Dirtbags drop 5-1 decision to LMU

Tuesday, February 22

Long Beach, Calif.

6:30 PM

Long Beach State University

1-3

LMU

4-1

Loyola Marymount

Long Beach State

2/22/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

Feb. 22, 2011

Box Score

Long Beach, Calif. - Freshman Ino Patron had three hits for Long Beach State, including the team's first triple of the season, but a three-run fifth inning for LMU proved to be the difference in a 5-1 loss on the Dirtbags' first Tuesday game.

Long Beach State struck first, scoring in the third inning. Catcher Royce Murai reached after getting hit by a pitch, and was immediately pushed over to second by Brennan Metzger on a sacrifice. A grounder by Jeff McNeil moved him over, and Matt Duffy drove in the run with an RBI single, following textbook small ball play.

Jake Stassi, who started for the Dirtbags, hurled three scoreless innings as the Dirtbags held the lead through the fourth at 1-0. In the fifth however, Kyle Friedrichs got into some trouble after recording the first out of the inning. Bret Dahlson singled to start the rally, and then a walk and a hit batter loaded the bases for the Lions. A sacrifice fly scored a first run, and a Dirtbag error moved both of the other runners into scoring position, who then came home on a double by Evan Simonitsch to make the score 3-1.

The Lions patched together two more runs in the late innings, scoring in both the seventh and the ninth inning to account for the final score.

Long Beach State returns to Blair Field this weekend to face another ranked foe, as the Dirtbags host No. 17 Arizona for three games. Friday night's start is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., while the Saturday game is set for 2 p.m., a change from the original schedule.