The 49ers are heading back to San Diego on Friday in search of the energy and life they left behind on their last visit.
Long Beach State (14-9) will play at the San Diego Classic II in Santee this weekend after wrapping up a long seven game home series Wednesday with a doubleheader against Buffalo.
“It was a long weekend,” Sowder said. “I felt like our team played a little bit tired.”
Sowder thought the difference between the last two tournaments did not have as much to do with how the team played as much as it had to do with the schedule and added responsibility of hosting a tournament.
Contributing to the team’s on-field restlessness, Sowder said, were three consecutive night games that it had to sit around all day for.
The ‘Niners fared better two weeks ago when handed a more crammed workload. They played their first four games of the San Diego Classic I in a 24 hour period and came out of the tournament undefeated.
“We played our tails off with a lot of energy and did really well,” Sowder said. “But there are just times that they’re going to be a little bit tired.”
If a barrage of action can energize the 49ers, this weekend could provide them with favorable results, as they will play another two doubleheaders in a 24-hour span.
“It’s a new weekend,” Sowder said. “We need to get ourselves going again.”
LBSU will open the tournament Friday with a doubleheader against two teams looking to rebound from losing sweeps. It will face UMass (2-11) and Miami University (2-13) before playing a doubleheader on Saturday against Harvard (3-6) and Fairfield (7-4).
Concluding The Beach’s tournament will be a matchup against maybe its toughest opponent all weekend, a San Jose State (14-9) team that has won 10 of their last 12 games.
With an offense filling out with more contributors, and leadoff hitter Shayna Kimbrough holding a Big West-leading .398 batting average, Sowder said the team’s primary focus needs to be on defense.
“I think it’s one of the strongest offensive teams we’ve ever had,” Sowder said. “I still think we need to play better defense, and I think that we have way too many walks. I’d much rather give up a hit than a walk, any day of the week.”
Before the 49ers can jump on the road, they will have to get through two home games against Buffalo on Wednesday at 1 p.m. The games will be played at the 49er Softball Complex.