LOS ANGELES, Calif – On a night where the offense was able to plate double-digit runs, a poor showing from the Dirtbags’ defense allowed UCLA back into the game.
The Bruins took advantage of it and snapped the Dirtbags’ unbeaten streak to start the season.
“It was sloppy on both ends on the defensive side, 12 [combined] errors. We didn’t play well, I don’t want us to feel okay with any of it,” head coach Bryan Peters said. “We did not play a good baseball game, we are learning from this, that this isn’t acceptable, this isn’t to our standard.”
The Dirtbags opened up the scoring fest in the first inning after junior outfielder Kyle Ashworth reached base on a drop third strike, putting a runner on base for the Dirtbags’ cleanup hitter senior catcher John Newman Jr. who cranked his first LBSU home run with a two-run shot over the wall in left-field.
In the top half of the second inning, sophomore infielder Armando Briseno added a bloop single into shallow centerfield, scoring freshman infielder Adrian Lopez and giving the Dirtbags an early 3-0 advantage.
The hot bats continued through in the top of the third with Long Beach tallying four extra-base hits in the inning including an Ashworth lead-off triple that hooked the inside of the right-field line.
Junior designated hitter Cole Santander would then add to his team-leading 10 RBIs with a sacrifice fly. Doubles from Newman Jr. and junior outfielder Connor Charpiot to go along with Lopez’s first collegiate home run led to the Dirtbag dugout all onto the field celebrating the early 7-0 lead.
The Bruins would respond quickly with seven unanswered runs of their own behind a perfect execution of small ball and a two-run home run by junior infielder Duce Gourson.
Two bunts and a walk would load the bases and end the night for Long Beach State freshman starting pitcher Josh Donegan. In his first start of the year, Donegan would finish with a stat line of three innings pitched, allowing five hits and six earned runs while walking three batters.
An errant throw by Lopez at shortstop botched an opportunity to escape with an inning-ending double-play and allowed two more Bruins to score. Gourson would strike again in the home half of the fourth, this time with a two-run single to even things up at seven.
The bats of the Dirtbags would respond in the top of the sixth when junior infielder Jack Hammond plated two more runs with a base hit up the middle to take a 9-7 lead.
The lead wouldn’t last for long with the Bruin offense fought back with a leadoff stand-up triple from junior outfielder AJ Salgado who would later score.
UCLA would tie the game again after a failed pickoff attempt from junior relief pitcher Alexander Mihalakis. The reliever bounced the attempt into center field, scoring the runner from second base.
With the game tied 10-10 in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Bruins were threatening with the bases loaded. The Dirtbags escaped the jam when junior outfielder Alex Champagne made a sensational catch crashing into the centerfield wall to save three runs and end the inning.
The relentless LBSU offense would again come alive in the top of the eighth inning after back-to-back walks drawn by Santander and Newman Jr.
Hammond would then ground to third base where freshman infielder Roch Cholowsky would commit UCLA’s seventh error of the night, scoring Saltander from second and giving him three RBIs on the night and the Dirtbags an 11-10 lead.
A strand of Bruin base hits in the bottom half gave the game its fourth tie of the night with both teams knotted up at 11-11, which would be the score heading into extra innings.
UCLA would win it with a single into left field by sophomore outfielder Payton Brennan in the bottom of the 10th to finish up a game the Dirtbags soon hope to forget from a defensive perspective, with a final score of 12-11.
“Offensively I can say we did well, we fought, but we gave up a huge lead,” Peters said. “That’s the second time in four games we gave up a big lead and I don’t like it one bit,”
The loss drops the Dirtbags to 5-1-1 and they will look to bounce back starting on Friday on Bohl Diamond at Blair Field as they open up a three-game set with the Milwaukee Panthers coming into town.