By Softball
Long Beach State’s softball team had an impressive spring break, going 5-1 in conference play.
The team first took on UC Davis in a doubleheader on March 26. The Beach found themselves losing early in game one, 3-0. The Beach rallied in the bottom of the fifth, scoring five runs in the inning thanks in part to Kyra Snyder’s bases-clearing double. The Beach was able to hang on to take game one 5-4.
Game two of the doubleheader started off similar to game one. The Aggies took a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning. The Beach chipped away at UC Davis’ lead, scoring runs in the first, second, fourth, and sixth inning to tie the game up at five going into the bottom of the seventh. Freshman Jacquelyn Bickar hit a walk-off single to take game two and the series.
Both UC Davis and Long Beach State’s offenses were sluggish in the series finale. The Beach was holding on to a slim 3-2 lead in the top of the seventh, but the Aggies were able to push across a run to force the game into extras. The game would go to the 13th inning where UC Davis scored three runs. The Beach was unable to score in the bottom of the inning, dropping the rubber match.
This past weekend the team played a series against CSU Northridge. Samantha Fowler took the ball for The Beach in game one and went the distance, scattering three hits over seven innings and striking out five in the 1-0 win.
In game two, Long Beach took a 6-0 lead in the third inning. However, a four-run in the fourth inning by The Aggies put pressure on. LBSU was able to hold on to the lead by one run, taking the second game 6-5.
Fowler once again pitched an amazing game in the series finale. It was a pitcher’s duel, with both teams only giving up one run within the first two innings. The game went to the bottom of the ninth when Marissa Caballero hit a walk-off single to complete the sweep.
Long Beach State is now in a three-way tie at the top of the Big West standings with Hawaii and Cal State Fullerton. Next, the team will take on UC San Diego in a three-game series this weekend.
Men’s Volleyball
Men’s volleyball had a perfect spring break, going 4-0 in conference play. The team played two games against UC Santa Barbara and two against Hawaii.
The Beach dropped the first set against UCSB but won the next three in commanding fashion to take the first game. The Beach hit .461 in the match and posted 13.0 total team blocks. It was the UCSB Gauchos’ first conference loss of the season. It was all Long Beach in the second match between the two teams.
The Beach swept the three sets [25-21, 26-24, 25-22] to roll past Santa Barbara. The Beach hit .350 with 49 kills in the match.
The Beach took on the defending champions in Hawaii last Friday and Saturday. In the first match, The Beach dropped the first set but battled hard to narrowly take the next three sets [22-25, 25-23, 26-24, 27-25]. The Beach hit .324 in the match while logging a season-high 63 kills and 42 digs to go along with 12.0 total team blocks in the victory.
The Beach carried its momentum into Saturday’s game against the Rainbow Warriors. Hawaii was hitting a league-leading .353 going into Saturday’s match, but The Beach held its opponent to a .174 attack percentage.
The Beach took the match 3-1 [25-23, 25-20, 21-25, 25-19] extending the team’s winning streak to six straight.
The win put The Beach back in sole possession of first place in the Big West Conference. Long Beach will play two games against UC San Diego this weekend.
Baseball
The Dirtbags went 2-6 in conference play over the break. Long Beach first traveled to CSU Northridge on March 25 and took the series opener 11-8. However, the offense went cold over the next two games, losing 4-3 and 7-3. It was the first conference series loss of the season.
LBSU then took on UC San Diego for a three-game series on April 1. The Dirtbags surrendered four runs in the seventh in a 7-6 loss in game one against the Tritons Friday night.
The Beach lost the next game 7-4, making it back-to-back conference series losses. The Dirtbags were able to salvage the rubber match on Sunday 4-0 behind a strong pitching performance from Zach Voelker and Matt Fields.
The two series losses put the Dirtbag’s conference record at 4-5. Head coach Eric Valenzuela and his team will look to get back over .500 this weekend in a three-game series at Cal Poly SLO.
Women’s Tennis
Women’s tennis lost both of their matches over the break.
The Beach first took on Cal Poly SLO. All of the sets were close, but the Mustangs came out on top. Cal Poly secured both doubles sets and kept the momentum going into singles where they secured the win.
The Beach played the next day against first-place UC Santa Barbara. The Beach was able to steal a point in doubles, but lost the offensive momentum and dropped its singles matches to lose 4-1.
The Beach will next play CSU Fullerton on Friday.
