Sophomore Juan Avila hit two home runs to give the Long Beach State baseball team a two-run lead over the University of Pacific, but it wasn’t enough to capture its first series sweep of the season.
The Dirtbags conceded three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning in a 5-4 loss on Sunday at Klein Family Field in Stockton, Calif., which marked the first time this year LBSU has lost a game when leading after eight innings.
The Dirtbags (14-12, 2-1 Big West Conference) turned to closer Eddie Magallon (2-1) — who was charged with the loss — in the bottom of the ninth with a 4-2 lead.
But with one out and two runners on board, an RBI-double from UOP’s Brian Martin brought the winning run to second base.
Following a sacrifice fly that tied the game at 4, a walk-off single from Brett Christopher scored Martin for the game-winning run.
LBSU starting pitcher Shawn Stuart picked up a no-decision as he went six 2/3 innings and allowed two runs on nine hits.
Meanwhile, Tigers hurler Jake Hummel was also charged with a no-decision as he went eight innings, but allowed four runs on 10 hits.
Avila broke the scoreless game open in the third inning as he cracked a leadoff triple before scoring on a sacrifice fly by Brennan Metzger.
Pacific evened the score in the bottom half of the inning as Tyger Pederson drew a walk before after stealing second and scoring on an RBI single from Martin.
The Dirtbags regained the lead in the top of the fourth inning after back-to-back homers from Brent Tani and Avila, which was a first for LBSU since the 2009 season.
The Tigers answered with a run in the bottom of the fourth, but Stuart was able to limit the damage to just that as LBSU held a 3-2 lead heading into the ninth.
Avila belted his second home run of the day to give the Dirtbags an insurance run. But that’s as much as LBSU would get after Pacific closer Matt Carvutto (1-0) — who earned the victory — was able to get an inning ending strikeout with the bases loaded to send the game to the bottom of the ninth.
The Dirtbags will return home to Blair Field to play a nonconference game against San Diego State on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
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