By: Davis Ramage and Adrian Medina
On a weekend where the bats were not as awake as in weeks past, the pitchers picked up the slack and only allowed five runs combined in three games in a sweep of The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Sophomore Myles Patton proved why he is the Friday night starter for the Dirtbags, going six strong innings while only giving up two runs and striking out 13 in a 5-4 Dirtbags extra-inning win.
However, “the general” did not pick up the win as the Dirtbags didn’t put a run on the board until the bottom of the eighth inning.
Freshman shortstop Adrian Lopez put Long Beach State on the board after he hit a two-run home run and tied the game at two.
Milwaukee regained the lead in the top of the ninth and it was up to Long Beach State again to create some late-inning magic.
Long Beach State did just that as junior first baseman Jack Hammond homered to left field as the Dirtbags were down to their last strike, forcing extra innings.
Milwaukee was able to take the lead again in the top of the 11th and the Dirtbags did as they have done all year and found a way to fight back as Hammond grounded out to the shortstop and brought home junior center fielder Alex Champagne to tie the game.
In the next at-bat, Milwaukee pitcher James Severson threw a wild pitch, allowing sophomore third baseman Ty Borgogno to score and win the game.
The Dirtbags kept their momentum going in game two of the series against Milwaukee with a 4-1 win in game two Saturday night.
On the bump for the Dirtbags was reigning Big West pitcher of the week, sophomore Kellan Montgomery, who was stellar again going six innings while giving up only one run with seven strikeouts.
The Panthers put the first run on the board after third baseman Justin Hausser delivered an RBI single in the top half of the first, giving Milwaukee an early 1-0 lead.
After retiring 10 straight Dirtbags, Milwaukee starting pitcher Adrian Montilva gave up a lead-off hit to junior outfielder Kyle Ashworth in the bottom half of the seventh which gave Long Beach State some hope.
Two errors by the Panthers led to two unearned runs and a 2-1 Long Beach State lead.
Junior Grant Cherry came in for Montgomery in the top of the seventh inning and went two innings while giving up zero runs, preserving The Beach lead.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, junior outfielder Connor Charpiot singled in a pair of runs to give The Beach a comfortable 4-1 lead heading into the ninth.
Junior Mike Villani was tasked with securing the last three outs for the Dirtbags and he did just that. Villani tossed a scoreless ninth inning while he struck out two Panthers and received his second save of the season.
Sunday saw another gem by a Dirtbag pitcher as sophomore CJ Hood went six innings and gave up four hits while striking out three in a 6-0 win to close out the series.
The Dirtbags only gave up a combined five hits on the evening and only needed three pitchers to shut out the Panthers; which Long Beach State walked away with the sweep.
The Long Beach State offense struggled as they were only able to string together five hits as well, but they drew seven walks and manufactured their offense through quality at-bats.
Charpiot was the only Dirtbag hitter to record multiple hits on the day with two.
Dirtbag freshmen pitchers Nick Williams and Owen Geiss came out of the bullpen and closed the game out as they went a combined three innings and gave up one hit but they struck out five.
The Dirtbags take on the nationally ranked UCLA Bruins on Tuesday, March 5 at 6 p.m. at Blair Field. They look to avenge the tough loss they suffered the last time they faced the Bruins.