Long Beach State University
7-3
Wichita State
3-6
Dirtbags Take Series With 5-2 Win Over Wichita State
2/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
LONG BEACH, Calif. - Long Beach State jumped on top early and went on to clinch its third series with a 5-2 victory over Wichita State on Saturday. Tanner Brown was superb on the mound for the Dirtbags (7-3) as he limited the Shockers (3-6) to just three hits through six innings.
Nolan Meadows gave Long Beach State the lead early on with a two-run double in the first inning. The Beach had two of its five hits in the opening inning to fuel the early rally. Brock Lundquist then led off the second with a double and later scored on Nico Maida's sacrifice fly for a 3-0 Dirtbag lead.
The Dirtbags weren't done on the offensive end but that would be all they needed to take the game as the pitching again locked down the Shocker bats. Brown earned his second win on the season after six strong innings.
Brown issued his first walk of the season in the second inning but also struck out five and allowed just three hits. The Shockers put their first run of the series on the board in the third, taking advantage of two Dirtbags errors in the inning. After the first two batters of the inning reached on errors, Tanner Dearman cashed in a run with a groundout to second. Brown limited the damage as he struck out the next batter and induced another ground ball to end the inning.
The Dirtbags added to their lead in the fifth. With two outs and a runner on third, Garrett Hampson pushed a grounder through the ride side of the infield for an RBI-single. It was Hampson's team-leading 10th RBI of the season.
After the Shockers added a run in the top of the seventh, the Dirtbags took advantage of a couple of free passes and scored another insurance run on Maida's chopper to second.
Brown came out for the seventh but quickly found himself in trouble as Sam Hilliard singled and Ryan Tinkham doubled to start the inning. Austin McGeorge limited the damage to one run, which was scored on a groundout, as he retired the next three batters in order.
Logan Lombana pitched a perfect eighth and Ty Provencher pithed himself in and out of a jam in the ninth to earn his third save. Isaac Anderson took the loss on the mound, his first of the season, despite six strong innings. He allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits.
The series finale between Long Beach State and Wichita State is set for tomorrow at 1 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Brown, Tanner (2-0)
L: Anderson, Isaac (2-1)
S: Provencher, Ty (3)
Batting:
2B: Tinkham, Ryan 1
RBI: Farris, Jordan 1 ; Dearman, Tanner 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hilliard, Sam 1 ; Kirk, Tanner 1
CS: Tinkham, Ryan 1
Batting:
2B: Meadows, Nolan 1 ; Lundquist, Brock 1
RBI: Hampson, Garrett 1 ; Meadows, Nolan 2 ; Maida, Nico 2
SH: Mercadel, Tristan 1
SF: Maida, Nico 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Domingues, Zack 1 ; Rivera, Zack 1 ; Lundquist, Brock 1 ; James, Jared 1 ; Mercadel, Tristan 1
SB: Lundquist, Brock 1 ; Mercadel, Tristan 1
CS: Hampson, Garrett 1
HBP: Lundquist, Brock 1
