Baseball: Late error foils attempt at sweep
An error in the ninth inning cost the Dirtbags (9-9) a series sweep against UNLV as they fell, 2-1, to the Rebels on Sunday.
Long Beach State closer David Brown (2-1) was charged with the loss. He picked up the last out of the eighth inning, but after retiring the first batter in the ninth, hit Nolan Clark and walked RJ Arnold to put two runners on.
UNLV’s Richie Jimenez singled to load the bases and Cash Thomas singled one more time to tie the game.
LBSU cut down Arnold at the plate to keep the game going, but after a wild pitch moved Jimenez to third, an error by Derek Legg on a grounder to second ended the game as Jimenez came home on the play.
Branden Pinder struck out a career-high six batters, allowing no runs through seven innings.
The Beach struck first as Steve Tinoco led off the second with a single and moved to second when the ball was misplayed by Thomas. TJ Mittelstaedt followed with an RBI-single up the middle to score Tinoco. Mittelstaedt and Tre Dennis were both caught trying to steal in the inning.
Pinder’s effort was matched by UNLV’s starting pitcher Matt Hutchinson, who pitched 8.0 innings, allowed one run and struck out seven.
LBSU returns home to host Hawaii on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. before traveling to Oregon State for the team’s final series before Big West Conference play begins.
Softball: The Beach outduels No. 25 Massachusetts
The 49ers (14-13) closed out the San Diego Classic II with a 2-0 victory over No. 25 Massachusetts (15-7) Sunday afternoon at SDSU Softball Stadium.
Senior Ashley Levine was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate, while junior Casey Burba finished with two hits and an RBI. Freshman Caitrin DeBaun also went 1-for-2 with a run scored.
Senior Bridgette Pagano was credited with the win, tossing 4.0 scoreless innings of relief. Junior Brooke Turner started the game, scattering just three hits, while striking out three.
The Beach struck in the second inning when Burba had an infield single and Alisha Rosen came around to score on a throwing error.
The 49ers added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning with a full count and the bases loaded for Burba, who drew a two-out walk to plate DeBaun.
LBSU returns to action on Tuesday when it hosts Illinois-Chicago in a doubleheader beginning at noon at the 49er Softball Complex.
Men’s Volleyball: 49ers go winless in Hawaii
Hawaii’s Johsua Walker and Jonas Umlauft outdueled Long Beach State’s Dean Bittner and Jim Baughman late Saturday night as the Warriors beat LBSU 33-35, 30-25, 30-20, 25-30, 15-5 in a five-set, three-hour marathon at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Bittner paced LBSU (11-10, 7-7 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) with 26 kills, while Baughman had 20 kills on .410 hitting. Kirk Francis chipped in a career-high 21 digs.
Walker finished with a double-double of 28 kills and 11 digs on .542 hitting. Umlauft had 28 kills and a .310 hitting percentage to lead Hawaii (14-7, 10-6 MPSF) to a weekend sweep of The Beach.
Hawaii hit .363 as a team, while LBSU answered hitting just .236.
LBSU closes the season playing seven of its eight remaining matches at the Walter Pyramid. The team’s next match comes at home on Friday against Pacific at 7 p.m.