Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
23-17
UCLA
31-10
Lundquist Knocks In Game-Winner To Defeat No. 2 UCLA
4/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
LONG BEACH, Calif. -- In a game that took a pitcher's duel to the next level, the Long Beach State Dirtbags finally prevailed in the 13th inning with a 2-1 win over No. 2 UCLA. Brock Lundquist delivered the game-winning RBI-single with two outs in the 13th.
Lundquist was the hero of the night with the first game-winning hit of his career, but it was the pitchers who stole the limelight throughout the night. Both teams combined to use 10 pitchers who allowed only 10 combined hits. UCLA (31-10) had only five hits, which matched the five hits from the Dirtbags (23-17).
Ryan Cruz had an outstanding start for Long Beach State, needing just 81 pitches to get through eight innings. He allowed only two hits through eight innings and both went to Kevin Kramer. Tanner Brown and Logan Lombana combined for the next two innings and limited UCLA to just two more hits.
Austin McGeorge struck out one and held the Bruins bats to just a single in the 12th over two more scoreless innings. Darren McCaughan pitched the 13th and fanned all three batters he faced. Luke Persico was the third strikeout victim but found himself on first after the third strike bounced away on a wild pitch. However, Eric Hutting caught him stealing just a few pitches later to end the inning.
UCLA's pitchers held Long Beach State without a hit between the fifth and the 12th, using four different pitchers over that stretch. Starter Cody Poteet went five and two-third, allowing only an unearned run on two hits. Tucker Forbes relieved Poteet in the fifth and went one hitless inning before Hunter Virant recorded the last out of the seventh. Grant Dyer was solid out of the bullpen with four and two-thirds scoreless frames, allowing only a single to Tristan Mercadel in the 12th before giving way to David Berg.
The Dirtbags touched up Berg for their final two hits, including Lundquist's game-winner. In the 13th, the Dirtbags put together a threat after Joey Sanchez reached on an error by the UCLA second baseman and went to second when the throw was sailed. Berg walked Garrett Hampson and both runners moved up on Zack Rivera's bouncer in front of the plate.
Lundquist took an 0-1 pitch right back up the middle to score Sanchez easily from third and win the game for Long Beach State. Daniel Jackson drove in the Dirtbags first run with an RBI-single in the fifth that scored Tristan Mercadel from second.
UCLA tied up the game in the eighth without the benefit of a hit. Trent Chatterton walked and was replaced by a pinch runner, who stole second. Pinch runner Brett Urabe took third on a pitch in the dirt and then took home when another pitch in the dirt took off toward the back stop.
It was the third Dirtbags game in a row to need extra innings to be decided after the last two games at Cal Poly went 12 and 10 innings, respectively.
The Dirtbags remain home this weekend for a Big West series with Hawaii. The series begins on Friday with first pitch at 6 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: McCaughan, Darren (2-2)
L: Berg, David (4-1)
Batting:
2B: Kramer, Kevin 1
SH: Peterson, Kort 1 ; Chatterton, Trent 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Urabe, Brett 1
SB: Urabe, Brett 1
CS: Persico, Luke 1
HBP: Stephens, Brett 1 ; Moore, Ty 1
Batting:
2B: Domingues, Zack 1
RBI: Lundquist, Brock 1 ; Jackson, Daniel 1
SH: Hampson, Garrett 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sanchez, Joey 1 ; Mercadel, Tristan 1
SB: Jackson, Daniel 1
HBP: Rasmussen, Luke 1 ; Sanchez, Joey 1 ; Lundquist, Brock 1
