Long Beach State University
UC Riverside
49ers sweep doubleheader from UC Riverside
4/28/2012 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 28, 2012
LONG BEACH, Calif. - Long Beach State swept a Big West Conference softball doubleheader Saturday beating UC Riverside 10-4 and 1-0 to remain in a first-place tie in the league standings.
LBSU (22-22, 10-4 Big West) remains tied with Pacific and UC Davis atop the Big West standings, while UC Santa Barbara fell two games back. Pacific swept a doubleheader from Cal Poly, while UC Davis won a pair of games against UC Santa Barbara.
Karli Sandoval and Nalani St. Germain led six 49ers who finished with multiple hits on the day with three each. Sandoval went 3-for-4 with two double and four RBI, while St. Germain went 3-for-6 with a run scored.
Leilani Tupua-Tautalatasi, Bree Stephan, Hannah De Gaetano, and Cya Neal all had two hits for the 49ers.
LBSU and UCR (20-26, 3-11 Big West) wrap up their three games series tomorrow at 1 p.m. at the 49er Softball Complex.
Game 1: Long Beach State 10, UC Riverside 4
The 49ers scored a single-inning season-high seven runs in the bottom of the second and then cruised to a 10-4 win over the Highlanders in game one of the doubleheader.
Sandoval sparked the 49ers going 2-for-3 with four RBI, while Tupua-Tautalatasi, St. Germain and Stephan had two hits apiece as LBSU finished with 10 hits.
UCR jumped out to a 4-0 lead with four unearned runs thanks to two LBSU errors. Dionne Anderson had the biggest of three Highlander hits in the inning, a two-RBI grounder up the middle to make it 3-0. Jessica Vasser had a RBI double earlier in the inning, and UCR scored its fourth run on a throwing error by Taylor Petty.
The 49ers responded with seven runs in the bottom of the second and two in the bottom of the third to take a 9-4 lead.
In the second, Sandoval delivered the big hit with a bases-clearing three-RBI double to right center to give LBSU the lead 6-4. That came after Stephan had an RBI double to get the 49ers on the board and LBSU scored on an error when Highlander catcher Alexis Pickett dropped a throw on a force play at the plate. De Gaetano pulled the 49ers within a run with a bases loaded walk setting up Sandoval's clutch hit.
Sandoval scored from second to make it 7-4 when Tupua-Tautalatasi was safe after getting caught in a rundown between first and second after singling to left field.
In the third, LBSU loaded the bases on a single by Stephan and back-to-back walks to Ashlynn Booker and Megan Denio. Stephan made it 8-4 when she beat a throw to the plate on a grounder to second by Shayna Kimbrough. Neal added a RBI when she lined what should have been a hit to left field, but Arial Shore recovered after diving for the ball and threw out Denio at third on a controversial call. Booker scored on the fielder's choice giving the 49ers a 9-4 lead.
Sandoval made it 10-4 with a RBI double of the top of the fence in left field, scoring Neal who led off the inning with a hit.
Petty (6-1) recovered from a shaky start allowing four unearned runs in the first and escaping a bases loaded jam in the second. She pitched a complete game, striking out nine while scattering eight hits.
Game 2: Long Beach State 1, UC Riverside 0
Erin Jones-Wesley threw a two-hit shutout and De Gaetano hit a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth inning to give the 49ers a sweep of the doubleheader.
Jones-Wesley (16-12) won a pitching duel with UCR's Taylor Alvarez (7-5), striking out nine. Jones-Wesley allowed a leadoff infield single in the first to Kayla White and then held the Highlanders hitless until Dionne Anderson singled in the sixth with two outs.
Alvarez allowed just four hits, but De Geatano's fifth home run of the season was all the 49ers needed. Her five home runs are tied with Booker for the team lead.
