By snoadmin
As Shane Peterson tagged second after ripping a ball deep into the right field corner in the bottom of the sixth, he had accomplished the near-impossible, as the double completed the cycle. Peterson led severely slumping Long Beach State to a 10-0 rout of No. 26-ranked Pepperdine Tuesday night at Blair Field.
“I never really thought it would happen,” Peterson said. “I came close my freshman year. I was a double short. But even tonight, I knew all I needed was a double, but I didn’t really think about it when I was up there.”
The junior first baseman’s feat was the first to be accomplished in recent Dirtbag history, as no cycles have been recorded since 1998. (Note: No record of cycles prior to 1998 have been archived.)
“Not since I’ve been here,” said eighth-year head coach Mike Weathers.
Peterson started off the night with a two-run homer in the first, just his second on the season. He then followed up his nearly 400-foot jack with a triple in the third, reached first with an infield single in the fourth and completed the cycle with the double in the sixth – a ball hit so deep it nearly went for another triple.
“I was lucky that tarp was there in right field to stop the ball,” Peterson said.
Peterson was walked to end the night, finishing 4-for-4 with five RBI and three runs scored.
The win, in a sense, completed a sort of cycle for LBSU (20-14). Three weeks ago, the Dirtbags were ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation after a torrid start that included a stretch of 15 wins in 16 games, and four straight sweeps in five straight series wins. But upon embarking on a 10-game road trip, it all came crashing down, starting in Malibu where they fell 7-5 to the Waves (23-12).
This time around, the now-unranked Dirtbags finished what they started.
“I think that now we know something is wrong,” Peterson said. “Before we were just playing like everything was good. We were still playing pretty similar. But now, I think we all need to bear down and make adjustments, and we did that tonight.”
After forgoing batting practice in favor of extra fielding time before the game, the Dirtbags wasted no time in pounding on Waves’ starter Robert Dickman. Peterson’s two-run shot put the Dirtbags up 3-0 in the first. Again, Peterson came up big in the fourth and ignited a four-run rally. His double helped add two in the sixth, and Taylor Krick singled to drive him in for the 10th run of the night.
The Waves were out-hit two-fold, as four Pepperdine arms combined to give up 14 hits and issue six walks. Four Dirtbags recorded multi-hit contests, with Robert Burk going 2-for-3 with two RBI. Jonathan Jones and Steve Tinoco both went 2-for-5, with Jones scoring once and Tinoco twice.
Chase d’Arnaud, a Long Beach native who prepped across the street from Blair Field at Wilson High School, was the only Wave to record a multi-hit game, as he went 2-for-4 with a double.
The offensive surge was a stark contrast to the untimely hitting the Dirtbags have experienced as of late. For a team that isn’t used to losing, the onslaught has begun to wear on the Dirtbags.
“It’s almost like he’s looked tired,” Weathers said of Peterson. “There’s a lot on his shoulders. Danny [Espinosa] and Shane and some of those other guys – they take it real personal when we lost like that.”
Brett Lorin (2-2), who had been shaky at best in two of the right-hander’s three previous starts, pitched five shutout innings in his fourth start of the season. The sophomore gave up just two hits and fanned five, just one shy of his career high.
Dickman (3-4) took the loss for Pepperdine, as he was shelled for five earned on seven hits in just a little over two innings.
Looking ahead
The Dirtbags travel up the 405 this weekend to take on CS Northridge for a three-game Big West Conference series at Matador Field.
The Matadors (15-17) are currently one spot ahead of LBSU in the conference, sitting in sixth place in the conference with a Big West record of 4-5. The Dirtbags have managed just a 2-4 record in the conference, and are two spots out of last place.
CSUN is currently coming off an upset of CS Fullerton in last weekend’s Big West series. Right-hander Phil Hamm limited the Titans to just two runs over seven innings, while the Matadors backed him up by scattering four two-out runs for the 4-2 victory.
Injury report
The Dirtbags may be without the aid of shortstop Danny Espinosa this weekend after a collision with second baseman Robert Burk in the infield in the top of the ninth Tuesday night took him down. Espinosa was tagging second for the second out of the inning when he and Burk collided, with Burk’s shoulder going sharply into Espinosa’s chest. While Burk was able to finish the inning, Espinosa was taken out of the game.
Second baseman Jason Tweedy, who has been out nearly a month after injuring his finger while laying down a bunt against San Diego State, has had the pin removed from his finger and has begun taking ground balls in the infield.
Center fielder Chris Nelson, out with a knee injury, has been working out in center field again and taking grounders.
