After Friday’s rain forced the Long Beach State baseball team to move its home opening series to Oklahoma, the Dirtbags weren’t able to weather the Sooners’ offensive storm.
The quick venue change didn’t help LBSU as they lost 6-2 to loss to Oklahoma on Friday night, Long Beach State answered with a great display of hitting in a 8-3 win Saturday.
In the rubber match, the Dirtbags were in great position to take the series from the Sooners after jumping out to 2-0 lead in the fourth inning on Sunday. The lead was not enough to put Oklahoma away, though, and LBSU lost 4-2.
Looking back to Friday’s game, the Dirtbags gave the ball to junior pitcher Darren McCaughan to lead them to a win, but he was knocked around by the Sooners.
McCaughan gave up seven hits and six earned runs over six innings pitched, including back-to-back home runs en route to the 6-2 loss.
The offense didn’t help McCaughan in game one, as the Dirtbags’ hitters were held to just three hits.
On Saturday, the Dirtbags’ hitters bounced back and had eight hits – including a 3-run home run by junior catcher David Banuelos, who finished 2 for 4 with four RBIs. Other notable performances at the plate included junior Brock Lundquist, who was 2 for 4 with a run scored, and junior Ramsey Romano, who went 1 for 3 with one RBI and run scored each.
Solid pitching from senior starter Dave Smith and freshman Matt Fields kept the Sooners from mounting any sort of comeback. Senior pitcher Josh Advocate came on in the seventh inning for a nine-out save, his first of 2017. Fields was credited with the win in his first collegiate action appearance after three innings of work.
With each team having won a game, Sunday’s game featured LBSU junior starter John Sheaks against Oklahoma’s sophomore Kyle Tyler.
The Dirtbags came out swinging in game three against Tyler, taking a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning. The rally started with a leadoff walk from senior first baseman Daniel Jackson, followed by a bunt single by sophomore second baseman Jarren Duran. That set the table for Rasmussen, who smoked a two-run double to the wall, allowing Jackson and Duran to score easily.
Sheaks pitched well in his Dirtbag debut, cruising through four innings before allowing the first Sooner run in the fifth. Oklahoma took the lead in the following inning as they cashed in three runs on three hits. Sheaks’ final line was 5.1 IP, allowing three earned runs and four hits while taking the loss.
The Dirtbags are back in action on Tuesday when they head to Dedeaux Field to face the USC Trojans at 6 p.m.
