Softball Makes Home Debut, Hosting Louisville Slugger Invitational

Thursday, March 10

Long Beach, Calif.

2:30 p.m.

Long Beach State University

Boston University

Photo by: Scott Quintard

Softball Makes Home Debut, Hosting Louisville Slugger Invitational

3/8/2022 2:07:00 PM | Softball

Game Notes - Week 5

Long Beach State will play five games at home this weekend, starting on Thursday.

By: Roger Kirk, Associate Athletics Director, Communications & Broadcast

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Long Beach State will make their home debut this weekend, hosting the Louisville Slugger Invitational Thursday through Sunday. The Beach will kick off the tournament by facing Boston University on Thursday afternoon, and then the LBSU Softball Complex will host three games each on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

LEADING OFF
• The Beach had a solid weekend at the San Diego Classic, going 3-1with their lone loss coming in extra innings. As a staff, Long Beach State had an ERA of 2.33 and held two opponents to just a single run while Naomi Hernandez and Marissa Caballero both hit over .600 while starting each game.

• Long Beach State faced a tough road right out the gate, playing eight teams ranked in the Top 25 in the first 14 games of the year, and six games against teams in the Top 10. The Beach grabbed a win against No. 24 BYU, and is 4-2 in the rest of their games so far this season.

• The Beach went 3-2 at the Mary Nutter Collegiate classic. Sophia Fernandez pitched a complete game against No. 24 BYU, and the Beach defeated Southern Utah and Texas Tech with big offensive showings, while their two losses came to Top 10 teams in No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 9 Oregon.

• For the third time, Long Beach State took part in the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge to open up the season, and ended the first week with a 2-3 record. Freshman Marissa Caballero led the team in batting with a .462 batting average while making no errors in five starts at shortstop. Senior Justine Briones and sophomore Sara Olson both were named to the All-Tournament Team as well for the event, as Briones had a 3-run home run and Olson had five RBI on the weekend.

• As a team, Long Beach State set a new record last season by batting .320 on the year, besting the .306 mark shared by the 2014 and 2018 programs while hitting over .300 for the third time. This season, the Beach is close to again topping that mark, ranking 66th in the nation while batting .297.

• Senior Naomi Hernandez is having another outstanding season, ranking among the nation's Top 75 hitters and batting .436 to start the week. In her fifth year with the program, Hernandez was a national freshman of the year finalist in 2018, as well as the Big West Freshman Player of the Year. A two-time All-West Region selection, Hernandez has also been named All-Big West three times, and was a first team honoree for the second time in 2021.

• Hernandez has already claimed plenty of space in the LBSU record books. She is fourth all-time at LBSU with a .340 batting average, and ranks in the career Top 10 in runs scored, doubles and walks at the Beach.

PLAYER NOTES
• Catcher Justine Briones joins Noami Hernandez in her fifth year with the program. Having started over 100 games behind the plate in her career, Briones was an All-Big West selection in 2021 and hit .289 with 16 RBI in Big West Conference action. Briones started the year by hitting .375 with a three-run home run in Puerto Vallarta, earning All-Tournament team honors, and leads the team with two home runs while hitting .324 on the year with a team-high nine RBI.

• Samantha Fowler was the breakout pitcher in the circle for the Beach one year ago, and will be counted on to lead a group effort on the staff in 2022. Fowler leads the staff with 23 strikeouts, and has pitched 30.0 innings this season while making a team-high ten appearances in the circle.

• Two lefties will play their part in the pitching staff this season as well. Sophia Fernandez leads the team with 34.0 innings pitched and has posted a 3-2 record, while Mo Quinlan has also made five starts for LBSU, including a complete game victory at San Diego. Redshirt freshmen Addison Kostrencih and Shelby Frutoz have also both made their debuts this season, each also pitching over 10 innings and recording a save.

• Kyra Snyder is another returning starter for the Beach, after hitting .261 last season for LBSU. Snyder opened the year by hitting .438 in Puerto Vallarta, starting all five games either at first base or as the DP and is batting .333 on the year in her third year at LBSU after transferring from Louisville.

• Sophomore Sara Olson was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge, coming up with clutch hits in both of Long Beach State's wins, finishing the weekend with five RBI. Olson has now started all 18 games for Long Beach State, and is fourth on the team in batting at .352 on the year.

• Freshman Corissa Sweet is leading a collection of true freshman who are making a big impact in their first season. Sweet leads the team in slugging at .567 while batting .367 with four doubles, a triple and eight RBI.

• Freshman Marissa Caballero has started every game at shortstop for Long Beach State, and is hitting .386 with two doubles and eight RBI on the year. Her primary middle infield partner is also a freshman, Jacquelyn Bickar, who has started 17 games at second base and hit a two-run home run against Oklahoma.

• Sophomore Sinclair Lawhorn has now started ten games at first base, and fellow sophomore Mikayla Ceballos started a pair of games at Arizona and is hitting .300, including a home run against LMU.

• Cam Cecil is hitting .276 with ten starts in 2022 after starting 38 games one season ago after transferring from Iowa.

• Graduate transfer Ashleigh Inae will be counted on to make an immediate impact for the Beach. Inae started 180 games at shortstop for ECU and finisher her career there with a .290 batting average. Inae will have one season of eligibility with Long Beach State, and has started in 16 games at third base for the Beach.

• Other freshmen who are pressing for early action include Savannnah Magadan and Rebekah Durazo, who will be backing up Justine Briones at catcher.

• Long Beach State will be without two key infielders to begin the year, as junior Emily Salazar suffered a season-ending knee injury and Carly Robbins, a transfer from South Carolina, will sit out the season as a redshirt. Others currently sidelined due to injury include defending Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year Shannon Haddad and outfielder Lilyanna Martinez.