Late Rally Falls Short in Series Finale with Rainbow Warriors

Sunday, April 23

Manoa, Hawai'i

4:05 p.m.

Long Beach State University

22-15, 9-9

Hawai'i

19-13, 9-6

Long Beach State

Hawaii

Photo by: Mikaella Salazar

Late Rally Falls Short in Series Finale with Rainbow Warriors

4/23/2023 6:58:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Long Beach State could not avoid the sweep at Hawai’i, falling 4-2 in the finale.

By: Collin Robinson, Associate Director of Athletic Communications

HONOLULU, Hawai'i – Long Beach State attempted a ninth inning comeback, but the rally came up short in the series finale on Sunday afternoon. Trailing by four heading into the final frame, the Dirtbags (22-15, 9-9 Big West) plated two, but ultimately fell 4-2 to Hawai'i.

Fresh off his first collegiate start last weekend, Kellan Montgomery was back on the bump for the Sunday start at Les Murakami Stadium. The freshman right-hander had a career-long outing of 5.2 innings allowing three runs on six hits and a walk while matching his career-high with five strikeouts.

The 'Bows plated single runs in the first and fourth innings followed by two runs in the sixth giving them the 4-0 lead heading into the ninth.

Down to their last at-bats, the 'Bags registered back-to-back one-out singles from Jack Hammond and Eddie Saldivar to put runners on the corners. Joey Walls Jr. would bloop a single into right field for his second knock of the afternoon and plate the first Dirtbag run. Nick Marinconz would follow by reaching on a fielder's choice to plate another run.

Unfortunately a ground ball to second would put an end to the rally and give the Dirtbags a 4-2 loss as they could not avoid the sweep.

The Dirtbags will return to the mainland for their next weekend of games as they continue their eight-game road stretch at the University of Nevada where they will play two games against the host Wolfpack and two against Grand Canyon.