By LOS ANGELES – The Long Beach State Dirtbags dropped their third straight game on Tuesday night at Page Field against Loyola Marymount in a bullpen game for both squads.
Since last Friday’s 19-run offensive outpour, the bats have gone cold and runners have been stationary on the basepath.
“I think Friday for me was more surprising than the last three games,” Dirtbag head coach TJ Bruce said. “I don’t think we are this poor offensively, but I also don’t think we are Friday [good] either, I think it’s somewhere in between.”
Senior pitcher Albert Roblez got the ball first for the Dirtbags in the scheduled bullpen game and got them through the first two innings allowing one run while facing eight batters.
In the top of the second, LBSU’s leader in batting average a season ago, senior first baseman Connor Charpiot, entered the hit column for the first time this year with a single.
Two batters later, senior third baseman Nathan Cadena launched a two-run home run over the “Blue Monster” in left field. The wall stands 37 feet tall and 130 feet wide, mimicking Fenway Park’s “Green Monster” in Boston.
With the Dirtbags clinging to a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third, senior centerfielder Alex Champagne flashed the leather by making a full-extension diving catch in deep left-center field, robbing LMU of an extra-base hit.
The Lions’ offense was able to string multiple hits together in the bottom of the fourth to jump out in front 3-2 courtesy of an RBI single from redshirt senior third baseman Joe Reid to tie the game, and an RBI groundout by redshirt freshman JD Dunn to take the lead.
With two outs in the top of the fifth inning, the Dirtbags had two runners in scoring position after a walk, hit by pitch and a wild pitch put them in position to respond with their hottest hitter in junior designated hitter Dylan Lina coming to the plate.
Lina struck out, putting an end to the inning and a possible rally.
LBSU left seven runners on base throughout the game, putting into perspective its recent struggles driving in runs.
Now with sophomore pitcher Cristien Banda on the mound and one strike away from getting out of the fifth inning unscathed, LMU redshirt junior first baseman Beau Ankeney roped a sharply hit ball off the “Monster” in left for a double to plate a run.
Two more came across to score later in the inning after Champagne nearly replicated his outstanding defensive play from earlier, but was unable to hold on as the ball bounced out of his glove and the Lions a 6-2 lead.
Junior infielder Armando Briseno made things interesting in the top of the seventh when he struck a ball to the opposite field that carried out for his second home run of the season.
The two-run homer brought LBSU within two, giving the Dirtbag dugout some life as they were on the field celebrating.
LMU added an insurance run in the home half of the eighth when Ankeney was hit by a pitch, bringing a runner home and pushing the lead to 7-4.
The Dirtbag bullpen struggled to solve Ankeney all night as he was in the middle of all the Lions scoring, finishing 3-4 with two RBI and three runs scored.
“That was Loyala’s fifth game in a row, so we have guys that were really fresh, and they had guys that were pitching Friday and Sunday and then Tuesday again,” Bruce said. “I don’t know what the recipe is on that one.”
Cadena has been the outspoken leader and was asked if he feels any added pressure on himself to make sure the team breaks out of its slump.
“No. Everyone’s got to do their job, including me, I’m not trying to make it bigger than it is,” Cadena said. “We got a lot of leaders on this team that can do damage in the lineup, so I don’t really add extra pressure on me.”
The Dirtbags head south for a weekend in San Diego, looking to right the ship against four different teams over the next four games beginning on Friday against California Baptist.
