SAN DIEGO, Calif – Long Beach State came to Tony Gwynn Stadium to gain momentum after a series loss to the UCSD Tritons. They did just that in a 6-3 win over San Diego State.
The Dirtbags were in desperate need of sophomore starting pitcher Van Larson to eat some innings after Sunday’s loss to the Tritons, but it came at the expense of the bullpen arms putting in extensive work in relief.
“It was honestly absolutely bailing us out, we couldn’t have needed that more. To get him to throw five today really saved our bullpen,” head coach Bryan Peters said.
Larson lowered his team-leading ERA to 0.66 in a season-high five innings pitched, allowing just three hits and zero runs while striking out five Aztecs.
SDSU was only able to pose a threat in the bottom of the second inning when Larson was pitching. With two runners aboard with two outs, Larson froze junior center fielder Irvin Weems for a called strike three to end the inning and pump up the Dirtbag dugout.
After a 1-2-3 fourth inning, Larson would receive help from the defense in the home half of the fifth.
Freshman left fielder Jake Jackson led off the inning with a hit to the opposite field but junior right fielder Kyle Ashworth threw a dart into second base to get Jackson out.
This killed any momentum for the Aztecs and would retire the next two batters to conclude his outing.
“[My] cutter was working well, changeup felt good, but with the pitch plan coach drew up before the game and going out to pitch with that kind of defense behind you, it’s pretty easy to put up zeros,” Larson said.
The Dirtbag bats were slow to start but the four SDSU pitchers were no help since they gave up 10 walks.
A fourth-inning leadoff walk from sophomore catcher Jack Collins started the scoring after he was scored by an RBI double by senior second baseman Nick Marinconz.
Marinconz proved to be Long Beach State’s most consistent hitter in the evening, going 3-4, with a hit-by-pitch and two RBIs.
Ashworth and freshman shortstop Adrian Lopez, who had six walks alone, set the table for the scoring to get rolling again in the top of the fifth. A couple of bases-loaded walks doubled the advantage to give LBSU a 4-0 lead.
A special moment for freshman relief pitcher Collin Miskelly turned sour in his collegiate debut for the Dirtbags.
The lefty would not escape the sixth inning and threw 0.2 innings, allowed two hits and three runs while walking or hitting two batters each.
A double play with the bases loaded limited the damage but ultimately had the Aztecs within one run. Freshman reliever Owen Geiss would be called upon to escape the jam and he struck out the first batter he faced to end the long inning.
Some insurance runs would be added in the top of the ninth for the Dirtbags to pad their lead. They added three runs on four hits in the inning, headlined by extra-base hits from senior designated hitter John Newman Jr. and a triple from Collins.
Junior closer Mike Villani sealed the game in the bottom half of the ninth with a three-up, three-down inning and improved the Dirtbags’ record to 17-12-1. The loss for SDSU drops them to 13 games below .500 at 9-22.
The two teams will square off a week from today at Bohl Diamond at Blair Field, following a three-game weekend series at CSUN.