A disastrous eighth inning dropped the Dirtbags in a hole they couldn’t climb out of as they fell to Hawaii, 8-2, on Wednesday night at Blair Field.
Hawaii (12-9) continued its hot streak with its fourth straight win, while Long Beach State (9-10) fell to a game under .500.
“We are not a team that gets a lot of extra base hits,” LBSUhead coach Mike Weathers said. “It makes for a tight game, we have no room for error.”
The Dirtbags’ bullpen imploded in the bottom of the eighth as Hawaii scored three runs off five walks and one hit to go up, 6-2. The lone hit of the inning was a two-run single to left field from Hawaii’s David Freitas.
The bullpen walked four of the first six batters in the inning to load the bases and eventually walked in a crucial late-inning run that kept the eighth alive for Hawaii and allowed the visitors to tack on two more runs.
“The bullpen has to get better,” Weathers said.
Joey Terdoslavich got things started for the Dirtbags in the bottom of the second with an RBI-single to center field that brought in Kellen Hoime. Terdoslavich finished the game with two hits, raising his batting average to just above .300 for the first time this season.
“He’s just a good hitter who was in a bad slump to start the year,” Weathers said. “He will get his average even higher. A good hitter is a good hitter.”
Dirtbags starting pitcher Nate Underwood (1-1) was charged with the loss and gave up three earned runs on three hits in 4.2 innings of work. Underwood was pulled in favor of Eddie Magallon in the middle of the fifth inning.
Zach Gallagher (1-1) received the start and picked up a win for the Rainbows with an impressive outing, going 6.0 innings and allowing one earned run.
Magallon had complete command of the mound in the top of the seventh as he struck out two Rainbow batters on his way to retiring all three batters he faced in the inning. He finished the game with three strikeouts in 2.2 innings.
The Rainbows took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth when Kevin Macdonald hit a home run over the left field wall off Underwood. It was the fifth home run of the season for Macdonald who has recorded a hit in nine of the past 10 games for Hawaii. Jeffrey Van Doornum came up next and tripled off the center field wall and later scored to extend the lead to 3-1.
The Dirtbags cut the lead to one run in the bottom of the seventh off Matt Duffy’s bloop single to shallow left field that brought home Steve Tinoco from second base.
LBSU had a chance to tie the game that inning with one out and runners Kirk Singer and Duffy standing on first and second, respectively, but a heads up play by Hawaii pitcher Jesse Moore ended the rally. Moore threw to second after he caught Duffy leading off the base for the inning’s second out.
The Dirtbags travel to Oregon this weekend for a three game series at No. 15 Oregon State (18-3).
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