A little luck is never a bad thing for a team that is struggling to put together wins.
The Long Beach State baseball team took advantage of miscues by Loyola Marymount to get the 12-6 victory Tuesday night at Blair Field.
The win was earned without the help of head coach Mike Weathers, who was ejected for the last three innings.
The Dirtbags (6-9) used a big five-run seventh inning to seal their second consecutive win. LBSU saw all nine men in its batting order come to the plate in the inning and used an error, hit batsman, and wild pitch to take the commanding lead.
The seventh was highlighted by a Brennan Metzger groundball that was misplayed by Lions second baseman Jonathan Johnson, allowing two runs to score. TJ Mittelstaedt had the other big hit of the inning when he singled to center field to bring two more across the plate.
Weathers was ejected in the sixth inning after arguing that LMU first baseman Ryan Wheeler went out of the baseline to slide into a Dirtbag fielder to break up a double play.
“I don’t think he planned to get tossed,” assistant coach Jon Strauss said. “I know head coaches sometimes plan that this is the time. But I think he was just looking at his player, and he was concerned with what was going on there.”
Strauss took over the team after Weathers was ejected.
A collection of Dirtbag relievers combined to silence the Lion bats, which had been hot early in the game, for the last five innings of the contest.
Senior Manny McElroy (1-1) hurled two shutout innings and allowed just one hit in relief to earn the victory. Lions reliever Jeremy Burrell (0-1) was charged with the loss, allowing three runs — two earned — on two hits and failed to record an out.
LBSU was led on offense by third baseman Rylan Sandoval who went 4-for-5 with three runs scored, and came up a home run short of hitting for the cycle.
“I seem to be keep getting more confident, and I feel better at the plate,” Sandoval said. “I think we have good momentum going right now, even on Saturday and Sunday we played really hard. The past few games, we’ve had a real aggressive attitude in our hitters and on the bases.”
The Dirtbags finished the game with 12 runs on 15 hits.
The LMU offense didn’t take long to get started, though, as the Lions led off the game with a base hit up the middle by left fielder Ryan Hawthorne. The real damage was done, though, after a sacrifice bunt and groundout moved Hawthorne to third base.
LMU right fielder Angelo Songco then blasted a two-run home run just inside the right-field foul pole to give the Lions the early 2-0 lead. It was Songco’s second roundtripper against the Dirtbags this season, with his other coming Feb. 25 at home.
Sandoval led off the second inning with a double to the gap in right-center field. He then scored from second on an error as Johnson overthrew his first baseman trying to retire Taylor Krick, who went 4-for-5 with two RBIs. Jonathan Jones lined a single up the middle that scored Krick all the way from second base.
After a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch, a Metzger single scored Jones, giving LBSU the 3-2 lead.
However, LMU (8-12) would bounce back as three Lions crossed the plate in the top of the third inning.
Dirtbag starter Jeff Lease loaded the bases, and LMU capitalized as catcher Ollie Enos laced one to left field to score two runs. Lease would come out before the next batter after giving up five runs on five hits in just 2 2/3 innings of work.
Relief pitcher Anthony Carrillo wouldn’t fair much better as he gave up a base hit to designated hitter Brad Bauer that scored Songco to give LMU a 5-3 lead.
Both teams each scored a run in the fourth inning with the Dirtbags’ run coming on catcher Kip Masuda’s first RBI of the season. Masuda was making his first start this season and finished 1-for-2 before being taken out in the fifth inning for Kellen Hoime.
Trailing 6-4, LBSU cut the deficit in half when Krick smashed a line drive off the body of Lions pitcher Jordan McClintock. The ball then went to shallow right field, allowing Derek Legg to score.
Errors also plagued the Lions in the bottom of the eighth inning, as two runs scored on an error by LMU shortstop Shon Roe.
The Dirtbags will travel to Wichita State for a weekend series starting Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m.