Avila Takes Tough-Luck Loss as Dirtbags Fall 6-2 at Fullerton

Friday, May 17

Fullerton, Calif.

8:15 p.m.

Long Beach State University

11-40, 5-15

Cal State Fullerton

24-25, 10-10

Long Beach State

Cal State Fullerton

Photo by: John Fajardo

Avila Takes Tough-Luck Loss as Dirtbags Fall 6-2 at Fullerton

5/17/2019 11:55:00 PM | Baseball

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Junior Nick Avila had another strong outing on the mound, but fell victim to three unearned runs as Cal State Fullerton took game two of the weekend series with the Dirtbags, 6-2, at Goodwin Field. Victor Carlino had an RBI triple to give LBSU an early 1-0 lead in the second inning.

By: Tyler Hendrickson, Associate Athletic Communications Director

FULLERTON, Calif. – The Dirtbags (11-40, 5-15 Big West) got another strong outing from their starting pitcher, but couldn't get enough run support as Cal State Fullerton (24-25, 10-10 Big West) won Friday night's game, 6-2, at Goodwin Field.

Junior Nick Avila went 6.1 innings on the mound, allowing three unearned runs on three hits and four walks with a career-high six strikeouts. It was Avila's fourth quality start of the season, but he was saddled with the loss as the Dirtbags offense scored just twice and the Titans scored five runs in the final two innings.

Long Beach State took the lead in the second inning as Aidan Malm hit a leadoff double to left field to start the frame. He was brought home on an RBI triple by Victor Carlino to put Long Beach up, 1-0.

Carlino gets it done! Drives in Malm with the RBI triple! 1-0 Dirtbags in the 2nd! #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/vufVXICWRw
— LBSU Dirtbags (@LBDirtbags) May 18, 2019

Chris Jimenez hit a one-out double in the third, but was stranded at second base. Three of LBSU's five hits on the night went for extra bases, but the Dirtbags recorded just two hits after the third inning, getting singles from Laine Huffman and Chase Luttrell in the ninth. The Dirtbags put up their second run on a sacrifice fly from Riki DeSa to bring home Huffman.

The Titans tied the game with a run on a sacrifice fly in the third, and the teams remained tied until the bottom of the seventh. Like in the series opener, Fullerton was able to tack on insurance runs late, scoring twice in the seventh and thrice more in the eighth to pull away for the victory.

The loss snaps a streak of three consecutive series won by the Dirtbags at Goodwin Field, and LBSU will look to salvage the final game of the series on Saturday. LHP Zak Baayoun (3-8, 5.58 ERA) will get the start on Saturday against Titans RHP Gavin Velasquez (1-0, 7.39 ERA) with a scheduled 1 p.m. first pitch.