Long Beach State baseball picked up its second consecutive shutout Tuesday night when the Dirtbags defeated UCLA 2-0 at Bohl Diamond at Blair Field.
Dirtbags starter Van Larson hit Jack Holman to begin the Bruins’ second. With two outs, Cashel Dugger singled to advance Holman to third. Larson, who was pitching in a controlled start, was lifted in favor of Josh Donegan, who struck out Malakhi Knight looking to end the inning.
Ty Borgogno legged out a one-double in the bottom of the third. Nick Marinconz’s opposite field single to right pushed Borgogno to third as he took second on the throw home. Kyle Ashworth’s sac fly scored Borgogno to give LBSU the lead.
Donergan retired the first eight batters he faced before Knight singled with one out in the top of the fifth. A failed Donegan pickoff attempt allowed Knight to head to second. Cody Schrier, the Bruins’ leading hitter, flew out to second for the third out.
Daylen Reyes singled with two outs in the top of the sixth. Holman followed with a single to center. AJ Salgado grounded out to first to keep the score 1-0.
Schrier reached on an error as the top of the eighth got underway. With the hit and run on, Rich Cholowsky’s opposite field single to right advanced Schrier to third. Nick Williams entered to face Duce Gourson in a lefty-lefty matchup. Williams stayed in to meet a righthanded hitter in Daylen Reyes. Williams struck out Reyes looking on three consecutive pitches. Cholowsky stole second. In a second lefty-lefty matchup, Williams put out the fire by striking out Holman.
Nate Leibold entered on the hill for the Bruins to begin the Long Beach State eighth. He hit Alex Champagne with his first pitch. With two outs, Champagne stole second. Champagne took off for third with the count 3-2 on Ashworth. The LBSU right fielder went with the pitch and singled to left, scoring Champagne for a 2-0 score.
Long Beach State closer Mike Villani entered in the top of the ninth. He got Salgado to ground out to second for the first out. Cameron Kim struck out. Dugger ran the count to 3-2 before walking. Phoenix Call ran for Dugger, the UCLA catcher. Dean West pinch-hit for Knight. Vilanni recorded two quick strikes before a ball was called. The junior righty picked up his third save of the year when his breaking ball froze West at the knees for his second strikeout of the inning.
Donegan earned the win. She struck out six in 5.1 innings while allowing four hits. The four Long Beach State pitchers combined on a six-hitter and 14 strikeouts. Tuesday night was the third shutout of the season for the Dirtbags. Long Beach State has not given up a run in its last 26 innings pitched.
Stump struck out eight while only walking one during his four innings. The UCLA (5-6) pitchers struck out 11 and gave up six hits. Nick Marinconz was the only player for either team to tally multiple hits, as he was 2-for-4.
Dirtbags salvage one in series loss at Wichita State
Long Beach State took the second game, but came up short in the series 2-1 against the Shockers. The Dirtbags evened its series in the second game on Saturday when they defeated the Shockers 8-4 at Eck Stadium Saturday afternoon.
Daniel Zang hit Nick Marinconz with the game’s opening pitch. He then walked Kyle Ashworth on four consecutive pitches. Zang hit Connor Charpiot to load the bases. John Newman Jr. was hit by a pitch for the game’s first run. Jonny Rodriguez’s sac fly scored Ashworth to make it 2-0. The lone hit of the inning, a two-out Adrian Lopez double to left, scored a pair for a 4-0 advantage.
A two-out Ashworth home run in the top of the second increased Long Beach State’s lead to 5-0.
Kellan Montgomery struck out two of the first four Shockers he faced before giving up a one-out single to Ryan Callahan in the second. Jaden Gustafson tripled to the right-center gap to plate Callahan and broke the seal for Wichita State. Jordan Rogers homered to left center for a 5-3 score. Kam Durnin walked. Darnell Parker, Jr. attempted to bunt for a base hit, but the resulting sacrifice moved Durnin to second. Camden Johnson hit a comebacker that went off Montgomery’s glove to Marinconz at second. He threw onto Rodriguez at first to complete the inning.
Montgomery walked Parker, Jr. on four pitches to begin the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Maurcio Millan singled to left. With the count 0-1 on Dayvin Johnson, Montgomery picked Parker, Jr. off at second. Dayvin Johnson then popped out to short to end the inning.
Zang walked Newman Jr. to begin the top of the sixth. Lefty Drew Iverson relieved Zang to face the lefthanded hitting Rodriguez. Rodriguez worked out a four-pitch walk, which brought Cole Santander to the plate. The Shockers called upon righthander Brady Hamilton to meet the righthanded-hitting Santander. Hamilton struck out the LBSU designated hitter for the first out. Hamilton put out the fire as he got Lopez to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to conclude the frame.
Durin’s infield single began the bottom of the seventh. Parker Jr. doubled to center to advance Durin to third. The Dirtbags called Nick Williams to face Camden Johnson in a lefty-lefty matchup. Williams struck out Johnson. Derek Williams hit a grounder to short, which scored During. Lopez went to third to record the second out, 6-5. With the count 1-2 on Callahan, Williams was called for a balk, which allowed Derek Williams to move to second. Callahan lined out to left to end the inning.
Ashworth led off the top of the eight with a double to the right-center gap. Charpiot’s grounder to second allowed Ashworth to head to third. As Newman Jr. came to bat, Ryan Geraghty entered for the Shockers. Wichita State brought the infield in against the Long Beach State catcher. With the count 0-1, a Geraghty wild pitch scored Ashworth.
Newman Jr. walked as the Shockers again went for a lefty-lefty matchup against Rodriguez. This time, Hunter Holmes was called upon to pitch for Wichita State. Rodriguez grounded out to third, which allowed Newman Jr. to reach second. Holmes walked Santander to bring up Lopez as Justin Roulston ran for Santander. The fourth pitcher of the inning, Peyton Walters, was called for a balk on an 0-1 count, advancing both runners up a base. Lopez tripled off the left field wall to drive in both runners.
Grant Cherry entered for the Dirtbags in the ninth. Cherry struck out the side, working around a one-out walk to pinch-hitter Josh Livingston.
Montgomery scattered eight hits, struck out three, and walked two as he improved to 2-0 on the year for the Dirtbags. Williams and Cherry, the LBSU relievers, combined to strike out six and did not allow a hit over the final three innings. The duo threw 41 pitches, 28 for strikes.
Ashworth was 2-for-4 with three runs scored, including his home run. Lopez was 2-for-4 with four RBI, and the Dirtbags scratched out five hits. Callahan was 2-for-3 before being lifted for an eighth-inning pinch-hitter.
Long Beach State (10-3-1) hosts Dartmouth (0-5) Wednesday night. Coverage on ESPN+ begins at 6 p.m. After a weekend series at UC Santa Barbara, Long Beach will host USC on March 19, at Bohl Diamond at Blair Field, starting at 6 p.m. Games available on ESPN+.
