Just a day removed from one of its best offensive outputs of the season, the Long Beach State baseball team’s bats were silenced Saturday, while its pitching didn’t fare any better either.
After a shaky start in the first inning, Dirtbags hurler Brandon Pinder settled down only to come undone in a three-run fifth that proved to be the difference in a 6-1 loss to No. 12-ranked Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif.
Pinder (0-3), who was charged with the loss, threw just four 2/3 innings while giving up five runs on seven hits.
Cardinal ace Jordan Pries (3-1) earned the victory after conceding just one unearned run that came off a wild pitch and five hits in seven innings of work.
After cutting the deficit to 2-1, LBSU’s (12-10) momentum was soon stifled in the fifth inning when the Cardinal responded with three more runs to take a commanding lead.
Stanford (9-6) catcher Zach Jones led off with a double to left field before LBSU second baseman Matt Duffy couldn’t glove a ball that took a bad hop off Stewart’s bat.
With runners on the corners, Cardinal shortstop Kenny Diekroger came up to bat and ripped an RBI-single through shallow right field.
Pinder struck out the next batter, but paid a heavy price for it after both runners on board stole second and third base.
Tyler Gaffney then drilled a two-out single that skipped down the left field line and brought both runners in scoring position home to give Stanford a decisive 5-1 lead.
Pinder was then replaced by reliever Matt Johnson, who eventually got out of the inning, but the damage was already done.
The Cardinal pitching staff would allow just one hit from the sixth inning on, and received another insurance run in the eighth, shutting down LBSU’s hopes for a comeback.
Pinder struggled early on in the first inning after surrendering two runs.
Jake Stewart sparked the Cardinal’s bats with a leadoff single up the middle before advancing to second base on a groundout from Ben Clowe.
From there, Diekroeger, who went 2-of-4 with two RBIs, delivered a single through the right side to drive in Stewart for the first run of the game.
Then, with two outs and a runner on first, Pinder didn’t do himself any favors when he plunked Gaffney, who went 2-of-3 with two RBIs.
With two runners aboard, Brian Ragira smacked an RBI-single to left field to give Stanford a 2-0 advantage.
LBSU eventually scored in the fourth inning, but it would be the only run of the game for the Dirtbags after Pries committed two costly errors.
Following a one-out single, Dirtbags left fielder Michael Hill advanced to second base on a throwing error by Pries.
Hill then moved over to third on a groundout before scoring on an off-target throw from Pries. This time, it was a wild pitch that sailed past the reach of his catcher.
The Dirtbags will return to action Sunday to wrap up their three-game series with Stanford. LBSU’s Shawn Stuart (2-1, 3.00 ERA) will take the mound against Dean McArdle (3-0, 1.00 ERA) with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Sunken Diamond in Palo Alto, Calif.
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