For the third consecutive game against Washington, the Dirtbags scored first but it didn’t help in their quest to earn a series win at Blair Field on Sunday.
Long Beach State (4-6) squandered an early two-run lead as a big fifth inning by the Huskies helped earn them a 6-4 win over the Dirtbags.
After getting to Washington’s starter Andrew Kittredge early in the game, the Dirtbags’ bats were silenced by the right-hander for much of the game. Kittredge (2-1) finished with 10 strikeouts in his 7.2 innings of work for the Huskies.
LBSU finished the game with 12 strikeouts as a team.
“I don’t think these guys are very confident in themselves and that’s the problem,” Dirtbag head coach Mike Weathers said. “And I think once guys lose confidence or have fake confidence, I think sometimes [with] their false bravado, they think everything is OK.
“At our home park, where we’re playing the majority of the games at the beginning of the year, we’re 2-5 and if you can’t defend your own field … you’ve got some issues.”
The Dirtbags were finally able to get to Kittredge in the eighth inning as back-to-back doubles led to two runs for LBSU. TJ Mittetstaedt drove in both runs with a double off the wall in right field.
Washington’s (6-5) big inning on offense came in the fifth when it hung three runs on LBSU starter Branden Pinder. Troy Scott smashed a two-out double off the left field wall to drive in two runs for the Huskies to extend their lead to three runs over LBSU.
Mittelstaedt led the Dirtbags on offense by going 2-for-4 with two RBIs, while Steve Tinoco added two runs scored for LBSU.
Pinder (0-3) took the loss in the contest by surrendering six runs in five innings on the mound for LBSU.
Bradley Boyer, who went 2-for-5 with an RBI, led Washington on offense. Scott also contributed by going 2-for-4 with his two RBIs for the Huskies.
The Dirtbags put two runs on the scoreboard in a hurry with some help from the Washington defense.
After a Devin Lohman double, Tinoco laced a triple down the line in right field to score Lohman in the first inning.
Tinoco would come home to score on a strikeout and passed ball that allowed Joey Terdoslavich to advance all the way to second base on the swing-and-miss. The Dirtbags scored their two first-inning runs all with two outs in the frame.
Washington answered back with a home run in the second and a two-out RBI single by Boyer in the third inning to tie the game at two runs apiece.
Weathers said that he was not pleased that his team was having trouble putting together quality at-bats and mentioned that lineup changes will be on the horizon for LBSU when it faces San Diego State on Tuesday.
“There will be other guys on Tuesday, we have to,” Weathers said. “I’ve kind of gotten away with [not playing a lot of guys], because I’ve given the older group the benefit of the doubt.”
The Dirtbags will host the head coach Tony Gwynn’s Aztecs on Tuesday at Blair Field. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.