Long Beach State University
Washington
49ers Dump No. 18 Washington 6-3
3/21/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 21, 2008
Fullerton, Calif. - Jessica Beaver's pair of doubles in the fifth inning meshed nicely with a complete game from Bridgette Pagano in a 6-3 win over No. 18 Washington on Friday night. Beaver was 2-for-4 with two RBI, and Pagano struck out a career-high eight batters on the way to her ninth win of the year.
Long Beach State had a nice chance to score in the top of the second, as consecutive errors from Washington shortstop Morgan Stuart put two runners on, and Ashley Weber walked to load the bases with two outs. However, Jessica Beaver grounded out to first to end the rally against Caitlin Noble.
After being held scoreless through four innings, Long Beach State finally broke through in the fourth inning. Beaver started the inning with a double to left center, and while Jonae Perez tried to put down the sacrifice, she ended up drawing a walk. That pattern continued, as Tyler tried to sacrifice again, but reached as Noble tried to catch Beaver at third. Finally, the 49ers broke the deadlock as Jennifer Griffin hit a long single, scoring both Beaver and Perez on the play.
Washington finally picked up their first out, but the 49ers brought in another run after Ashley Weber reached after getting hit by a pitch. After a second out, the 49ers moved up 4-0 after a hard hit ball slid just under the glove of Noble, and coming around for a second time in the inning, Beaver cracked another double to center field to increase the 49er lead to 6-0.
After being in complete command through four and two-thirds, Pagano faltered slightly at the end of the fifth, as Marnie Koziol reached after just beating out a grounder to short. A single and a walk later, the bases were loaded, but Pagano picked up a season-high sixth strikeout to close out the inning.
Washington would mount a late rally in the bottom of the seventh to keep things interesting. After getting a grounder for the first out, Bailey Stenson singled up the middle, and the Huskies would pound out three more hits to cut the 49er lead to 6-3 before Pagano and the 49ers finished off the game with a popup to short.
Pagano would pick up two more strikeouts after the fifth on the way to a career-high eight, as the 49ers improved their record against ranked teams to 7-5 on the year. No. 20 Long Beach State improves to 23-8 on the year while No. 18 Washington falls to 20-8-1 on the year.
Long Beach State closes out their time at the Judi Garman Classic tomorrow, as the 49ers will play two games. First up for the 49ers is an 11:30 a.m. date with No. 14 Fresno State before the 49ers play in the final game of the tournament against UNLV at 6 p.m. at the Anderson Family Field.
