No. 17 Beach Win Eighth in a Row March 20, 2002 LONG BEACH, CA- The No. 17-ranked 49ers (15-6) held on to defeat No. 6-ranked Wichita State (10-4) for the second straight night, defeating the Shockers 5-3 on Wednesay, as The Beach swept the two-game series from WSU. Pinch hitter Steve Velazco came through with a key pinch-hit double in the seventh, eventually scoring to break a 3-3 tie while the relief core of Chris Demaria (1-1) and Josh Alliston (save No. 4) pitched the final 2.2 shutout innings. The 49ers have now won eight in a row as they head to No. 15-ranked CS Fullerton this weekend for a three-game non-conference series starting on Friday. LBSU staked starter Nate Beucler to a 3-0 lead by scoring twice in the first and once in the third. In the first, Reed after leading off the game with a single scored on a single and ensuing throwing error by the shortstop Nick McCoola. The Beach went up 2-0 on a sacrifice fly by Paul McAnulty. LBSU made it 3-0 in the third off another sacrifice fly from McAnulty. The Shockers scored three unanswered to tie it at 3-3. WSU scored one run in the fifth off an RBI double from Brandon Green, before Logan Sorensen's two-run homer off of Joey Pace in the seventh tied it at 3-3. Velazco answered in the bottom of the seventh with a leadoff double off of reliever Justin Maureau before two long fly balls allowed the freshman to score the go-ahead run to lead 4-3. The Dirtbags added one run in the eighth off an RBI single from Todd Jennings to lead 5-3. Beucler went 5.0 innings in his first non-predetermined start, giving up one run on five hits, walking two and striking out two. Pace gave up two runs over 1.1 innings before Chris Demaria came out of the pen to pitch the next 1.2 shutout innings, before Alliston pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his fourth save. Maureau, who relieved WSU starter Mathew Jakubov in the fourth inning, went 4.0 innings, giving up one run on two hits, walking none and striking out four, leaving with his team down 4-3. Jakubov lasted just 3.0 innings, giving up three runs on three hits. BOX SCORE | 
