Long Beach State University
Rutgers
Beach Splits Final Two Games Of Tournament
3/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 9, 2008
Lakewood, Calif. - Closing out the final day of the Long Beach Invitational at Mayfair Park, the 49ers pounded their way past Rutgers 4-1 before falling just short against the No. 2 UCLA, losing 1-0 in eight innings. Bridgette Pagano grabbed her fifth win of the season, striking out four and allowing just one run against the Scarlet Knights in the opener.
In the day's opening game, Pagano kept the 49ers out of trouble, and one big inning was enough for Long Beach State. Having been retired in order during the first two innings, Brianna Goad started a rally for the 49ers with a one-out single. Franciska Morlet was then hit by a pitch to put two runners on, and a Jessica Beaver single put runners on the corners for Long Beach State. A flawlessly executed delayed double steal gave the 49ers an insurance run, and a huge double from Lacy Tyler brought home a third run. Jennifer Griffin added the first of her two hits in the game to bring the total of the inning to 4-0.
Sarah Kalka hit a late solo home run to spoil the shutout for Pagano, who strucky out four and walked no one to even her record on the season to 5-5.
Long Beach State's second game was dominated by pitching, pitting UCLA's Angelica Selden against LBSU's Brooke Turner. Both teams had chances to score, but were unable to convert in regulation with both pitchers battling. UCLA's Katie Schroeder led off the game with a hit, and was immediately pushed over to second. A wild pitch sent her to third with just one out, but a popup and a strikeout ended the inning with the game still scoreless.
The 49ers had two nice chances in the fifth and sixth innings to break the tie. In the fifth, heads up running from Brooke LeSage allowed her to pick up a one-out double, and Ashley Weber beat out a grounder to short to put runners on the corners with two out. Whitney Radcliff's at-bat came up just short, as UCLA shortstop Monica Harrison was just able to chase down a fly from the senior.
In the sixth, Harrison was the 49ers downfall once again. Jonae Perez drew a leadoff walk, the first of the game from Selden. Switching places with Morlet, the 49ers bunted her over, with a second out coming from Goad. A grounder deep into the hole was an easy single for Lacy Tyler, but a big stop from Harrison and a quick throw caught Morlet rounding third in an attempt to score if the ball got into the outfield.
Going to extra innings, the 49ers were unable to pick up a hit after moving their placed runner over to third in the top half of the 8th as the designated visiting team. With a chance for the Bruins to end things, Long Beach State walked Megan Langenfeld, but Samantha Camuso hit a long double to right to finish the game with a win for the No. 2 team in the country.
UCLA also grabbed a win in the middle game, as a two-run homerun by Langenfeld was all the cushion that starting pitcher Donna Kerr would need on the way to a two-hit shutout of No. 8 Northwestern.
