Sunday, March 21
Long Beach, Calif.
1 p.m.
Long Beach State University
3
vs
1
UC Riverside
Photo by: John Fajardo
Strong Conference Start For LBSU Who Sweep Opening Doubleheader
3/21/2021 7:00:00 PM | Softball
The Beach held off UC Riverside in game one before a run-rule victory in game two.
LONG BEACH, Calif. – The Beach opened conference play with two solid wins on Sunday, taking full advantage of an extra day to prepare with a pair of victories over UC Riverside.
Kellie White shone in the opener, giving up just one unearned run while striking out five as Long Beach State (6-4, 2-0 Big West) prevailed 3-1. Both White and Chrys Hildebrand for UC Riverside (1-10, 0-2 Big West) were in command early, as neither side picked up a run through three innings and Hildebrand held the Beach to just one hit.
Long Beach State was able to break through in the fourth inning, taking advantage of a leadoff walk from Breezy Wise. Alyssa Gonzalez followed with the first of her three doubles on the day to put two in scoring position, and Suzy Brookshire brought home Wise with a deep fly ball to break the deadlock.
With two runners on in the fifth, Gonzalez delivered again with a double to right field to score Sara Olson and Cam Cecil to give LBSU a 3-0 edge. UC Riverside brought home a run on an error in the sixth, but White was able to limit the damage and worked a 1-2-3 seventh to pick up her third win of the year.
After getting started late in the first game, the LBSU offense went to work early in game two. The Highlanders took an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first on a Kennedi Sorensen home run, but the Beach bounced right back in the bottom half.
With two runners on, Gonzalez hit her third double in as many at-bats to tie the game in just the first three batters, and a hit batter and a walk chased UCR starter Katie Barberick. After a sacrifice fly added one more, a two-run double from Emily Salazar made the score 5-2 and an RBI single from Justine Briones closed out the six-run inning.
Piling on two more runs in the second inning on a two-run double from Cam Cecil, the Beach really broke the game open in the third. Three straight walks loaded the bases in front of Brookshire with no outs, and the newcomer poked a single into right field to score two. Wise then doubled to score two more, and scored herself on a sac fly from Cam Cecil to make the score 13-2.
That was plenty of support for Shannon Haddad, who finished with five strikeouts in five innings on the way to improving her record on the year to 3-0. Alyssa Gonzalez finished the day 4-for-5 with three doubles and four RBI to lead the offense in the doubleheader.
The series concludes with a third game tomorrow, starting at 10 a.m. Follow the action via Beach Vision.
Kellie White shone in the opener, giving up just one unearned run while striking out five as Long Beach State (6-4, 2-0 Big West) prevailed 3-1. Both White and Chrys Hildebrand for UC Riverside (1-10, 0-2 Big West) were in command early, as neither side picked up a run through three innings and Hildebrand held the Beach to just one hit.
Long Beach State was able to break through in the fourth inning, taking advantage of a leadoff walk from Breezy Wise. Alyssa Gonzalez followed with the first of her three doubles on the day to put two in scoring position, and Suzy Brookshire brought home Wise with a deep fly ball to break the deadlock.
With two runners on in the fifth, Gonzalez delivered again with a double to right field to score Sara Olson and Cam Cecil to give LBSU a 3-0 edge. UC Riverside brought home a run on an error in the sixth, but White was able to limit the damage and worked a 1-2-3 seventh to pick up her third win of the year.
After getting started late in the first game, the LBSU offense went to work early in game two. The Highlanders took an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first on a Kennedi Sorensen home run, but the Beach bounced right back in the bottom half.
With two runners on, Gonzalez hit her third double in as many at-bats to tie the game in just the first three batters, and a hit batter and a walk chased UCR starter Katie Barberick. After a sacrifice fly added one more, a two-run double from Emily Salazar made the score 5-2 and an RBI single from Justine Briones closed out the six-run inning.
Gonzo comes through again! Third double of the day and Long Beach State ties it up in the bottom of the first! #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/Cb3KHnqifL
— LBSU Softball (@LBSUSoftball) March 21, 2021
Piling on two more runs in the second inning on a two-run double from Cam Cecil, the Beach really broke the game open in the third. Three straight walks loaded the bases in front of Brookshire with no outs, and the newcomer poked a single into right field to score two. Wise then doubled to score two more, and scored herself on a sac fly from Cam Cecil to make the score 13-2.
That was plenty of support for Shannon Haddad, who finished with five strikeouts in five innings on the way to improving her record on the year to 3-0. Alyssa Gonzalez finished the day 4-for-5 with three doubles and four RBI to lead the offense in the doubleheader.
The series concludes with a third game tomorrow, starting at 10 a.m. Follow the action via Beach Vision.
We caught up with Alyssa Gonzalez after the two wins today! #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/tktKxw0HGq
— LBSU Softball (@LBSUSoftball) March 22, 2021
Players Mentioned
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UTL
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UTL
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OF
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INF
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P
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OF
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