Softball: Ducks fly past 49ers
The Long Beach State softball team fell, 9-1, to Oregon in the nightcap of its doubleheader Friday evening at the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic in Las Vegas.
Freshman Nalani St. Germain registered the 49ers’ lone run as she connected for her second home run of the day and fourth of the season. Senior Brandy Reyes also had a double and finished with two hits.
Sophomore Taylor Petty (1-2) suffered the loss in the circle, allowing five earned runs on eight hits.
St. Germain opened the game with a shot over the fence in right center field, giving The Beach an early 1-0 lead.
Oregon (6-3) responded in the bottom of the first, scoring two runs on three hits and a pair of LBSU errors. After tacking on one more in the third, Brittany Rumfelt put the Ducks up, 5-1, with a two-run homerun in the bottom of the fourth.
In the sixth, Samantha Pappas capped a three-run rally for the Ducks as she drove in a pair with a double to center field, ending the game due to the eight-run rule.
Long Beach State 7, Boise State 6
The 49ers came from behind twice to defeat Boise State, 7-6, in its first game of the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic.
Senior Bridgette Pagano (1-1) picked up her first victory of the season, allowing one run on three hits in 3.1 innings of relief. Petty was credited with the save, getting the final out in the top of the seventh.
Junior Brooke Turner had earned the start, giving up five runs (four earned) on five hits, while striking out four.
St. Germain and Caitrin DeBaun both connected for a home run and finished with two RBI. Junior Casey Burba also had a pair of hits, while seniors Reyes and Jodi Nakawatase each drove in a run.
The Broncos evened the score at 6-6 in the top of the sixth, but Reyes drove in St. Germain for what proved to be the game-winner in the bottom half of the inning.
Boise threatened in the seventh as Vanessa Alvarez doubled with two outs, but Petty came in and got Kelly Sweeney to fly out to end the game.
LBSU (3-3) continues action at the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic tomorrow when it faces No. 10 Georgia Tech (1:30 p.m.) and Illinois-Chicago (3:45 p.m.).
Women’s Tennis:49ers sweep first Big West foe
No. 46 Long Beach State pulled off a perfect sweep, winning all nine matches on the road at UC Riverside on the way to a 7-0 win in its Big West conference opener.
The Beach’s day began with a pair of wins at the top of the doubles lineup, as No. 55 Jaklin Alawi/Rachel Manasse defeated Angelique Corpuz/Roxanne Plata at No. 1 doubles 8-2, and Deborah Armstrong/Anais Dallara defeated Donna McCullough/Nadia Sakhakorn by the same score at No. 2 doubles.
In the final doubles match, Sarah Cantlay/Julie Luzar took a close match and closed it out with a 7-0 tiebreaker victory over Taylor Rainey/Natalie McKay.
In singles, LBSU finished out the sweep with six victories. Luzar had the biggest win, blanking Plata in a 6-0, 6-0 win, while Manasse also won convincingly at No. 4, 6-0, 6-1 over Corpuz.
Dallara closed out the match with a 6-3, 6-3 win in her first match at No. 1, while the remaining matches went three sets, but the 49ers prevailed in each.
The 49ers face a key Big West match tomorrow against No. 51 UC Irvine at 11 a.m. at the Rhodes Tennis Center.
