Long Beach State University
21-13, 5-4
UC Irvine
20-12, 4-5
Dirtbags Miss Chance to Sweep, Drop Finale vs. UC Irvine
4/17/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Long Beach, Calif. - The Dirtbags mustered just two hits on Sunday afternoon at Blair Field while UC Irvine got at least one hit from every starter in the Anteaters' 7-2 win. UCI (20-12, 4-5 Big West) spoiled another chance for Long Beach State (21-13, 5-4 Big West) to pick up a sweep, making the Dirtbags 0-5 in those opportunities in the final game of a series.
"There's a lot of urgency from the other team not to get swept," said LBSU head coach Troy Buckley. "Does that mean you can't win against that? No. But you're going to have to play at a good clip in order to do that. To win three games in a row against anybody is difficult, but then when you get urgency from another team where their backs are completely against the wall, you're going to get their best."
Daniel Jackson put the Dirtbags in front in the second inning as he pulled a solo home run just fair down the left field line. It was Jackson's third big fly of the year, giving the Dirtbags more home runs this season (19) than they had in the entire 2015 campaign (18). Unfortunately, LBSU had just one more hit in the game, a one out single in the sixth inning from Garrett Hampson.
Otherwise, UCI starter Alonzo Garcia was in control, working eight innings allowing just one run with four walks and three strikeouts. LBSU scored once in the ninth off reliever Calvin Faucher, getting two walks, an error and an RBI groundout from Zack Domingues.
Tanner Brown took the loss for the Dirtbags, allowing four runs on seven hits in 5.1 innings. Two of the runs he allowed were left to Austin McGeorge, who was unable to work out of trouble cleanly in the sixth, allowing a single and a two-run double to Wyatt Castro with two outs.
The Dirtbags didn't walk anyone, but the Anteaters were able to accumulate 12 hits, including three doubles and a triple. Every Dirtbags pitcher allowed at least one earned run as UCI scored their seven runs across four of the last five innings.
Next up for the Dirtbags is a Tuesday night trip to Los Angeles to take on the Trojans of USC at 6 p.m. LBSU lost the previous meeting at Blair Field, 7-4, back on Mar. 1.
NOTES: The two hits are a season low for the Dirtbags, who were held to three hits against UCSB in a 2-0 win on Apr. 3 … The LBSU defense did not commit an error on Sunday, but the team's record fell to 11-4 in those games … Six of Jackson's 18 hits have gone for extra bases, including his three home runs, giving him a slugging percentage of .545 … David Banuelos pinch hit and struck out to end the game, which also ended his modest four-game hitting streak.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Garcia, Alonzo (3-2)
L: Brown, Tanner (4-3)
Batting:
2B: Hiura, Keston 1 ; Holland, Mitchell 1 ; Castro, Wyatt 1
3B: Guenette, Alex 1
RBI: Brontsema, John 1 ; Palmer, Grant 1 ; Hiura, Keston 1 ; Alcantara, Adam 1 ; Castro, Wyatt 2 ; Guenette, Alex 1
SH: Palmer, Grant 1
SF: Hiura, Keston 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Brontsema, John 2 ; Holland, Mitchell 1 ; Kreuter, Cole 1 ; Alcantara, Adam 1 ; Castro, Wyatt 1 ; Guenette, Alex 1
HBP: Brontsema, John 1
Batting:
HR: Jackson, Daniel 1
RBI: Jackson, Daniel 1 ; Domingues, Zack 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rasmussen, Luke 1 ; Jackson, Daniel 1
SB: Duran, Jarren 1
CS: Lundquist, Brock 1
