Saturday, April 3
Northridge, Calif.
1 p.m.
Long Beach State University
11-5, 7-1
9
at
1
CSUN
2-6, 2-6
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Long Beach State
0
3
5
0
0
0
1
9
9
2
CSUN
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
6
2
Photo by: John Fajardo
Beach Softball Closes Out Sweep Of CSUN On The Road
4/3/2021 6:49:00 PM | Softball
Long Beach State stays on top of the Big West standings at 8-1.
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – Long Beach State continued to pound the ball, picking up wins of 9-1 and 6-3 on the road at CSUN to complete the sweep of the Matadors and improve to 8-1 in Big West play.
Long Beach State (12-5, 8-1 Big West) continued to bash CSUN pitching in game one on Saturday after piling up nine runs in the opener Friday. Breezy Wise tripled to start the second inning, and Emily Salazar singled home the senior to put the first run on the board. Two more runs came home on a double off the wall from Justine Briones and a single from Naomi Hernandez as the Beach led 3-0 after two.
In the third, Long Beach State broke the game open. Batting around in the inning, Suzy Brookshire started the action with a double, and scored on a single from Wise. With the bases loaded, a single from Sara Olson scored two more, and a sac fly from Kyra Snyder and an RBI single from Alyssa Gonzalez made the score 8-0.
CSUN (2-7, 2-7 Big West) scored a key run in the bottom half of the third however. Taking advantage of a two-out error, Jaymi Steward doubled home the only Matador run to cut the edge to seven.
The Beach added a ninth run in the seventh inning, but went the distance in a 9-1 win. Kellie White pitched five innings for Long Beach State, striking out seven and allowing the lone unearned run in her sixth win of the season. Samantha Fowler struck out three in two scoreless innings of relief.
Shannon Haddad was dominant in her second start of the series. The freshman didn't allow a hit until the fifth inning, and struck out a career-high tying 11 Matadors in her 15 outs in game two.
The Beach went straight to work in the top of the first to stake Haddad a lead. With Sara Olson on second, Brookshire singled to score the freshman, and then the veteran came around to score on a stolen base and two wild pitches, showing off her speed as the Beach took a 2-0 lead.
Gonzalez added three more with one swing in the second, as the junior made CSUN pay for a walk and a hit batter with a three-run home run, her first of the season. LBSU then added one more run in the third as Salazar cracked a double in a nine-pitch at-bat, scoring on a single from Cam Cecil.
Freshman Sophia Fernandez made her debut in the circle in the sixth inning and struggled, giving up a single and a two-run home run followed by a walk. Fowler returned at that point, and a great play in left field by Lilyanna Martinez helped the Beach take back the momentum.
Fowler did not allow a run in the sixth, and although the Matadors added a run on a sacrifice fly in the seventh, the sophomore finished off the contest as the Beach completed the sweep of the Matadors.
Long Beach State will return home next week and welcome conference newcomer UC San Diego to the LBSU Softball Complex for the first time in league play. The series will also feature a 2021 wrinkle as the teams will play four games – the first three of which will count towards the conference standings while the fourth will not. Game times are set for a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. Saturday followed by an 11 a.m. doubleheader on Sunday.
Long Beach State (12-5, 8-1 Big West) continued to bash CSUN pitching in game one on Saturday after piling up nine runs in the opener Friday. Breezy Wise tripled to start the second inning, and Emily Salazar singled home the senior to put the first run on the board. Two more runs came home on a double off the wall from Justine Briones and a single from Naomi Hernandez as the Beach led 3-0 after two.
In the third, Long Beach State broke the game open. Batting around in the inning, Suzy Brookshire started the action with a double, and scored on a single from Wise. With the bases loaded, a single from Sara Olson scored two more, and a sac fly from Kyra Snyder and an RBI single from Alyssa Gonzalez made the score 8-0.
CSUN (2-7, 2-7 Big West) scored a key run in the bottom half of the third however. Taking advantage of a two-out error, Jaymi Steward doubled home the only Matador run to cut the edge to seven.
The Beach added a ninth run in the seventh inning, but went the distance in a 9-1 win. Kellie White pitched five innings for Long Beach State, striking out seven and allowing the lone unearned run in her sixth win of the season. Samantha Fowler struck out three in two scoreless innings of relief.
Shannon Haddad was dominant in her second start of the series. The freshman didn't allow a hit until the fifth inning, and struck out a career-high tying 11 Matadors in her 15 outs in game two.
The Beach went straight to work in the top of the first to stake Haddad a lead. With Sara Olson on second, Brookshire singled to score the freshman, and then the veteran came around to score on a stolen base and two wild pitches, showing off her speed as the Beach took a 2-0 lead.
Gonzalez added three more with one swing in the second, as the junior made CSUN pay for a walk and a hit batter with a three-run home run, her first of the season. LBSU then added one more run in the third as Salazar cracked a double in a nine-pitch at-bat, scoring on a single from Cam Cecil.
Freshman Sophia Fernandez made her debut in the circle in the sixth inning and struggled, giving up a single and a two-run home run followed by a walk. Fowler returned at that point, and a great play in left field by Lilyanna Martinez helped the Beach take back the momentum.
Fowler did not allow a run in the sixth, and although the Matadors added a run on a sacrifice fly in the seventh, the sophomore finished off the contest as the Beach completed the sweep of the Matadors.
Long Beach State will return home next week and welcome conference newcomer UC San Diego to the LBSU Softball Complex for the first time in league play. The series will also feature a 2021 wrinkle as the teams will play four games – the first three of which will count towards the conference standings while the fourth will not. Game times are set for a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. Saturday followed by an 11 a.m. doubleheader on Sunday.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: White, Kellie (6-3)
L: Gonzales, Eryka (1-3)
Batting:
2B: Brookshire, Suzy 1 ; Briones, Justine 2
3B: Wise, Breezy 1
RBI: Hernandez, Naomi 1 ; Snyder, Kyra 1 ; Gonzalez, Alyssa 1 ; Wise, Breezy 1 ; Salazar, Emily 1 ; Briones, Justine 2 ; Olson, Sara 2
SF: Snyder, Kyra 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Brookshire, Suzy 1 ; Wise, Breezy 3 ; Cecil, Cam 1 ; Salazar, Emily 2 ; Briones, Justine 1 ; Olson, Sara 1
SB: Wise, Breezy 1 ; Salazar, Emily 1
CS: Salazar, Emily 1
HBP: Hernandez, Naomi 1 ; Salazar, Emily 1
Batting:
2B: Steward, Jaymi 1
RBI: Steward, Jaymi 1
SH: Swan, Aaliyah 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Swan, Aaliyah 1
HBP: Usquiano, Paloma 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
3
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
C
/ Softball
UTL
/ Softball
UTL
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
UTL
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballSoftball Game Highlights vs California Baptist 3/20/2024
Thursday, March 21
Long Beach State Wins Big West Dennis Farrell Commissioner's Cup
Wednesday, May 31
NCAA Stanford Regional Postgame Comments - Long Beach State Softball
Saturday, May 20
60 Seconds at The Beach: Softball Nichole Fry
Monday, July 11
