49ers Beat Gauchos

Friday, May 11

Santa Barbara, Calif.

2:00 PM

Long Beach State University

32-13, 0

UC Santa Barbara

21-23, 0

Long Beach State

UC Santa Barbara

5/11/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

49ers Down The Gauchos, 8-3
McElroy Pitches Seven Strong Innings

May 11, 2007

BOX SCORE

SANTA BARBARA, CA-- Timely hitting and clutch pitching from junior Manny McElroy lifted Long Beach State to an 8-3 win at UC Santa Barbara in the first of a key three-game Big West Conference series at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. The win, the tenth in a row for the Dirtbags, raised their record to 32-14 overall and 11-2 in the Big West.

The Dirtbags turned nine hits, eight walks and a hit batter into eight runs and a victory. Danny Espinosa and Chris Nelson hit solo home runs to accentuate the offensive attack and McElroy worked seven strong innings.

"We wasted a lot of opportunities," said Head Coach Mike Weathers. "We had a lot in front of us and we didn't take it. Two runs in the first inning was good, but five or six would have been better. We weren't just in sync. It was a struggle, but it was a win. I though Manny pitched well with a lead today. You can't ask for much more that allowing just two runs in seven innings at Santa Barbara."

The Dirtbags did leave 11 runners on base in the game, but UCSB left 12. Long Beach jumped to a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning. T.J. Mittlstaedt walked to begin the game off UCSB starter, and loser, Brian Tracy (1-3). Matt Cline was hit by a pitch and Shane Peterson extended his hitting streak to 22 games with an RBI single to left field. After a walk to Danny Espinosa, Robert Perry brought home Cline with a sacrifice fly. In the second inning the 49ers left the bases loaded, and after leaving two on in the first, the number stood at five LOB after two innings.

After the Gauchos pulled to within 2-1 with a run in the third, Long Beach bounced back with a run in the fourth and three in the fifth. With two outs in the fourth, Mittelstaedt walked for the third time. Cline reached on an error and Peterson singled to center to score Mittelstaedt. In the fifth, Taylor Krick followed singles by A.J. Pinocchio and Travis Howell with a sacrifice fly and then after walks to Nelson and Mittelstaedt (his fourth of the day), Cline singled to right with the bases-loaded, scoring two, to give the 49ers a 6-1 advantage. Solo home runs by Espinosa (6) in the sixth and Nelson (2) in the seventh concluded the Long Beach scoring.

Peterson was three-for-four on the day with two RBI, and Mittelstaedt reached base four times, all via a walk.

McElroy (5-1) went seven innings allowing two earned runs and nine hits. He was able to work out of several jams as the Gauchos stranded 11 in his seven innings, including leaving the bases loaded in both the third and seventh innings.

After allowing a triple by Shane Carlson to lead off the third, and a sacrifice fly, giving UCSB its first run, McElroy struck out his next batter, Patrick Rose, but then gave up two singles and a walk to load the bases with two outs. He was able to get Chris McMurray to fly out to center to end the inning. In the seventh, with the bases loaded and two outs on the board, he got McMurray to end the inning with a grounder to third.

Long Beach stays in first place in the Big West at 11-2. UC Riverside, an 18-10 winner at Cal State Northridge on Thursday, but idle on Friday, is in second place at 10-3. The 49ers and Gauchos continue their series on Saturday at 1 pm as Andrew Liebel (7-2) will take on UCSB's Mike Ford (2-1).