Long Beach State University
Hawai'i
Rally Comes Up Short Against No. 15 Hawai'i
2/20/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 15, 2008
HONOLULU, Hawai'i - A pair of home runs in the second inning put the 49ers behind, and Long Beach State could never recover in a 5-3 loss to No. 15 Hawai'i Friday night. Jessica Beaver hit her first home run of the season, a two-run shot that kick-started a three-run sixth inning.
The 49ers had to play through a long day, sitting through a rain delay en route to their first win, a 10-2 drubbing of Kentucky, but struggled early against the Rainbow Wahine.
Despite picking up two outs in the second, Hawai'i was able to reach Bridgette Pagano in the second inning. With one runner on base, Tanisha Milca homered to put the Rainbow Wahine up 2-0, and Clare Warwick followed suit in the next at bat to give Hawai'i a 3-0 lead.
Another homer in the third put the Rainbow Wahine ahead 4-0, this time coming off of the bat of Kate Robinson. Pagano would settle down from there, only allowing one more run in the fifth, but the damage was done with a 5-0 deficit.
The 49ers made a big rally in the late innings. After only scraping two hits off of Robinson in the first five innings, Danielle Linke led off the sixth with a double, and Jessica Beaver hit the first 49er home run of the year, a two run shot to left to cut the Rainbow Wahine lead to three. The 49ers added another run after a pair of doubles from Brooke LeSage and Jennifer Griffin, but the two-out rally finally ended with a lineout by Jonae Perez.
The Paradise Classic continues tomorrow as the 49ers and the other three teams begin bracket play. Long Beach State plays in the first game in the morning, starting at Noon Pacific.
