Long Beach State University
CSUN
Dirtbags Hold Off CSUN To Take Series Opener
4/2/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
LONG BEACH, Calif. -- The Long Beach State Dirtbags took advantage of some early CSUN miscues and held on down the stretch to take the series opener 3-2 on Friday. Kyle Friedrichs earned his fifth win of the season on the mound and Ty Provencher made the four-out save to secure the win.
The Dirtbags (15-10, 2-2 Big West) had six hits in the game but capitalized on some early opportunities to go up 3-0 in the first four innings. Zack Domingues singled with one out in the first. Two wild pitches and a passed ball later, he sprinted home for the game's first run.
A couple of infield singles from Tristan Mercadel and Jonathan Serven, plus the first of three CSUN (20-9, 1-3 Big West) errors in the game, put runners on second and third with one out in the second. CSUN starter Calvin Copping walked Eric Hutting and then threw his third of four wild pitches in the game to bring in Mercadel.
Mercadel was again on first with one out in the third when Copping's pickoff attempt got past Albee Weiss at first, allowing Mercadel to move up to third and score moments later on Serven's sacrifice fly.
Friedrichs picked up right where he left off against UC Santa Barbara as he allowed just one runner into scoring position through the first six innings. He struck out five through the first six innings and allowed only two hits without issuing a walk. He came out for the seventh but ran into a bit of trouble with a one-out single, followed by a double, and gave way to Austin McGeorge.
CSUN scored their first run when Dylan Alexander scored on Weiss' groundout. After McGeorge issued a walk, Logan Lombana came in to close out the inning with another grounder. CSUN notched another run off Lombana in the eighth with three singles and a pair of hit by pitches. Nolan Bumstead's single up the middle scored the run before Alexander singled into right and Yusuke Akitoshi was plunked by Lombana.
Ty Provencher was called on in the tight spot as he took to the mound with two outs and the bases loaded. He fanned Weiss to end the frame and keep the Dirtbags out in front. Despite an error to lead off the ninth, Provencher was able to keep the Matadors off the board for his fifth save of the year.
Long Beach State and CSUN meet again tomorrow at 6 p.m. for the second game of a three-game Big West series.
