Baseball: LBSU 2, Rice 1
Playing in the home park of the San Francisco Giants, the Dirtbags got a big league-type performance from starting pitcher Andrew Gagnon.
The junior allowed one run over eight innings, striking out six and walking one, to lead the Long Beach State baseball team to a 2-1 win over No. 18-ranked Rice.
Gagnon (2-2) was matched against Owls starter Anthony Kubitz, who struck out seven over six innings pitched. In what was a classic Friday battle between aces, Long Beach State and Rice answered each other pitch-for-pitch over the course of five scoreless innings, where only one batter between the teams reached third base.
The Dirtbas (7-6) got on the board in the sixth inning, as Jeff McNeil reached on an infield single, and Brennan Metzger hit his team-high fourth double to put two runners on with no outs.
An RBI single by Matt Duffy brought home one run, and then Metzger came around to score on a single by Ino Patron to give the Dirtbags a 2-0 lead.
Rice (9-7) answered back in the top of the eighth, as Shane Holscher reached on a single, and then stole second during a strikeout by Derek Hamilton. A single by Keenan Cook then brought home Holscher, but Gagnon responded with a groundout to first base to end the threat.
Eddie Magallon pitched a scoreless ninth inning to record his second save as Long Beach State took a fourth straight win.
AT&T Park will be the field for two more games this weekend for Long Beach State. First, the Dirtbags play San Francisco at 3 p.m. on Saturday, before closing the weekend by playing No. 20 Cal at 4 p.m. on Sunday.
Water polo
No. 11-ranked Long Beach State opened up play at the Claremont Convergence with a 14-7 victory over Cal Lutheran. Lauren Sieprath led the way for the 49ers with a hat trick in the first of four games.
Both teams got out to a fairly slow start in the match behind solid defense, as goaltender Kristen Stragier made seven saves to lead the 49ers, including five over the first half. The 49ers took the lead with two goals to one in the first period, and entered the half with a 4-2 lead.
In the third period, Long Beach State had an offensive explosion however, scoring six goals to take control of the match. Sieprath had a pair of goals in the period, while Krizia Cerda and Meagan Leonard also both scored in the third period for the 49ers.
The 49ers extended their four-goal lead in the final period, scoring four more goals in the fourth while resuming their defensive pressure and holding Cal Lutheran to seven goals.
The 49ers defeated Whittier College, 20-6, in the team’s second match Friday.
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