Dirtbag Rally Falls Just Short In Extra Innings

Saturday, May 6

Long Beach, Calif.

6 p.m.

Long Beach State University

26-18, 10-10

Cal State Bakersfield

15-26, 6-17

CSU Bakersfield

Long Beach State

5/6/2023 10:10:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Long Beach State rallied from four behind to force extra innings, but lost 7-5 in ten.

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

LONG BEACH, Calif. – Trailing 5-1 in the eighth inning, Long Beach State rallied to score four runs and forced extra innings, but CSU Bakersfield had one more push and took the second game of the series, 7-5 in ten to force a deciding third game on Sunday.

                CSU Bakersfield (15-26, 6-17 Big West) got on the board first. Cody Hendriks was hit by a pitch to put one on, and a double down the line from Riley Kasper put two in scoring position with no outs. Both runners would come home on RBI groundouts and the Runners took a 2-0 lead in the third.

                With the bases loaded in the fourth inning Long Beach State (26-18, 10-10 Big West) turned to the bullpen, and Jonathan Carlos entered and came up with a critical strikeout to keep the deficit locked at two. The Dirtbags then cut the lead in half in the bottom half, as Jack Hammond walked and after moving to third on an error, came home to score on a wild pitch from Matt Comnos.

                Conmos would finish with seven strikeouts over five innings, and got some extra help in the sixth inning. After a one-out single, a well-executed hit and run put runners on the corners, and after a stolen base, a two-run single made the score 4-1 in favor of the Runners.

                AJ Miller hit a solo home run to right field in the top of the eighth to make the score 5-1, but the Dirtbags began their charge in the bottom half.

                Hammond drew his second walk of the game to get the action going, and after a double from Alex Champagne, another double from pinch hitter Ty Borgogno brought home a pair to cut the lead to 5-3. Rocco Peppi walked to score another run, keeping the bases full. That paid off for the Beach as Eddie Saldivar was hit by a pitch, tying the game at five.

                Neither team scored in the ninth, but CSU Bakersfield got the last laugh in extra innings. A leadoff single got the top of the tenth started for the runners, and after a sacrifice, an RBI single from James Bell put CSU Bakersfield in the lead. The Runners then added an insurance run on a controversial play at the play to make the score 7-5.

                Ryan Figueroa, who had come on for the ninth, pitched the bottom of the tenth for the Runners and grabbed his second win of the season after setting down the Dirtbags in order in the 10th.

                The series will finish on Sunday with a matinee from Bohl Diamond at Blair Field. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. with live coverage on ESPN+.