Dirtbags Drop Disappointing Doubleheader at No. 10 Ole Miss

Saturday, March 2

Oxford, Miss

11:30 A.M.

Long Beach State University

0-9

Ole Miss

7-2

Long Beach State

Ole Miss

Photo by: BaileyLeFever

3/2/2019 9:18:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Game 1 Box Score (PDF)Game 2 Box Score (PDF)

Long Beach State went toe-to-toe with the Rebels in both games on Saturday, but some late heroics from the No. 10 team in the country denied the Dirtbags of a win in each contest.

By: Tyler Hendrickson, Associate Athletic Communications Director

OXFORD, Miss. – The frustrating start to the 2019 season continued on Saturday night at Swayze Field as Long Beach State (0-10) dropped both games against No. 10 Ole Miss (8-2). The Dirtbags led three times in game one and were tied in the eighth inning of the second game, but the Rebels were able to win both games with clutch hits late. This is the first 10-game losing streak for the Dirtbags since the 1980 season as LBSU has suffered road sweeps against two Top 10 opponents from the SEC.

Game One: No. 10 Ole Miss 7, Long Beach State 6

The Dirtbags took their first lead of the series in the top of the first inning, went back in front in the fourth, and led 6-4 thanks to a four-run eighth inning, but the bullpen couldn't hold onto the win. Ole Miss left fielder Thomas Dillard hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to give Ole Miss a one-run victory. It was the only home run Long Beach State surrendered in the series against a team that had hit 15 home runs in seven games entering the weekend.

Laine Huffman started at DH and was 2-for-2 with three sacrifice bunts in game one with a run scored. Aidan Malm got the start in right field and had RBI singles in each of his first two trips to the plate. He was joined with two RBIs by junior Jacob Hughey and freshman Tyler Porter.

Sophomore southpaw Adam Seminaris gave Long Beach State its first quality start of the season, going 6.1 innings allowing two runs on six hits with five strikeouts.

Connor Kokx led off the game with a walk, and was brought home on a two-out RBI single from Malm to give LBSU a 1-0 lead. In the fourth, Malm delivered again to score Huffman and make it 2-1 Dirtbags. That lead would hold up until the Rebels scored three times in the bottom of the seventh to take a 4-2 lead.

But the Dirtbags bats would answer with a four-spot in the top of the eighth, coming at the expense of Preseason All-American closer Parker Caracci. His three walks sandwiched around a Huffman sac bunt loaded the bases with one out, and Hughey delivered a game-tying double down the left field line off reliever Doug Nikhazy. After an intentional walk loaded the bases, Porter lined an opposite field single to bring home two more runs and give the Dirtbags a 6-4 lead. The four runs scored in the eighth were more than Long Beach State has scored in any game so far this season.

Unfortunately, the lead wouldn't hold as Ole Miss scored twice in the eighth to tie it, then got out of a bases loaded jam in the top of the ninth on a stellar defensive play. With the bases loaded and one out, a wild pitch got to the backstop, and ricocheted back to Ole Miss catcher Cooper Johnson. He quickly collected the ball and fired a strike to home plate to prevent Tanner Carlson from scoring the go-ahead run. Then with one out in the bottom half of the inning, Dillard delivered his walk-off blast on a 3-0 pitch to kick off the celebration at Swayze Field.

Game Two: No. 10 Ole Miss 5, Long Beach State 3

The Rebels got to work offensively in a hurry, scoring two runs in the first inning off Long Beach starter Matt Fields. He was able to get out of a bases-loaded jam with no outs, however, to limit the damage, but Ole Miss would add a third run in the second inning to go up 3-1 early.

The one run for the Dirtbags came on a second-inning solo home run from junior catcher Cole Joy, who crushed a fastball into the Dirtbags bullpen beyond the left field fence. That would not be the last dinger of the day for Long Beach State though, because junior Jake Vander Wal launched a two-run shot into the Ole Miss bullpen with two outs in the top of the sixth inning to tie the score at 3-3.

Freshman lefthander Alfredo Ruiz came in in relief and kept the Dirtbags in the game, throwing 5.1 innings of relief, posting five consecutive zeroes on the scoreboard. He left a runner on base when he was lifted with one out in the eighth, and that man would come around to score to saddle Ruiz with the loss. He didn't walk a batter and recorded a career-high six strikeouts in his quality relief appearance.

Huffman singled in his first two at-bats in game two, giving him six hits for the weekend and three straight multi-hit games. He is now hitting an impressive .467 through 15 at-bats this season. Santino Rivera also had two singles in the contest as LBSU posted a season-best nine hits in the series finale.

The Dirtbags will head back to Long Beach where things will not get any easier on the schedule. Up next is a Tuesday night clash with No. 17 Michigan, followed by a weekend series against No. 18 TCU. Rain is in the forecast for Tuesday night, so be sure to follow @LBDirtbags on Twitter and keep an eye on LongBeachState.com for possible scheduling changes in the days ahead.