Saturday, May 8
Riverside, Calif.
12 P.M.
Long Beach State University
16-3, 14-12
13
at
0
UC Riverside
14-23, 12-18
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Long Beach State
0
5
3
3
2
0
0
13
15
1
UC Riverside
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
7
1
Photo by: John Fajardo
Dirtbags Total 23 Runs in Doubleheader Sweep of UCR
5/8/2021 6:27:00 PM | Baseball
The offense was red hot on Saturday scoring 23 runs on 33 hits en route to securing the series win.
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – The offense was dominant on Saturday as Long Beach State (17-13, 15-12 BWC) swept the doubleheader against UC Riverside (14-24, 12-19 BWC). It marks the second conference series win of the season for the Dirtbags.
The offense took control early putting up a five-spot in the second inning against the Highlanders. Sebastian Murillo plated the first run with a RBI ground-rule double, followed by an Alex Pimentel RBI single. The third run of the frame came in on a Connor Kokx sac fly.
The second inning was capped off by Calvin Estrada's two-run home run. With the blast, he takes sole control of the team lead with six homers this season.
Long Beach State was not done there though, plating three more runs in the third. Jonathon Long got things started with a leadoff double and came in to score two pitches later on a Charlie Loust triple. An error would give them their second run of the inning before Pimentel notched his second RBI single of the game to make it an 8-0 ballgame.
The Dirtbags would put up another three-spot in the fourth on an RBI single from Loust, an RBI double from Rozell, and a sac fly from Cole Joy. Leading 11-0 through four innings, LBSU had their sixth double-digit scoring game of the season.
The 11 runs was plenty of run support for a scorching hot Dirtbag pitching staff. Alfredo Ruiz got the start and tossed six shutout innings allowing just five hits while matching his career-high with 10 strikeouts.
He handed the ball off to Marques Johnson who got the final three outs of the run-rule victory, including a pair of strikeouts of his own.
The victory marked the third consecutive shutout for the Dirtbags. It is the first time they have done that since April 30-May 3, 2014.
Game two was all about the offense as Long Beach State plated a run within the first three batters as Kokx led the game off with a double and come in to score on a Luttrell double.
Luis Ramirez got the ball in the second leg of the doubleheader throwing six innings. The right-hander surrendered four runs, all earned, on seven hits while striking out six and walking none.
Unfortunately, for Ramirez and the Dirtbag pitching staff, their 32-inning scoreless streak came to an end as the Highlanders went single, stolen base, RBI double to start the bottom half of the first and plate their first run of the series.
After both teams were held in check in the second, the Long Beach State offense stacked six runs on seven hits in the top of the third. Estrada plated the first run with an RBI double, followed by a perfect RBI bunt single from Toren Craig.
Two batters later with the bases loaded, Rozell singled to center to plate another run. Murillo capped off the inning with a two-run double as the Dirtbags came out of the third inning with a 7-1 lead.
Luttrell kept the offense rolling with a solo shot in the top half of the third for his fourth homer of the season. The sophomore went 5-for-6 on the day becoming the first Long Beach State hitter with a five-hit game since March 29, 2018.
UCR would answer back and cut into the Dirtbag lead with a run in the bottom half of third and two more in the sixth. However, Long Beach State responded with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh on a Highlander error and Pimentel sac fly.
That would be all of the scoring as Matt Fields entered the game in the seventh replacing Ramirez tossing three scoreless innings to close out the ballgame. It marks the second save of the season for the senior right-hander.
With two wins today, the Dirtbags have their third series win of the season and will look for their first series sweep in the finale tomorrow. First pitch at the Riverside Sports Complex will be at 1:00 p.m.
The offense took control early putting up a five-spot in the second inning against the Highlanders. Sebastian Murillo plated the first run with a RBI ground-rule double, followed by an Alex Pimentel RBI single. The third run of the frame came in on a Connor Kokx sac fly.
The second inning was capped off by Calvin Estrada's two-run home run. With the blast, he takes sole control of the team lead with six homers this season.
Long Beach State was not done there though, plating three more runs in the third. Jonathon Long got things started with a leadoff double and came in to score two pitches later on a Charlie Loust triple. An error would give them their second run of the inning before Pimentel notched his second RBI single of the game to make it an 8-0 ballgame.
The Dirtbags would put up another three-spot in the fourth on an RBI single from Loust, an RBI double from Rozell, and a sac fly from Cole Joy. Leading 11-0 through four innings, LBSU had their sixth double-digit scoring game of the season.
The 11 runs was plenty of run support for a scorching hot Dirtbag pitching staff. Alfredo Ruiz got the start and tossed six shutout innings allowing just five hits while matching his career-high with 10 strikeouts.
He handed the ball off to Marques Johnson who got the final three outs of the run-rule victory, including a pair of strikeouts of his own.
The victory marked the third consecutive shutout for the Dirtbags. It is the first time they have done that since April 30-May 3, 2014.
Game two was all about the offense as Long Beach State plated a run within the first three batters as Kokx led the game off with a double and come in to score on a Luttrell double.
Luis Ramirez got the ball in the second leg of the doubleheader throwing six innings. The right-hander surrendered four runs, all earned, on seven hits while striking out six and walking none.
Unfortunately, for Ramirez and the Dirtbag pitching staff, their 32-inning scoreless streak came to an end as the Highlanders went single, stolen base, RBI double to start the bottom half of the first and plate their first run of the series.
After both teams were held in check in the second, the Long Beach State offense stacked six runs on seven hits in the top of the third. Estrada plated the first run with an RBI double, followed by a perfect RBI bunt single from Toren Craig.
Two batters later with the bases loaded, Rozell singled to center to plate another run. Murillo capped off the inning with a two-run double as the Dirtbags came out of the third inning with a 7-1 lead.
Luttrell kept the offense rolling with a solo shot in the top half of the third for his fourth homer of the season. The sophomore went 5-for-6 on the day becoming the first Long Beach State hitter with a five-hit game since March 29, 2018.
UCR would answer back and cut into the Dirtbag lead with a run in the bottom half of third and two more in the sixth. However, Long Beach State responded with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh on a Highlander error and Pimentel sac fly.
That would be all of the scoring as Matt Fields entered the game in the seventh replacing Ramirez tossing three scoreless innings to close out the ballgame. It marks the second save of the season for the senior right-hander.
With two wins today, the Dirtbags have their third series win of the season and will look for their first series sweep in the finale tomorrow. First pitch at the Riverside Sports Complex will be at 1:00 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Ruiz, Alfredo (3-0)
L: Tyler Frazier (2-2)
Batting:
2B: Long, Jonathon 1 ; Loust, Charlie 1 ; Rozell, Brennan 1 ; Murillo, Sebastian 1
3B: Loust, Charlie 1
HR: Estrada, Calvin 1
RBI: Kokx, Connor 1 ; Estrada, Calvin 2 ; Loust, Charlie 4 ; Rozell, Brennan 2 ; Joy, Cole 1 ; Murillo, Sebastian 1 ; Pimentel, Alex 2
SF: Kokx, Connor 1 ; Joy, Cole 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Estrada, Calvin 1 ; Luttrell, Chase 2 ; Long, Jonathon 3 ; Loust, Charlie 2 ; Rozell, Brennan 2 ; Joy, Cole 1 ; Murillo, Sebastian 1 ; Pimentel, Alex 1
SB: Estrada, Calvin 1 ; Luttrell, Chase 1 ; Pimentel, Alex 1
HBP: Lopez, Jesse 1 ; Estrada, Calvin 1 ; Carlson, Tanner 1
Batting:
2B: Cole Pofek 1
Base Running:
HBP: Nathan Webb 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
2
H
3
RBI
4
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
3
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
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