Long Beach State University
3-5
California
6-2
Softball Drops Tournament Opener To Cal 8-4
2/17/2023 9:53:00 PM | Softball
Long Beach State fought back but the damage was done early with the long ball from Cal.
There was no score through two innings as Shannon Haddad worked through two quick innings for Long Beach State (3-5), but Cal (6-2) took advantage of some Beach miscues to grab the lead in the third.
The Golden Bears got the inning started with a walk, and then leadoff hitter Makena Smith hit a ball to the warning track that was misplayed in center field, allowing runs to then come home on a single and a sacrifice to give Cal a 2-0 lead.
Lilyanna Martinez was plunked to start the bottom half, and after stealing second, came home to score to cut the lead in half on an RBI single from Sara Olson at 2-1.
The next frame Smith came around again, and this time hit a three-run shot to make the score 5-1. The two teams traded single runs until Smith's next at-bat, where the fifth-year senior homered a second time to make the score 8-2.
Long Beach State didn't give up. A triple from Cam Cecil led to a third run for the Beach in the bottom of the sixth, and then in the seventh, Olson got the action started with a double. The junior came home on an error from Cal, and the Beach would load the bases to put the tying run to the plate. The Bears were able to wiggle out of the jam, and held on for the win.
Each team finished the night seven hits, but the 5 RBI from Smith's two home runs for Cal proved to be the difference.
Long Beach State will get a rematch with the Golden Bears on Saturday, as the Beach hosts Cal for a second time to close the second day of action at the LBSU Softball Complex at 3 p.m. The day kicks off with UC Davis and ULM squaring off for a second time at 10 a.m. before the Aggies take on Cal in the middle game.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Haylei Archer (3-0)
L: Haddad, Shannon (2-1)
Batting:
HR: Makena Smith 2
RBI: Makena Smith 5 ; Kacey Zobac 1 ; Tianna Bell 1 ; Elon Butler 1
SH: Tianna Bell 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Makena Smith 3 ; Diamond Holland 1 ; Acacia Anders 1 ; D'Asha Saiki 1 ; Mika Lee 2
SB: Diamond Holland 2
HBP: Makena Smith 1 ; Diamond Holland 1
Batting:
2B: Olson, Sara 1 ; Thies, Teah 1
3B: Cecil, Cam 1
RBI: Olson, Sara 1 ; Salazar, Emily 1 ; Cecil, Cam 1 ; Perez, Selena 1
SF: Perez, Selena 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Olson, Sara 1 ; Thies, Teah 1 ; Cecil, Cam 1 ; Martinez, Lilyanna 1
SB: Thies, Teah 1 ; Martinez, Lilyanna 1
CS: Olson, Sara 1
HBP: Thies, Teah 1 ; Martinez, Lilyanna 1
