Dirtbags Drop Sluggish Tuesday Contest To USC, 7-4

Tuesday, March 1

Long Beach, Calif.

6:00 PM

Long Beach State University

5-3

USC

5-3

USC

Long Beach State

Tristan Mercadel's two-run double was the highlight of the night to give Long Beach a 3-0 first-inning lead, but it wouldn't hold in a sloppy 7-4 loss.

3/1/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

March 1, 2016

Box Score

Long Beach, Calif. - Tuesday night's meeting between Long Beach State (5-3) and USC (5-3) is one that both teams will likely be happy to put behind them, as neither team played its best on a foggy night at Blair Field. The visiting Trojans scored five runs in the top of the second inning to quickly erase a 3-0 Long Beach State lead, and never surrendered that advantage in a 7-4 win.

"I thought it was an anomaly," said Dirtbags head coach Troy Buckley. "I hope it's an anomaly, so we can compartmentalize it and put it over (to the side). It was a bad game, for both teams… We didn't have a facet of our game that played well and that has not been the case up until this point (in the season)."

Both teams piled up runs in the first two innings with Long Beach striking first in the bottom half of the first inning. Sloppy defense from USC allowed the Dirtbags to put together a one-out rally and put up three unearned runs on Trojans starter CJ Stubbs. Jarren Duran single, followed by an error, a hit by pitch and another error on a ground ball from Garrett Nelson brought in the first run, setting the stage for Tristan Mercadel to do some damage. The sophomore right fielder smoked a ball down the first base line with the bases loaded, scoring two runs for a 3-0 Dirtbags lead. Nelson was thrown out at home on a well-executed relay to limit the damage, but Long Beach took a nice early lead.

Just like his first start at UCLA, RHP Dave Smith was given early run support, but he couldn't keep the USC offense at bay. A leadoff walk in the second inning was followed by a two-run home run to left field by Adalberto Carrillo, getting USC right back in the game. USC would string together three more hits in the inning and score three more times to take a 5-3 lead.

An RBI groundout from Jarren Duran scored Joey Sanchez in the bottom half of the second to make it a 5-4 game, but LBSU couldn't get any closer. The bullpens weren't exactly sharp, but they limited the offense the rest of the night. The Trojans would add insurance runs in the fifth and the ninth to take the 7-4 win.

Mason Perryman earned the win in relief for USC and Brooks Kriske picked up his first save. LBSU used a season-high six pitchers on the night who combined to throw a remarkable 197 pitches in a game that lasted over four hours.

The Dirtbags committed a season-high three errors after entering the game with just one so far this season. The team ranked second nationally in fielding percentage (.996) entering Tuesday's contest.

Long Beach State will look to bounce back this weekend hosting Nebraska for a three-game set at Blair Field. RHP Chris Mathewson is the expected starter for Friday's 6 p.m. opening game and there will be a poster giveaway featuring the sophomore pitcher. Due to possible inclement weather, there could be changes made to the weekend schedule, so please monitor the start times closely.

NOTES: The 15 hits allowed is a season-high for the Dirtbags pitching staff … The USC run in the ninth inning was the first earned run allowed by the LBSU bullpen this season after going 23.1 innings without allowing an earned run to score … Carrillo's home run was the fifth home run hit at Blair Field this season, surpassing the combined total of four from the entire 2015 season. It was also the third home run of the five that cleared the new fence, but not the old outfield walls … The 4:01 game duration is the longest game of the season so far for the Dirtbags, eclipsing last Tuesday's 3:20 game at UCLA … Nelson made his first career start for Long Beach State, batting fifth as the DH and going 1-for-4 with an RBI groundout.