Long Beach State University
2-6
South Carolina
7-0
Dirtbags Rally Comes Up Short
3/6/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 6, 2009
Columbia, S.C. - Long Beach State grinded to its last out, but had too much of a mountain to climb in a 15-8 loss in the series opener with South Carolina. Derek Legg's grand slam brought home of the Dirtbags' six ninth-inning runs, but had too far to go to complete the comeback.
Trailing 15-2 entering the ninth, the Dirtbags picked up an out with the leadoff batter, but TJ Mittelstaedt reached after being hit, and Kellen Hoime walked to put two runners on. A strikeout later, the Dirtbags had two outs, but three consecutive singles would bring home two runs, and Legg would come up with a home run to right field on his third hit of the day to cut the lead to 15-8. Long Beach State would finally be retired to end the game however.
Derek Legg's play was a bright spot on a day that was not everything Long Beach State had hoped. Legg was three-for-five with two runs scored, a stolen base and the grand slam in the ninth. Long Beach State allowed a lot of runs in between the two from Legg, however, leading to the conclustion.
Legg led off the game with the first run. Singling to left as the second batter, Legg reached second base on an error from Gamecock left-fielder DeAngelo Mack, and would then score after stealing third and reaching home on a wild throw from catcher Justin Dallas. The Dirtbags left the inning with a 1-0 lead.
South Carolina came back with two unearned runs in the bottom half of the inning to take the lead, and would never lose it behind the pitching of starter Sam Dyson, who pitched seven innings, giving up the unearned run to Legg and allowing three hits with six strikeouts.
Back to back home runs from Mack and Nick Ebert put South Carolina ahead 5-1 by the end of the second inning. Jake Thompson pitched two more scoreless innings, but in the fifth, two straight walks kick-started a Gamecock rally, and South Carolina would add two more.
Already holding a 7-1 lead, South Carolina added three more runs after Jackie Bradley Jr. began the bottom of the sixth with a leadoff triple.
John Hill picked up Long Beach State's second run, crushing a solo home run to right-center to lead off the eighth inning. Steve Tinoco would continue the rally, reaching after a pitch hit him, but three consecutive outs would end Long Beach State's chances.
Long Beach State collected a second double play of the game to get two outs in the eighth inning, but couldn't collect the third out they needed until five runs had crossed, creating a gap that even the big ninth couldn't cover.
The Dirtbags and the Gamecocks match up for two more games over the weekend in South Carolina. Saturday's game is set for 1 p.m. Pacific Time, while Sunday's is scheduled for 10:30 Pacific.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Sam Dyson (2-0)
L: Thompson, Jake (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Mittelstaedt, TJ 1
HR: Legg, Derek 1 ; Hill, John 1
RBI: Blood, Trever 1 ; Legg, Derek 4 ; Hill, John 1 ; Casas, Jordan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Blood, Trever 1 ; Legg, Derek 2 ; Mittelstaedt, TJ 1 ; Hoime, Kellen 1 ; Hill, John 1 ; Young, Brandon 1 ; Casas, Jordan 1
SB: Legg, Derek 1
CS: Hill, John 1 ; Casas, Jordan 1
HBP: Mittelstaedt, TJ 1 ; Tinoco, Steve 1
Batting:
2B: Nick Ebert 1 ; Justin Dalles 1 ; Michael Roth 1
3B: Adam Matthews 1 ; Jackie Bradley, Jr. 1
HR: DeAngelo Mack 1 ; Nick Ebert 1
RBI: Adam Matthews 1 ; Jackie Bradley, Jr. 1 ; DeAngelo Mack 2 ; Nick Ebert 2 ; Justin Dalles 1 ; Andrew Crisp 1 ; Jeffery Jones 1 ; Bobby Haney 1 ; Scott Wingo 1 ; Michael Roth 1
SF: Nick Ebert 1 ; Scott Wingo 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Whit Merrifield 1 ; Adam Matthews 1 ; Jackie Bradley, Jr. 2 ; DeAngelo Mack 2 ; Nick Ebert 4 ; Justin Dalles 2 ; Brady Thomas 1 ; Bobby Haney 1 ; Michael Roth 1
SB: Whit Merrifield 1
HBP: Jeffery Jones 1
