Long Beach State University
17-22, 4-6
UC Santa Barbara
7-34, 2-8
Beach Hits Three Homers In Game Two In Doubleheader Split With UC Santa Barbara
4/19/2019 7:58:00 PM | Softball
Fry, Ruffin and Rowland all went yard in the 6-1 game two victory.
A first inning error sparked trouble for Long Beach State (18-22, 5-6 Big West) in the opening game, putting the first batter of the game on. After a bunt and a single put runners on the corners, Kellie White was able to get a groundout to pick up a second out, but struggled with her command from that point, walking four straight batters to allow three unearned runs before turning the ball over to Devyn Magnett to pick up the final out.
Magnett would pitch the rest of the game, but repeated chances went by the wayside for Long Beach State, who had the leadoff batter on in six of seven innings but only brought in one run.
UC Santa Barbara (7-34, 2-8 Big West) in contrast made the most of their opportunities against Magnett. The Gauchos increased their lead to four in the third inning, as a leadoff hit from Devan Sperry led to a run on a sacrifice fly. UCSB then manufactured another run in the sixth to make the score 5-0.
The Beach would have their opportunities late, loading the bases in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. Jamie Wren walked with the bases loaded to put the Beach on the board in the bottom of the sixth, but UCSB tacked on one more run after an LBSU error in the top of the seventh.
Alyssa Gonzalez started a rally with a leadoff single, followed by a double from Lauren Lombardi and a single from Taylor Rowland, making the score 6-2 with no outs and runners on the corners. Emily Schuttish was able to work through the bottom of the lineup however, and escaped the jam to hold on the game one win for UCSB.
For the second time in as many weeks, Fry led from the front to pull back a game two win with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first inning. Unlike in the last outing against Cal State Fullerton, however, more offense was to come in support of Ashley Coleman.
Nichole Fry! Two series, two leadoff home runs! Beach on top 1-0!! pic.twitter.com/yTPSDOUy99
— LBSU Softball (@LBSUSoftball) April 19, 2019
Katelyn Hanson drove in a run in the bottom of the second to increase the lead, and a sacrifice fly from Fry in the fifth made the score 3-0.
Coleman had another strong outing, throwing her ninth complete game of the season and striking out seven while allowing just five hits. Her only blemish came in the sixth as a leadoff single from Teah Thies led to a run.
The Beach blew things open in the bottom half however on the way to the win. Freshman Maddy Ruffin cracked her first career home run to right field to get the action started, and after Lombardi's third walk of the game, Rowland crushed another home run to right field to make the score 6-1 in favor of the Beach.
Keep em coming! Taylor Rowland with a monster shot and Long Beach State leads 6-1! #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/tmTcXXmsul
— LBSU Softball (@LBSUSoftball) April 20, 2019
Long Beach State finishes off the UC Santa Barbara series with a final game on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. in the rubber game.
Here's Jamie Wren after @LBSUSoftball picked up a win in game two with three ?? ?? ?? #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/53zwn9rRLZ
— LBSU Softball (@LBSUSoftball) April 20, 2019
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Noriega, Felisha (6-14)
L: White, Kellie (7-10)
Batting:
RBI: Fines, Maci 1 ; Sperry, Devan 1 ; Ramirez, Genesis 1 ; Menor, Melanie 2 ; Goldstein, Tyler 1
SH: Fabian, Sammy 1
SF: Menor, Melanie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Fines, Maci 1 ; Fabian, Sammy 1 ; Thies, Teah 1 ; Lazatin, Alyssa 1 ; Cohen, Rayna 1 ; Menor, Melanie 1
Batting:
2B: Lombardi, Lauren 1
RBI: Wren, Jamie 1 ; Rowland, Taylor 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gonzalez, Alyssa 1 ; Nogosek, Jessica 1
SB: McCollum, Sydney 1 ; Wren, Jamie 1
HBP: McCollum, Sydney 1 ; Ruffin, Maddy 1
