With a suddenly productive offense behind it, the 49ers’ pitching staff has fallen into a habit of giving up leads rather than protecting them.
The Long Beach State softball team (27-17, 9-4 Big West) lost its first conference series of the season this weekend when it dropped two of three at Pacific (25-20, 10-4). The 49ers blew a seventh inning lead in each of the first two games and gave up a walk-off home run in the finale.
Considering 25 runners were left on base, the blame for the series loss was not placed solely on the pitching, head coach Kim Sowder said.
“We kind of lost as a team,” Sowder said. “We had a lot of chances to really extend our lead and also to hold our lead.”
Dormant against Fullerton last weekend, the bats awoke in a 7-6 extra-innings victory in game one.
Two home runs by first baseman Ashley Holmes and another by second baseman Nalani St. Germain gave The Beach a comfortable lead heading into the seventh inning. The lead was squandered when starting pitcher Erin Jones-Wesley gave up a pair of home runs to force extra innings.
Catcher Karli Sandoval hit the first pitch she saw in the eighth for a home run that put the 49ers back on top. Pitcher Amanda Hansen secured the victory with a scoreless inning in relief.
Game one’s long-ball syndrome was contagious enough among LBSU hitters to stick around in game two.
Sandoval opened the fourth inning with a single, and St. Germain sent the next pitch over the left field wall to give the ‘Niners a 2-0 lead.
With the offense backing her with two more runs over the next two innings, Hansen was an out away from securing a 4-1 victory.
The Tigers, however, had other plans.
After two walked batters, a home run by third baseman Taylor Petty snapped Hansen’s 17-inning unearned run streak and forced a second consecutive game into extra innings.
“We put ourselves in a nice position,” Sowder said. “Again, [Pacific] took advantage of a couple free passes and tied it up again. Unfortunately, they came away with the victory.”
Jones-Wesley got into early trouble by loading the bases in the first inning of game two, but she prevented a run from scoring by striking out shortstop Megan Allen to end the inning.
After the ‘Niners scored two runs in the top of the second inning, Pacific tied the game in the bottom half. The two runs were a result of a rushed and off-target throw to first by catcher Dana Garcia, who unsuccessfully tried to throw out center fielder Megan Hom after a bunt attempt.
LBSU reclaimed its lead in the fourth with homers from Shayna Kimbrough and Hannah De Gaetano. However, Jones-Wesley let the lead slip away with a run in the fifth and two more in the sixth.
Then came the dreaded seventh inning. Jones-Wesley’s 133rd pitch was hit by designated player Alex Steinmehl for a walk-off homerun to beat the 49ers 6-5 and claim the series for the Tigers.
“It was tough,” Sowder said. “There were multiple opportunities throughout the game to change the outcome and [Pacific] … they just found a way.”
LBSU will return home to conclude a season series with Cal State Northridge on Wednesday. The doubleheader will be broadcasted on ESPNU, and the first game will start at 1 p.m.