Long Beach State University
UC Santa Barbara
Softball Rolls To Two Wins In Santa Barbara
4/21/2018 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Santa Barbara, Calif. - No. 18 Softball got back to their winning ways with a doubleheader sweep on the road Saturday at UC Santa Barbara, improving to 9-2 in the Big West in the process.
Long Beach State (35-9, 9-2 Big West) opened the scoring in the top of the second inning of game one. Lauren MacLeod was hit by a pitch to put a runner on, and after moving to second on a groundout, the senior scored on a double from LT Torres making the score 1-0. Torres' double was the 75th of the season for Long Beach State, setting a new single-season record.
The Beach tacked on two more in the third inning, as a dropped pop fly from Sierra Altmeyer with the bases loaded and two outs led to a 3-0 lead.
Cielo Meza got out of a one-out, bases loaded jam in the third with a pair of strikeouts, and finished five innings with seven strikeouts, but ran into trouble again in the sixth. Two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases with no outs, and UC Santa Barbara (17-27, 4-7 Big West) pulled back two runs before reliever Devyn Magnett got out of the inning.
In the seventh, Long Beach State picked up a pair of important insurance runs, as Taylor Rowland was plunked to put a runner on in front of Julia Lombardi, who hit a two-run home run to dead center, giving the Beach a 5-2 lead.
The Gauchos threatened in the bottom of the seventh inning after Magnett walked the leadoff batter followed by a pair of singles. Jessica Flores came on and closed out the game for her second save of the season, getting three outs with only one run coming home on an RBI groundout in a 5-3 lead.
Long Beach State took an early lead in the second game, as Nichole Fry reached on an error. After moving into scoring position on a single from Naomi Hernandez, the junior came home to score on an RBI single from Julia Lombardi giving the Beach a 1-0 lead.
UCSB answered back with leadoff single in the bottom half, and after getting pushed to third, Sammy Fabian scored on an RBI double from Altmeyer.
The third inning was a bounceback frame for the Beach. Nichole Fry singled to start the inning and came around to score on an RBI double from Rowland. The fourth also proceeded similarly, with LT Torres opening the inning with a single. Replaced by Rachel Loera on the bases, the Beach pushed around the senior with a single and a pair of groundouts to take a 3-1 lead.
Long Beach State broke the game open in the fifth and sixth on the way to the run-rule victory. Singles from Hernandez and Tierra Falo along with another defensive miscue led to three runs in the fifth. The top of the order then came through in the sixth, as Fry singled, Hernandez was plunked and Taylor Rowland followed with her 11th home run of the season to give the Beach a 9-1 lead.
UCSB extended the game with a sacrifice fly with two outs in the sixth, but Long Beach State answered back with an extra run of their own in the seventh, and Flores closed out the complete game victory to improve to 8-1 on the year.
The 2018 squad's assault on the record books continued on Saturday. Fry's three runs scored in the second game pushed her into first place in single season runs scored with 44, while Rowland is just four RBI away from Darian Tautalafua's single season record in that category. Lombardi's total of four RBI pushed the senior past her sister Lauren and Kristyn Frady into eighth all-time at the Beach with 85 career RBI.
Long Beach State will go for the sweep on the road at UC Santa Barbara with a single game on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
