Baseball: Offense continues surge with second win over Arizona
The Dirtbag offense kept its momentum from yesterday’s comeback win over Arizona, with a 10-3 trouncing of the Wildcats on Saturday.
Devin Lohman and Steve Tinoco each had three hits for Long Beach State (3-3).
The Dirtbags scored 10 runs on 11 hits in support of Andrew Gagnon, who picked up his first win of the season after pitching 6.0 innings and allowing just one earned run with four strikeouts on four hits. Kenny Arnerich closed out the game to seal the series win for LBSU.
Tied 1-1, the Dirtbags put together their biggest inning in the third. Brennan Metzger led off with a single and Jordan Casas walked to get two runners on. A single by Lohman loaded the bases, and Metzger came home on a double play.
The inning continued with a walk and a hit batter, before Tinoco added a two-run single. Jones would then come home on an error by Cole Frenzel, putting the Dirtbags ahead, 5-1.
The Beach added an unearned run in the top of the sixth with Tinoco’s third RBI.
In the final inning, the Dirtbags added two more runs on hits from Tinoco, Legg and Tre Dennis to take a 10-2 lead.
LBSU will try to complete the series sweep tomorrow at 11 a.m.
Men’s Basketball: 49ers stifled by Pacific defense
Pacific’s defensive pressure contained the 49ers in a 61-51 win on Saturday night.
T.J. Robinson finished with 19 points, on 9-of-14 shooting, and eight rebounds, but the rest of the 49ers combined to make just 10-of-32 field goals. Nobody other than Robinson had more than two field goals.
The Beach (14-15, 7-8 Big West Conference) finished making just 41.3 percent of its shots, including a dismal 2-of-16 from three and 11-of-19 from the free throw line.
Pacific also struggled making just 42 percent from the field, but the Tigers (18-10, 10-4 Big West) were 4-of-13 from three and 15-of-21 from the free throw line.
Demetrece Young led Pacific with 16 points. Sam Willard added 12 points and seven boards for the Tigers. Casper Ware had nine points for the 49ers, while Arturas Lazdauskas led The Beach with nine boards.
LBSU wraps up the regular season on Friday at the Walter Pyramid against UC Riverside, in an FSN West-televised game set to begin at 7:30 p.m.
Softball: LBSU earns split on day two in Palm Springs
The Long Beach State softball team (5-7) split a pair of games on the second day of the Cathedral City Classic as it defeated Long Island, 5-1, before falling to Utah by the same score.
Long Beach State 5, Long Island 1
Long Beach State opened the second day of the Cathedral City Classic with a 5-1 victory over Long Island University Saturday afternoon.
Junior Brooke Turner (2-1) allowed one run on seven hits, while striking out five.
Junior Christina Schallig led the 49er offense, going 2-for-2 with a run and an RBI. Senior Kristen Pocock also had a pair of hits, while junior Andrea Littleworth had a pinch-hit RBI double.
The Beach jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first, scoring all three runs with two outs. Freshman Nalani St. Germain started off the inning by reaching on an error and eventually scored on a Schallig double. Liz Javier and Pocock also drove in runs.
The 49ers went up 5-0 with a pair of runs in the sixth. Littleworth highlighted the inning with a pinch-hit RBI double.
Utah 5, Long Beach State 1
LBSU was held to one hit in a 5-1 loss to Utah.
Sophomore Taylor Petty (2-5) giving up four runs on six hits, while striking out seven in the loss.
St. Germain had the 49ers’ lone hit, while Reyes picked up an RBI.
Utah (8-6) put two runs on the board in the first before LBSU cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the inning. St. Germain led off with a double and eventually came around to score on a sacrifice fly from Reyes.
The Utes tacked on two more in the fifth and one in the sixth to secure the 5-1 victory.
LBSU concludes action at the Cathedral City Classic tomorrow when it takes on Colorado State (9 a.m.) and No. 13/14 California (1 p.m.).
Women’s Tennis: Grady honored, 49ers notch rain-shortened win
Long Beach State recorded a victory over Pacific after the match was called with the 49ers up 4-1, due to rain.
The day started when Court No. 1 at the Rhodes Tennis Center was dedicated in honor of Grady, the school’s only four-time Big West Player of the Year in any sport.
Play began after three and a half hours of weather delay, starting with singles rather than doubles to get play in. Anais Dallara took her first loss to No. 122 Jennifer Widjaja at No. 1 singles, but the 49ers rallied through the rest of the lineup.
Jaklin Alawi made quick work of Christina Goehl at No. 2 singles, winning 6-0, 6-2, while fellow freshman Anna Jeczmionka won at No. 5 singles, 6-1, 6-2 over Katarina Nezhura.
Rachel Manasse outlasted Olga Gumenyuk at No. 4 singles 7-5, 7-5, and Deborah Armstrong clinched the match with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory.
LBSU (6-1, 3-0 Big West Conference) returns to the Rhodes Tennis Center on Sunday, hosting No. 18 Washington at 11 a.m.
Track and Field: Beach concludes MPSF Indoor Championships
The 49er men and women both placed 10th in the final team standings at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Indoor Championships in Seattle on Saturday.
Nicholas Armstrong placed seventh in the heptathlon with 4,983 points. His point total puts him second in school history.
Sam Jeter added a seventh-place showing in the 400-meter dash with a season-low 48.31 seconds, which ranks him ninth among the 49er all-time top 10.
Colin Dubar, who scored in the weight throw on Friday, got the 49ers on the board again in the shot put as he finished eighth with a distance of 53-11.25.
Matt Maldonado notched three points for The Beach in the mile run, finishing sixth overall with a time of 4:04.36. Nimrod Piggee also grabbed the sixth spot in the 60-meter hurdles, clocking in at 8.27 seconds.
On the women’s side, the high jumpers highlighted the second day of action for the 49ers. Tayler O’Connor tied for fourth place by clearing 5-08.50. Janelle Coulter also scored for The Beach, tying for seventh with a mark of 5-06.50.
LBSU opens the outdoor season next weekend in Fullerton at the Ben Brown Invitational from March 5-6.
