Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
33-14, 0
UC Santa Barbara
21-24, 0
6-Run Ninth Lifts LBSU
5/12/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Six-Run Ninth Lifts Dirtbags SANTA BARBARA, CA-- Danny Espinosa's three-run home run highlighted a six-run ninth inning, lifting #16 Long Beach State to a 10-8 Big West Conference win at UC Santa Barbara on Saturday afternoon. Winners of 11 games in a row, the Dirtbags improved to 33-14 overall and 12-2 in the Big West. The Gauchos fell to 21-24 and 9-8 in league play. After giving up four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, and trailing 8-4, Long Beach battled back against UCSB's Steve Morlock (3-6). Brandon Godfrey began the ninth with a single to right. Catcher Travis Howell picked up his second hit of the day with a single to left. After Chris Nelson struck out, pinch hitter Jason Corder singled to left, scoring Godfrey. Matt Cline then put down a perfect drag bunt down the third base line, loading the bases. Shane Peterson, who saw his 22-game hit streak snapped with an 0-4 day, hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring pinch-runner Ted Pattock to cut the deficit to 8-6 with two outs. Espinosa came to the plate and worked the count full off Morlock, before lauching a long bomb over the rightfield wall for his seventh homer of the year. Espinosa's shot gave the Dirtbags a 9-8 lead. On the first pitch to the next batter, Robert Perry, Perry hit a solo shot to right field for his fifth round-tripper of the season. "That shows the character of this team," said Head Coach Mike Weathers. "It has been all year. We're never out of it. We never quit and we haven't since day one. Danny had been struggling from the left side of the plate. Hopefully that gets him turned around in the right direction. Corder's at bat was big in the ninth, as was Cline's bunt. We found ways to get runners on base and score them. I'm very proud of the way we hung in there." Espinosa was 3-5 at the plate with three RBI and two runs scored, while Perry had a big day with four hits and three RBI in five at bats. Howell and Cline each added two hits to the 14-hit attack. Reliever Bryan Shaw picked up the win with 1.2 innings of relief work to improve to 5-2. The Gauchos scored a run in the first inning, only to see Long Beach counter with two runs in the third. Howell led off the third with a single and then scored on a two-run homer to left by Nelson, his third of the year, and third in three consecutive games. UCSB tallied a run in the fifth and two in the sixth, sandwiched by a 49er tally, to take a 4-3 lead. The 49ers tied the game in the top of the eighth on an RBI double to right by Perry with Cline scoring from third. 49er starter Andrew Liebel went seven innings, allowing nine hits and four runs, three of which were earned. In the bottom of the eighth with the score tied at 4-4, freshman Adam Wilk entered the game for Long Beach. The first two batters of the inning reached safely on singles, and Wilk then loaded the bases with one out with an intentional walk to Chris McMurray. Shaw came into the game and with a 1-2 count on pinch-hitter Brian Gump, Gump rolled a ball past Shaw's glove which couldn't be cleanly fielded by Espinosa, scoring the go-ahead run. Shane Carlson then cleared the bases with a triple to center which skipped past a diving Nelson, giving UCSB an 8-4 lead. With 11 consecutive wins, the streak is the longest for Long Beach since an 11-game streak in the 1998 campaign. The Dirtbags also had a 12-game win streak in 1998. The school-record still stands at 18 games set by the 1989 squad. The two teams will conclude their three-game set on Sunday with a single game at 1 pm. Shane Peterson (2-1) is scheduled to be on the mound for the Dirtbags. |
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Shaw, Bryan (5-2)
L: Morlock (3-6)
Batting:
2B: Perry, Robert 1
HR: Espinosa, Danny 1 ; Perry, Robert 1 ; Nelson, Chris 1
RBI: Corder, Jason 1 ; Peterson, Shane 1 ; Espinosa, Danny 3 ; Perry, Robert 3 ; Nelson, Chris 2
SF: Peterson, Shane 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Corder, Jason 1 ; Cline, Matt 2 ; Espinosa, Danny 2 ; Perry, Robert 1 ; Godfrey, Brandon 1 ; Howell, Travis 1 ; Pattock, Ted 1 ; Nelson, Chris 1
CS: Cline, Matt 1
PO: Perry, Robert 1
Batting:
2B: Carlson 1
3B: Blauer 1 ; Carlson 1
HR: Zuanich 1
RBI: Fox 1 ; Zuanich 2 ; Gump 1 ; Carlson 3
SH: Dee 1 ; Carlson 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rose 1 ; Blauer 2 ; Zuanich 2 ; McMurray 1 ; Gump 1 ; Carlson 1
SB: Zuanich 1
CS: Fox 1
HBP: McMurray 1
