Long Beach State fans were treated to some late-game heroics and a new single-season strikeout record in game one of a doubleheader against UC Riverside at the 49er softball complex.
On an 0-1 pitch, 49ers catcher Brooke LeSage laced a game-winning RBI single past Highlander third basewoman Brooke Hebenton in the seventh, scoring Jessica Beaver to give the 49ers a 2-1 victory Saturday afternoon.
“I wasn’t really looking for a specific pitch,” LeSage said, “just one that I could drive hard and get through the infield, so we could score that run. Anything that I could get my hands on top of. I didn’t want to fly out.”
Senior Franciska Morlet led off the inning with a single up the middle, but Beaver was unable to move her to second on a sacrifice bunt attempt that resulted in a fielder’s choice and put Beaver on first with one out. UCR junior right-hander Amanda Klimczak then walked Jonae Perez on a 3-2 count to set the stage for LeSage, who finished 2-for-4 to raise her batting average to .323 heading into game two.
LBSU (34-12 overall, 10-3 Big West) received another strong performance in the pitcher’s circle from right-hander Brooke Turner, who broke Meredith Cervenka’s single-season strikeout record of 191 set in 2005.
“Coming in as a freshman, I didn’t really expect to do as well as I have,” Turner said. “To break a record that was set by Meredith, who was a great pitcher here at Long Beach – just to even come close to it – is a big honor.”
Turner (22-4) allowed just one run on three hits, struck out 11 – her seventh double-digit strikeout performance – and walked two. The freshman fanned Highlander shortstop Kameryn Hebenton looking in the third inning to set the record and has now struck out 198 batters this season. She recorded two strikeouts in each of the first five innings to start the game, getting numerous batters to chase strike three high and out of the strike zone.
“My curve and my rise ball are my two strikeout pitches,” Turner said. “So, I just trusted them and tried to mix it up the whole game.”
Head coach Kim Sowder said, “Brooke was very impressive again today and came out strong. She was a little bit off last weekend, just came back real strong, made some adjustments this week during practice and she pitched a great game for us.”
In the fourth, Turner was touched up when Highlanders catcher Cassie Greenawalt punched a two-out, RBI single past Beaver to score senior Veronica Yee from second and tie the game at 1.
UCR (18-28 overall, 4-9 Big West) received a solid outing from Klimczak, who was able to settle down after needing 45 pitches to get out of the first two innings, and was helped by anxious LBSU hitters swinging early in counts. She threw just 50 pitches over the final 4 1/3 innings.
“We definitely were chasing pitches out of the zone,” Sowder said. “The people that struggled chased balls, basically, and also we hit the ball in the air too much. We’ve got to put the ball on the ground with this wind blowing in here a little bit today.”
“[Klimczak] started picking out the pitches that we were struggling with, and she just kept with it,” LeSage said. “We just kind of got unfocused with our at-bats, but then we started picking it up toward the end.”
After allowing a leadoff single and a walk in the second, Klimczak watched 49ers junior Brianna Goad drop down a sacrifice bunt to put runners in scoring position with just one out. Morlet worked an eight-pitch walk on a 3-2 count to load the bases, and, after striking out Beaver, the right-hander walked Perez to force in a run and give LBSU a 1-0 lead.
Klimczak (3-3) allowed two runs on five hits, walked six and struck out three in 6 1/3 innings of work.
The 49ers host the Highlanders in the finale of the three-game series Sunday at the 49er Softball Complex at 1 p.m.
