laif Palmer to take over in the top of the sixth.

Palmer couldn’t keep the ball in the park, as Duroff launched a pitch into the left field stands, extending the lead for the Gaels, 6-2. That pitch was his last, as Kellan Oakes took the mound following the three-run blast. Oakes struck out the only batter he saw, yet the damage was still done.

Trent Caraway got back one of the given-up runs, as he crushed a no-doubter over the bullpen. Jacob Kreig followed up by securing his first hit of the game, which was an infield single that ate up the third basemen, who didn’t even attempt a throw over. 

Tyce Peterson hit into a fielder’s choice, which moved Kreig to second. Canham then motioned for Dallas Macias to run, who quickly advanced to third on a wild pitch. Two pitchers later, Easton Talt ripped a triple to deep right field, plating the second run of the inning, and lessening the deficit, 6-4, as he showed off the wheels. Arquette then flailed at the third pitch he saw, welcoming the new Gaels pitcher with a strikeout.

Delvecchio walked back to the dugout, pitching six and two-thirds innings, allowing seven hits, but striking out 10 Beaver batters.

Oakes continued pitching in the eighth, and sat them down in order to bring up the bats after their hot seventh, but Gaels pitcher Daniel Guevara Castro cooled them off, striking out five of the seven batters he faced on minimal pitches. Castro closed out the game for the Gaels, silencing the Beaver fans around the diamond. 

“When you are around these guys each and every day, they inspire you to go be better,” Canham said.

The Beavers will face off against Texas Christian University after their loss to the University of Southern California on Saturday at noon back at Goss Stadium, and will need to win four straight games to reach the Super Regional.