By The weekend series at Bohl Diamond on Blair Field against the Cal State Northridge Matadors was a case of hot and cold for the Long Beach State Dirtbags as they struggled to get their pitching and hitting to perform well in the same game.
Friday, April 25, LBSU 13 – CSUN 7
Junior pitcher Kellen Montgomery faced early adversity as the Matadors collected two runs on a home run in the second inning. The Dirtbags responded with two home runs from senior catcher Conner Stewart and senior shortstop Nathan Cadena, taking the lead 3-2.
Three RBI singles put CSUN back ahead 5-3 in the third inning, but a three-run home run from freshman third baseman Jake Evans put LBSU ahead 6-5 and shifted the momentum.
Freshman infielder Jake Evans pops up the ball against CSUN on April 27 at Bohl Diamond at Blair Field. The Dirtbags lost to the Matadors in extra innings 13-12. Photo credit: Samuel Chacko
The Dirtbags carried their momentum for the next two innings and added on seven more runs across the fifth and sixth innings, bringing up the score 13-5.
Cadena shined, going 3-4 with a triple shy of the cycle, tying with Evans and senior first baseman Conner Charpiot with three RBIs.
“They took out Tuesday’s loss in practice,” Dirtbags head coach TJ Bruce said. “It’s not really about taking it out on the next opponent, it’s about taking it out on the next opportunity you have, and it was practice for us, so I was really excited to see that, and it paid off today. ”
The run support gave confidence to Dirtbags pitcher Montgomery as he went scoreless from the fourth to his final sixth inning. The bullpen helped preserve the lead, only giving up two runs, allowing the Dirtbags to take game one 13-7.
Saturday, April 26, CSUN 6 – LBSU 0
After an explosive showing from the Dirtbags’ bats on Friday, they fell silent on Saturday.
The Matadors jumped on sophomore starting pitcher Owen Geiss early, tagging him for four runs on six hits in three innings of work.
Sophomore Tyler Gebb came out of the bullpen to try and buy the Dirtbags some time for their bats to warm up. This was to no avail as he only lasted one inning, giving up two runs on three hits in just one inning and the Dirtbags suddenly found themselves down 6-0 after four innings.
The Matadors joined the Dirtbags with offensive struggles as no team scored a run from the fifth inning on. For the Dirtbags, this was in large part due to the performance of junior pitcher Van Larson.
Larson was masterful in his five innings, only giving up one hit while allowing no runs and not walking a single Matador.
Larson gave the Dirtbags an opportunity to get back into the game, but they could not get a runner to cross home plate and fell 6-0.
Sunday, April 27, CSUN 13 – LBSU 12
After the Matadors scored one in the top of the first, the Dirtbags clapped back in the same inning, putting up two runs, with the first of two coming off a home run to left field from Cadena, followed by a single from Charpiot to take the lead 2-1.
The Dirtbags added one more in the second by way of an infield single from graduate right fielder Kyle Ashworth to make it 3-1 Dirtbags. The Matadors struck right back when Matador senior right fielder Andrew Gauna homered to left center to tie it 3-3.
The Dirtbags answered back viciously as freshman left fielder Matt Toomey ripped a two-run homer of his own.
With the bases loaded, Cadena was hit by a pitch that scored a run. Senior outfielder Alex Champagne followed that with a single up the middle that scored two to make it 8-3 after three innings.
Senior infielder Nathan Cadena gets drilled by a pitch in the bottom of the third with the bases loaded. Cadena had two hits and five RBI’s as LBSU lost to CSUN 13-12 on April 27 at Bohl Diamond at Blair Field. Photo credit: Samuel Chacko
The Matadors loaded the bases themselves and scored three runs on a single and a double to cut the lead to two at 8-6 in favor of the ‘Bags.
In the sixth, the Matadors loaded the bases again, and a hit by pitch and a three-run double put them up 10-8.
Ashworth again came up clutch with an RBI single in the seventh that cut the lead to one at 10-9, CSUN.
CSUN put up two more runs in the eighth and ninth innings, but Cadena came up huge and tied the game at 12 in the bottom of the ninth with a three-run homer that sent the crowd into a frenzy.
The Long Beach State Dirtbags celebrated as senior infielder Nathan Cadena hit a three-run homerun to tie the game 12 apiece on April 27 at Bohl Diamond at Blair Field. The Dirtbags ended up losing the game in extra innings 13-12. Photo credit: Samuel Chacko
Matadors’ redshirt freshman second baseman Kyle Panganiban doubled in the go-ahead run in the top of the tenth inning, and the Dirtbags could not answer back, ending the game 13-12 in favor of the Matadors.
“Sometimes your best just isn’t good enough,” Charpiot said. “You know, I felt like we kind of let our foot off the gas a little bit.”
The Dirtbags will face off the Arizona State Sun Devils in a two-game series at Phoenix Municipal Stadium on Tuesday, April 29.
