Long Beach State University
21-17, 11-3
UC Santa Barbara
11-28, 3-11
Beach Softball Finishes Off Sweep Of UC Santa Barbara With Two Wins Saturday
4/16/2022 5:53:00 PM | Softball
Long Beach State didn’t allow an earned run over three games against the Gauchos.
UC Santa Barbara (11-29, 3-12 Big West) struck first in the opening game. Madelyn McNally reached on an error to start the game, and after a single from Maci Fines, McNally would come home to score on a fly ball to right field that was dropped by Lilyanna Martinez, the second error of the inning that gave the Gauchos a 1-0 lead.
Long Beach State (23-17, 12-3 Big West) got out of the inning with a double play, and immediately answered back in the bottom of the first. Naomi Hernandez drew a leadoff walk, and after singles from Ashleigh Inae and Rebekah Durazo loaded the bases, a bases-loaded walk to Jacquelyn Bickar evened the score at 1-1.
That score would hold through most of the rest of the contest, as Sophia Fernandez settled in, allowing just three additional hits over the next six innings while striking out three, and Lexy Mills followed the first inning with three scoreless for UC Santa Barbara.
The Beach finally broke through in the bottom of the sixth inning. Jacquelyn Bickar singled to start the inning, and after getting pushed over to second, ultimately scored on a pair of wild pitches from Mills to give LBSU their first lead.
Bickar comes home on this wild pitch and @LBSUSoftball takes a 2-1 lead after six innings! Fernandez back on for the seventh to try and finish things off. #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/NYS3nj4mIj
— LBSU Softball (@LBSUSoftball) April 16, 2022
Fernandez closed out the top of the seventh and collected her sixth win of the year and her fourth complete game.
Long Beach State carried that momentum into a massive first inning in game two, batting around and opening a large lead.
Inae and Hernandez hit back-to-back singles to start the inning, and were followed by hits from Durazo and Bickar. An error, a walk to Marissa Caballero and RBI singles from Justine Briones and Inae, in her second hit of the inning, helped LBSU to a 6-0 lead after one.
Fowler would finish off her second shutout of the series, striking out a pair while scattering six hits on the way to her team-leading ninth win of the season.
Rebekah Durazo and Jacquelyn Bickar set the stage for the walkoff with back-to-back singles to start the inning. A double from Sara Olson brought home the first run and left runners on second and third. A fly ball from Maddy Ruffin looked to be not quite deep enough to score Bickar, but after the cutoff the throw to try and catch the freshman off third base sailed wide and she easily trotted home for the eighth and final run of the contest.
Wild way to end it as @LBSUSoftball finishes off the sweep ?? of UC Santa Barbara with the walkoff. Long Beach State ends the weekend at the top of the Big West standings! #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/AwCSHh2PlV
— LBSU Softball (@LBSUSoftball) April 16, 2022
The series sweep means that Long Beach State will start the week no worse than in a tie for first place in the Big West standings with four series remaining. The Beach hits the road for three games at Cal Poly next, starting on Saturday, April 23.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Fowler, Samantha (9-4)
L: Mills, Lexy (2-9)
Batting:
SH: Stewart, Chloe 1
Base Running:
SB: Lewis, Lauren 1
Batting:
2B: Olson, Sara 1
RBI: Inae, Ashleigh 1 ; Bickar, Jacquelyn 1 ; Olson, Sara 1 ; Briones, Justine 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Inae, Ashleigh 1 ; Hernandez, Naomi 1 ; Durazo, Rebekah 1 ; Seip, Rylie 1 ; Bickar, Jacquelyn 2 ; Olson, Sara 1 ; Caballero, Marissa 1
