The Long Beach State baseball team denied 23rd-ranked Oregon State a three-game sweep in an 11-inning battle for a 2-1 victory Saturday night at Blair Field.
“[The Dirtbags] did a nice job salvaging one,” Dirtbags (10-9) head coach Troy Buckley said of LBSU’s victory over the Beavers (15-4) after losing the first game of the doubleheader.
LBSU outfielder Matt Hibbert led off the bottom of the 11th with a double to right that crossed into foul territory and rolled close to under the field tarp.
LBSU second baseman Matt Duffy then moved Hibbert to third with a sacrifice bunt that skipped down the third baseline, forcing Beavers third baseman Jake Rodriguez away from the bag.
OSU then intentionally walked the next two batters to load the bases with the hope of inducing a double play on LBSU’s next batter Ino Patron.
But Patron connected on the first pitch and placed it in the shallow gap between center and right for the game winning RBI.
Dirtbags reliever Nate Underwood (1-0) pitched the 11th inning and held the score at 1-1. His 19-pitch inning earned him his first win this season.
Meanwhile, Tony Bryant (2-1) was charged with the loss for the Beavers.
Dirtbags starting pitcher Shawn Stuart stuck out 12 batters and held the Beavers to just one run over 6.2 innings, but was charged with a no-decision after leaving the game tied at one.
“Stuart threw really, really, really well,” Buckley said. “He set the tempo.”
Meanwhile, OSU starter Josh Osich was nearly just as strong as he struck out eight and gave up one run over 5.2 innings.
With two outs in the sixth, LBSU’s Brennan Metzger doubled to left field.
OSU immediately brought in a new pitcher to face Hibbert, whose single to center field brought Metzger home for the first run of the game.
The Beavers answered back at the top of the seventh when Jake Rodriguez hit an RBI double with two outs. Buckley then brought in right-handed pitcher Jon Maciel, who closed out the inning.
LBSU and OSU both brought in new pitchers in eighth inning; Eddie Magallon and Tony Bryant, respectively. Magallon and Bryant pitched a flurry of strikes that eventually forced the game to extra innings.
LBSU will head to the road for the next two weeks. Their first stop will be at Loyola Marymount on Tuesday at 3 p.m.
OSU 9, LBSU 6
The Long Beach State men’s baseball team collapsed in the seventh inning after giving five runs en route to a 9-6 loss to Oregon State in the first game of the doubleheader on Saturday at Blair Field.
With the score tied at 3, The Beavers cashed in on four consecutive LBSU errors in the seventh to take a commanding 8-3 lead.
Danny Hayes hit a two-run double down the right field line to break the tie, while Michael Miller followed up a few batters later with a two-run single through the right side.
Kyle Friedrichs (2-2) was charged with the loss for the Dirtbags after allowing five runs — only one of which was earned — on two hits in 2 2/3 innings.
Meanwhile, James Nygren (3-0) picked up the victory for OSU, despite giving up three runs on four hits in three innings.
LBSU threatened with a major rally in the bottom of the ninth. Marjama and Patron hit back-to-back singles to start the inning, and pinch hitter Jonathan Kim followed with a third straight hit to score Marjama and cut the lead to three.
Freshman infielder Jeff Yamaguchi then stroked a double down the left-field line that was dismissed as foul following a conference of the umpires called by Beavers head coach Pat Casey.
With two runs pulled off the board as well as the tying run at second following the erroneous call, Yamaguchi rallied for a single after being called back to the plate to load the bases.
Beaver closer Bryant settled down by then, and was able to strike out the next two batters and induce a pop fly to end the first game.
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