Long Beach State grabs series 2-1 over Pacific

Matt Duffy with a base hit in the Dirtbags big win over Pacific
Photo Courtesy of LBSU Athletics

Series Overview -
Game 1: W 20-0
Game 2: W 5-3
Game 3: L 5-4

In the second game of a three game series against pacific, the Dirtbags of Long Beach State rode some good pitching and timely hitting.

Four pitchers were used to ensure this victory, Branden Pinder got the start and pitched a nice game to get his first win of the season. He went six hits, giving up two earned runs, while striking out six batters. Matt Johnson was the first reliever but he was a little shaky. He held down the fort, though, for 1 2/3 innings allowing one run. Freshman Ryan Strufing came in as a situational reliever, retiring the only batter he pitched to. Sophomore Eddie Magallon earned his sixth save of the season.

The Dirtbags scored five runs in this victory, led by catcher Mike Marjama who went 2-4 with one RBI. Shortstop Kirk Singer also had a good offensive game going 1-3 from the plate with two RBI. Left fielder Jeff McNeil came through with a solid game, going 2-3 with one RBI.

Long Beach has now scored 25 runs in their last two games, that offensive output is greatly welcomed. With this win, the Dirtbags now have an overall record of 14-11 and are 2-0 in Big West Conference play.

Game 3:

The Dirtbags could not pull out the three-game sweep of Pacific in the last game of the series. Despite two homerun's from Sophomore right fielder Juan Avila, Long Beach State's pitching could not hold up in a late game Pacific rally.

Avila led the Dirtbags offensive attack with a career day. Avila was perfect from the plate, going 4-4 with two homerun's, two RBI and three runs scored. Designated hitter Brent Tani also had a solid outing at the plate going 2-4 with one RBI and one run scored. Unfortunately for Long Beach, the pitching staff could not match the offense's intensity.

Junior Shawn Stuart and Freshman Kyle Friedrichs combined for eight innings of well-pitched baseball. They allowed just two runs, while striking out eight batters. The problems came with Sophomore reliever Eddie Magallon. Magallon gave up three runs in the ninth, including the one that surrendered the victory to Pacific.

This was the Dirtbags first conference loss of the season, dropping them to 2-1 in the Big West and 14-12 overall.