Even the usually even-keeled Mitch Canham was fired up Wednesday night as Oregon State fell 9-7 to The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Corvallis’ Goss Stadium.
The head coach of the No. 6-ranked Beavers was ejected from the game midway through the loss to the 20-25 Vaqueros after confronting an umpire following a failed challenge.
Canham’s emotion and removal fired up his team in the moment, but OSU couldn’t keep up with the UTRGV bats, never leading across nine innings against the Southland Conference’s fifth-ranked team.
“It sucks to get punched in the face a little bit,” Beavers outfielder Easton Talt said postgame. “But it’s better for it to happen in April than in June.”
Junior Connor Mendez got the start for the Beavers at pitcher, efficiently managing the first two innings with just 15 pitches. However, two UTRGV singles and a walk in the top of the third loaded the bases with no outs. Mendez was pulled shortly after giving up a two-run double.
OSU would turn to Tanner Douglas for the next 19 pitches. He got the Beavers one strike away from three outs before another two-run double. An RBI single followed, and the Beavers turned to AJ Hutcheson to get them out of the inning after the Vaqueros took an early 5-0 lead.
Facing UTRGV starting pitcher Victor Loa, who entered the game with a 9.64 ERA, the Beavers didn’t score a run until the bottom of the fourth, when a double from designated hitter Ethan Porter scored two with the bases loaded. The Beavers would end the inning after cutting down the lead to 5-3.
“It takes us a little bit sometimes to get going offensively,” Talt said. “That can’t happen.”
A solo home run from UTRGV’s Armani Raygoza gave the Vaqueros another run in an otherwise quiet fifth inning, but the Beavers substituted sophomore Jack Giordano on the mound for the sixth.
The right-hander walked leadoff hitter Diego Villescas, and the Beavers attempted a double play after a later pitch stayed fair after bouncing off the knob area of right fielder Hank Warren’s bat, back towards the mound. However, the umpires ruled after the play that Warren’s hand was hit by the pitch, sparking Canham to call for a review.
The Beavers’ coach lost the challenge – his second of the evening – and after a heated conversation with the plate umpire, he was ejected as boos rained down from the crowd.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him get thrown out in four years here,” Talt said. “I loved to see that out of him. He brings that fire every day.”
OSU pitching coach Rich Dorman served as the interim head coach for the rest of the game.
The Beavers mounted a comeback bid in the bottom of the inning. Centerfielder Nyan Hayes fouled a ball off his foot on a 3-1 pitch in the leadoff spot, but managed to walk it off and hit a left field single.
After two more singles from Paul Vazquez and Jacob Galloway – as well as two wild pitches and a dropped third strike that led UTRGV to substitute its catcher – OSU left the inning down one, 6-5. Hayes was one of the baserunners to score, hopping on one leg as he approached home plate. He was taken out of the lineup in the seventh.
However, OSU left two runners stranded at the end of the inning.
“We should’ve built off (Canham’s energy) a little more, and we didn’t,” Talt said.
The Beavers couldn’t maintain their momentum in the seventh inning, with pitcher Zach Kmatz giving up a two-run home run that increased UTRGV’s lead to 8-5. The Vaqueros earned another insurance score in eighth.
Talt hit a two-RBI double late in the bottom of the inning to bring the score to 9-7, but the Beavers offense stalled for the rest of the game. Two flyouts and a Bryce Hubbard strikeout cemented the final score in the bottom of the ninth.
“Getting complacent against teams that are not supposed to hang in with us,” Talt said regarding the offense’s struggles. “We tend to do better against better teams, and today we just let one slip.”
Oregon State has now dropped three of its last four midweek (Monday-Thursday) games. The team has fallen to 34-10 on the season and 1-1 in its series with UTRGV.
The Beavers will face 23-20 California State University, Northridge next in one of their last remaining series of the regular season. Game 1 will start at 5:35 p.m. in Goss on Friday.
It’s unclear if OSU ace Dax Whitney will start after suffering arm tightness in last Friday’s win over Hawaii, but the Beavers should have Canham back in the dugout. Per the Portland Tribune’s Isaac Streeter, an OSU team spokesman said the Beavers coach is unlikely to face a suspension.
“An important one this weekend,” Talt said. “We’re gonna come bounce back, bounce back, and get some dubs.”