Long Beach State has smashed opposing pitching as of late, and it continued Tuesday night against Pepperdine.
The Dirtbags had 12 hits as they extended their winning streak to four games with a 10-5 victory over the visiting Waves at Blair Field.
David Brown (2-0) picked up the win for the Dirtbags in his longest outing this season (3 2/3 innings) as LBSU used five pitchers in the mid-week contest.
“I think David Brown did really did a good job out of the bullpen,” head coach Mike Weathers said. “It was a real long outing for him.”
Nathan Newman (3-5) took the loss for Pepperdine as he worked 5 1/3 innings and gave up eight runs on nine hits.
Junior TJ Mittelstaedt continued to have an outstanding week on the offensive side. Mittelstaedt went 2-for-3 with 3 RBIs in the contest after a weekend series that saw him go 5-for-11 with seven RBIs and four runs scored.
Four different Dirtbags (24-20) had two hits, and three batters had at least two RBIs.
“I like that we came back in innings that they scored,” Weathers said.
The Dirtbags struck first as Mittelstaedt drove a single into left field to bring in Brennan Metzger from second base to give LBSU the 1-0 lead.
A leadoff double by Ryan Heroy led to the Waves’ first run of the game. After a steal by Heroy, Waves (25-20) shortstop Denny Duron reached first base when Taylor Krick misplayed a high-bouncing ground ball. Heroy scored on the error to tie the game 1-1 at the end of the first inning.
LBSU put two more runs on the scoreboard in the second inning as Tre Dennis singled to right field to bring in Jonathan Jones from second base for the first run. Krick made it to third base on Dennis’ single, and he scored when Jordan Casas flied out to center field to give the Dirtbags a 3-1 lead.
Bryce Mendonca walked to start the third inning, and scored when Nate Simon lined a single to left field to cut the Dirtbag lead in half, 3-2.
The Waves took their first lead of the game in the fourth inning when Nate Johnson blasted a double over Metzger’s head in center field to score Duron from second base. It was the second run of the inning for Pepperdine, which took a 4-3 lead into the bottom half of the fourth.
Krick pulled the Dirtbags even with the Waves in the bottom of the fourth when he laced a single to center field that scored Jones from third base.
The Dirtbags used back-to-back doubles to take back a two-run lead in the fifth inning. Mittelstaedt lined a double to score Lohman from first base on a hit-and-run play.
Steve Tinoco then smashed a double deep to straightaway center field to score Mittelstaedt and give LBSU a 6-4 lead.
Newman walked Lohman with the bases loaded in the sixth inning to push the Dirtbag lead to three runs. Mittelstaedt would then pop out to left field, but he would get the RBI as Casas tagged up from third base to give LBSU an 8-4 lead.
Johnson hammered a solo home run to right field to lead off the seventh inning for Pepperdine to cut the LBSU lead to 8-5.
The Dirtbags added two more runs in the seventh inning as Krick and Casas both had an RBI in the frame.
LBSU returns to the diamond for a three-game set at UC Santa Barbara starting Friday. The team will then play at UCLA next Tuesday before returning to Blair Field for the final weekend home series against Cal Poly.
“We have got to win that series [against Cal Poly] … we’ve got three [series] left, and we’ve got to win them all,” Weathers said.