Long Beach State University
4-9
Washington State
5-8
Late Rally From Washington State Fells Dirtbags
3/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 14, 2009
Long Beach, Calif. - Five strikeouts, five runs. The Dirtbags battled back from a 3-0 deficit to take a 5-3 lead into the ninth inning, but closer Charlie Ruiz's breaking ball fooled both teams, as Washington State scored five runs to win the game.
Ruiz picked up four strikeouts in the inning himself following two hits off of reliever Dustin Rasco, but three wild pitches and a passed ball brought home two runs and put two extra runners on as Long Beach State was unable to hold on to the lead.
Washington State took the lead in the top of the first. Shortstop Shea Vucinich started the inning with a hit, and Derek Jones followed with another hit to put a Vucinich in scoring position, and he would come home on a sacrifice fly.
The Cougars added two more runs in the fourth inning, as Jones and Greg Lagreid started the innings with consecutive singles. A third single would score a second run, and an RBI single by Cody Bartlett made the score 3-0.
Long Beach State would bring back two in the bottom half of the frame. Singles from Brandon Young and Matt Avery sandwiched around a walk would get the Dirtbags on the board, and a balk by Jared Prince brought home a second run.
The Dirtbags would tie the game in the fifth, loading the bases with a double from Mittelstaedt and two hit batters before a sacrifice fly from Rylan Sandoval scored a run.
The lead finally belonged to Long Beach State after the sixth. John Hill started the rally with a two-out double, and he would come around to score after an RBI single by Tre Dennis, putting The Beach on top 4-3.
Long Beach State added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh. Devin Lohman started off the inning with a single, and after being pushed to second and third by a sacrifice and a groundout, the shortstop would come home on an error from Matt Argyropoulos.
The Dirtbags and Cougars conclude their three-game series tomorrow. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Blair Field.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Johnson, J (2-1)
L: Ruiz, Charlie (1-1)
S: Harvey, S (1)
Batting:
2B: Weber, M 1
RBI: Lagreid, G 3 ; Argyropoulos 1 ; Weber, M 1 ; Bartlett, C 1
SH: Burg, A 1
SF: Lagreid, G 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Claussen, P 1 ; Vucinich, S 1 ; Jones, D 1 ; Lagreid, G 1 ; Burg, A 1 ; Argyropoulos 1 ; Weber, M 1 ; Desmarais, J 1
SB: Jones, D 1
Batting:
2B: Mittelstaedt, TJ 1 ; Hill, John 1
RBI: Dennis, Tre 1 ; Sandoval, Rylan 1 ; Avery, Matt 1
SH: Young, Brandon 1
SF: Sandoval, Rylan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mittelstaedt, TJ 1 ; Lohman, Devin 1 ; Young, Brandon 1 ; Sandoval, Rylan 1 ; Hill, John 1
SB: Young, Brandon 1 ; Metzger, Brennan 1
CS: Lohman, Devin 1
HBP: Lohman, Devin 1 ; Young, Brandon 2 ; Hill, John 1
