By snoadmin
MALIBU – RHP Tyler Topp came entered Tuesday’s contest having given up the lead within his first two innings of work in all three starts made. Topp has given up the lead in the first inning in his past two starts for the Dirtbags.
But Topp failed to end the streak, as he gave up his largest lead yet – five runs (three earned) in the first and one more earned in the second – in under two innings of work. Topp took the loss, as No. 3-ranked Long Beach State (17-4) fell 7-5 to No. 13-ranked Pepperdine (16-7) at Eddy D. Field Stadium Tuesday evening.
“I don’t think he had great stuff – he was missing his location on almost every pitch,” said head coach Mike Weathers. “However, he should have gotten out of the inning.”
What was more troubling than Topp’s start was the four fielding errors made by the Dirtbags. Each team recorded four errors each.
“We’re in a team slump defensively,” Weathers said. “Our people are capable [of getting out of it]. I don’t believe that we’re not capable of playing better defense, we’ve got too good of players. But right now, we’re not playing good defense and it cost us.”
Each error proved to be costly, most notably a bobbled ball by Devin Lohman at second base. Lohman bobbled a routine grounder that would have gone for an inning-ending double play, eliminating the five-run rally the Waves put up in the first inning.
Weathers said Topp’s outing was affected by the errors.
“We should have made that double play,” Weathers said. “[Topp] is out of the game if we can’t catch the ball.”
After putting up two runs early, the Dirtbags went down quietly, adding only one run in the fourth and two in the ninth. Taylor Krick put in two hits for The Beach and knocked in a run.
Jonathan Jones, Steve Tinoco, John Hill and Jordan Casas each hit safely, with Tinoco driving in two and nearly tying the game for the Dirtbags in the ninth. Casas pinch-hit a single to right in the top of the ninth to record his first base hit as a Dirtbag.
“Seeing the ball, hitting the ball, it’s a simple as that,” Tinoco said. “I was just trying to do my best to help the team to win.”
Tinoco nearly did help his team win late in the game, as the Dirtbags threatened the Waves’ lead in the ninth.
John Hill reached base with a leadoff walk, and Pepperdine reliever Nick Gaudi gave up back-to-back singles to Casas and Lohman to load the bases with no outs. TJ Mittelstaedt then popped out and Jonathan Jones struck out. Tinoco walked to the plate with a swagger, knowing full well what pitch he was going to get.
“I saw that [Gaudi] threw fastball first pitch to the last two guys for strikes,” Tinoco said. “I thought if he threw me a fastball up, I might as well hit it.”
Tinoco ripped a single into right field, driving in Hill and Lohman, and putting the Dirtbags within just two runs. But their comeback attempt fell short, as Danny Espinosa flew out to end the game.
