Softball
With the Big West season starting next Saturday, the Long Beach State softball team had its last non-conference tournament of the season over the weekend, winning three of its five games.
The 49ers (14-16) beat Ohio, 8-0, and UC Davis, 5-3, on Friday. On Saturday, LBSU dropped two games, losing to Portland State 7-3 and tournament-host Stanford 3-0. The softball team capped the weekend on a high note Sunday, beating Ohio for the second time, this time by a 3-2 score.
In the first game of the tournament against Ohio, LBSU scored seven runs in the fourth inning and Kelly Cross pitched five scoreless innings to record her third win of the season. The shutout was LBSU’s fifth of the season.
The 49ers made it eight wins in the last nine games by beating UC Davis in their second game Friday.
Panita Thanatharn had three hits and two RBIs to lead LBSU over the Aggies in eight innings.
On Saturday, the 49ers lost two consecutive games for the first time since the first weekend in March.
Whitney Radcliff hit her first home run of the year for the 49ers against Portland State, but Lacy Tyler struggled from the circle, giving up five runs in three innings as the Vikings pulled out the victory.
Later in the day, LBSU couldn’t muster up any offense against Stanford’s Missy Penna, who pitched a two-hit shutout for her 15th win of the season.
The 49ers ended the short losing streak Sunday, erasing a two-run deficit by scoring one run in the fifth inning and two in the sixth to beat Ohio.
Bridget Pagano picked up her 10th victory of the season, pitching 3.2 scoreless innings.
The 49ers will play their last games before the Big West season begins when they meet Brown at the Softball Complex on campus on Tuesday for a double-header.
Next Saturday, the conference season begins with Cal State Northridge visiting LBSU.
Track and Field
At the USC Invitational, Nicole Blalock ran the third fastest time 1500-meter time in Long Beach State history.
Blalock, who ran the race in 4:29.65, was just two second short of qualifying for the NCAA Regionals.
Sprinter Brent Gray finished third in the 100-meter, with a time of 21.4. In the 800-meter, Mario Cobian just missed out of qualifying for the NCAA Regionals, running in 1:52.82.
