Long Beach State Softball Hosts No. 2 UCLA, Cal For Non-Conference Games

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- With a bye week in the conference schedule, Long Beach State will face a pair of Pac-12 opponents at home, welcoming No. 2 UCLA and Cal to the LBSU Softball Complex for a pair of doubleheaders. First pitch against the Bruins is set for 1 p.m. Wednesday, while the DH against the Golden Bears is set to start at Noon.

LEADING OFF
• Long Beach State is coming off of a dominant four-game sweep at Hawai'i. The Beach scored 50 runs in the series, and hit .444 as a team, with 14 players hitting .300 or better. The Beach hit 11 home runs including grand slams from Justine Briones and Naomi Hernandez, and perhaps most impressively, did not strike out once in 117 at-bats against the Rainbow Wahine.

• After the series Long Beach State now ranks 5th nationally with a .347 team batting average, while the pitching staff is also in the Top 20 with a 1.93 ERA. LBSU has won all 10 of their run rule games, and of their six losses, four have come by just one run.

• Long Beach State's stars have been shining in 2021. Kellie White and Shannon Haddad in the circle, along with Naomi Hernandez, Alyssa Gonzalez, Suzy Brookshire and Breezy Wise are all having huge years in 2021, with five of those six having claimed Big West Weekly honors already this season after Wise won the honor last week after hitting 3 home runs and .615 at UH.

• Alyssa Gonzalez has been having an incredible season. The junior is 17th in the nation with a .470 batting average and has hit five doubles and seven home runs while walking 12 times and striking out just twice. She continues to lead the Big West in hitting, and is batting .493 in conference play.

• Naomi Hernandez, who burst onto the national scene as a freshman, is having a return to the form that caught national attention 2018. Hernandez is batting .433 has reached base in 24 straight games while leading the Beach with 19 walks. At the top of the lineup, Hernandez has an on-base percentage of .536 which ranks 35th nationally.

• Gonzalez, Hernandez and Emily Salazar have all had extended hitting streaks which have landed in the LBSU Top 10. Alyssa Gonzalez was one away from the school record with a 17 game streak, while Salazar had a 12-game hitting streak broken earlier this year. Hernandez has matched her 2018-19 streak of 15 games, which is active heading into Wednesday.

Senior Breezy Wise returned after leading the Beach in batting in 2020, and is having another outstanding year, batting .372 with 10 doubles, five triples and four home runs while driving in 35 RBI. Wise ranks second on the team in the RBI and is in the nation's top 10 in triples.

• The conference title will come down to the final weekend of the season, as Long Beach State hosts Cal State Fullerton. The entirety of the series will be broadcast live on ESPN3.

PLAYER NOTES
• Suzy Brookshire is also hitting over .400 this season at .427, and leads Long Beach State and the Big West with 46 RBI and has hit 9 home runs. Brookshire ranks nationally in both of those categories, as well as in slugging at .823 this season.

• In the series finale against UC Riverside, Suzy Brookshire etched her name in the Long Beach State record books, going 3-for-3 with a trio of home runs, the first player in the 41-year history of Beach Softball to hit three home runs in a game.

• In the circle, Long Beach State has been led by a 1-2 punch of Kellie White and Shannon Haddad. The pair rank in the league's Top 5 in ERA, opposing batting average,wins and strikeouts this season.

• Kellie White is second in the Big West with a 1.71 ERA in conference play, and has posted a 13-4 overall record with one save. Her 86 strikeouts also lead the team, as do her 97.0 innings pitched.

• Meanwhile, as a freshman, Shannon Haddad has posted an unbeaten 8-0 record in 11 starts, and is second behind only White in strikeouts during conference play with 56. With 64 strikeouts on the year and just 10 walks, Haddad ranks 22nd in K/BB ratio nationally and has played a part in four shutouts this season.

• Samantha Fowler has stepped up in the absence of Haddad for the last two series. Making three starts, Fowler is now 3-1 with a 1.95 ERA and has 40 strikeouts on the year which ranks 10th in the Big West in limited innings. Many of those came in a complete game win at Hawai'i, where the redshirt sophomore struck out 12 batters.

• Junior Emily Salazar went 7-for-12 with two doubles and triple against UC San Diego, and extended her hitting streak to 12 games, which was tied for the seventh-longest in school history and active heading into the UCSB series. The infielder is now batting .333 on the year for Long Beach State.

• Cam Cecil has played every game in Big West play at shortstop, making 29 starts in total on the year.Hitting .315 with 17 RBI and a pair of home runs, Cecil has also been excellent defensively, making just four errors on the year.

• Two juniors have split the duties behind the plate this season, returner Justine Briones and transfer Ashley Machado. Briones is hitting .333 now with three home runs and three doubles in 13 starts, while Machado is hitting .240 with 8 RBI, including a critical three-run home run against Loyola Marymount.

• Lilyanna Martinez has been a bright spot among the true freshman who have joined the program this season. Martinez has made 18 starts and is hitting .385 as well as showcasing her speed on the basepaths, a perfect 8-for-8 in stolen base attempts. Sophia Fernandez has also had a strong start at the plate, hitting .300 with a pair of walks in 13 plate appearances.

Calendar

Long Beach State Softball Hosts No. 2 UCLA, Cal For Non-Conference Games

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Players Mentioned

Justine Briones

Suzy Brookshire

Cam Cecil

Sophia Fernandez

Samantha Fowler

Alyssa Gonzalez

Shannon Haddad

Naomi Hernandez

Ashley Machado

Lilyanna Martinez

Emily Salazar

Kellie White

Breezy Wise

Long Beach State University Athletics