A rip over the right center fence by Jamie Wren brought in Nichole Fry and ignited the offense for the 49ers, bringing in two runs in the third inning and sealing the win. Long Beach State softball defeated Army 4-2 in front of a small crowd of 184 Wednesday morning.
“The last game we played we had to dig deep and find a way to win, so now that we got that win out of the way we can keep digging,” sophomore catcher Justine Briones said.
Unlike its second game against Oregon State, Long Beach struggled to put runs on the board right away. In the first inning, Fry dropped a blooper into left field earning a single, followed by sophomore outfielder Naomi Hernandez who successfully ran out the throw from a chop to the shortstop. Wren laid down a sacrifice bunt, moving Fry and Hernandez over, but the two were left on base once the inning ended.
The second inning saw Army sophomore catcher Ally Snelling and freshman designated player Madi Gilmore on base from singles, but Long Beach junior pitcher Kellie White hit her spots and struck out sophomore infielder Taylor Livingston with a changeup to end Army’s ups.
Long Beach attacked with a single from junior infielder Sydney McCollum, but the 49ers were unable to bring her home.
Fry came through with a second blooper into left center in the bottom of the third inning.
A smash by Wren sailed over the fence and brought in Fry, bringing the score to 2-0.
“I felt like I needed to throw my hands out there and get a base hit and it just happened to go over,” Wren said.
The 49ers added to their score in the fourth inning, when Briones got on base with a grounder, and was switched out with senior pinch runner Jessica Nogosek. Freshman outfielder Maddie Ruffin stepped up and squeezed a grounder in the gap between first and second. A third blooper from Fry fell into shallow right center and resulted in an RBI after bringing in Nogosek.
Army finally retaliated in the 6th inning when leadoff senior outfielder Izzy Gates was walked. Freshman outfielder Bianca Gonzales hit a shot to left center earning a double. The team finally scored when sophomore pitcher Taylor Drayton was thrown out on a grounder and Gates found her way to home plate from third.
Briones put the last nail in the coffin when she launched a homer over the left field fence in the 6th inning, earning her second home run of the season.
In the seventh inning, Army made an attempt to catch up when senior infielder Carrie Reilly sent the ball to center field, bringing in a run. The 49ers defense carried out three outs and brought the game to an end.
“I of course thought it could have been a little bit better, but we got the win and I was happy that we didn’t settle,” head coach Kim Sowder said. “We scored in three innings but we always want more.”
Long Beach State plays next 8:30 p.m. Thursday against Texas Tech in the first day of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Palm Springs.