The Long Beach State baseball team denied UC Davis a three-game series sweep with a 3-1 victory Sunday afternoon at Blair Field.
The LBSU (16-14, 3-3 Big West Conference) bullpen finally found its footing after the first two losses to the Aggies (7-19, 2-4 Big West) as Ryan Strufing and Eddie Magallon combined for a four-hit shutout in three innings of work.
Meanwhile, Shawn Stuart started the game for the Dirtbags and allowed only one run and six hits through six innings pitched.
Strufing (2-0) faced just four batters, but earned the win after the Dirtbags scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning.
Tied at one in the seventh, LBSU shortstop Kirk Singer, who reached base on a one-out double, advanced to third on a chopper by catcher Royce Murai. From there, Singer scored what would end up being the game-winning run following a throwing error by Aggies second baseman Adam Young.
“It was a grind this weekend,” said Dirtbags head coach Troy Buckley, who was ejected from the game in the sixth inning after contesting a call by the first base umpire.
On the play, Aggies designated hitter David Popkins hit a grounder to short before he was called safe on Singer’s throw to first.
“I really thought [Popkins] was out,” Buckley said.
Singer, of course, sided with his head coach.
“I thought [Popkins] was out, from my vantage point,” Singer said. “[Buckley getting ejected] pumped us up for sure.”
Following the ejection, Murai threw Popkins out on an attempt to steal second, while a groundout by Paul Politi ended the top of the inning.
“Murai [was] calling the pitches,” Stuart said. “He did a really great job.”
The Dirtbags scored an insurance run in the eighth inning. LBSU first baseman Ino Patron hit a leadoff double to left-center field, and moved to third on a bunt by Mike Marjama before crossing the plate on Jonathan Kim’s RBI single.
The Aggies went through four different pitchers in the inning.
Aggies starting pitcher Dayne Quist (1-4), who was charged with the loss, pitched into the eighth inning after allowing three LBSU runs. Quist also became the third UC Davis starter in the three-game series to throw over 100 pitches.
In similar fashion to Friday and Saturday’s games, the Dirtbags scored early in the first inning following a lead off double from Brennan Metzger, who eventually scored on an RBI from Matt Duffy.
The Aggies answered in the third inning with a leadoff double from Karl Kobler, who came home after a sacrifice fly from Seth Batty to left field.
However, the Dirtbags, unlike their previous two outings, managed to shut down the UC Davis offense for the rest of the game.
Magallon eventually came in to relieve Strufing in the eighth inning and picked up the last five outs for The Beach to earn his eighth save of the season.
The Dirtbags will visit UCLA on Tuesday for a nonconference game. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
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