Saturday, May 6
Bakersfield, Calif.
1 p.m.
Long Beach State University
26-21, 16-6
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CSU Bakersfield
7-38, 2-20
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Long Beach State
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CSU Bakersfield
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Photo by: JohnoMoto Photo
Softball Holds CSU Bakersfield Scoreless In Two Wins Saturday
5/6/2023 5:32:00 PM | Softball
Sophia Fernandez, Shannon Haddad each with shutouts to seal a series win at CSU Bakersfield.
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – Two dominant pitching performances lifted Long Beach State to a pair of wins Saturday as the Beach took both halves of a doubleheader at CSU Bakersfield to start the final road series of the regular season.
Sophia Fernandez got Long Beach State (27-21, 17-6 Big West) off on the front foot with a great start in the opening game. Going the distance for her fourth complete game of the season, Fernandez struck out six while giving up just two hits on the way to the third shutout of the season for the junior. Fernandez now 6-1 in Big West play.
CSU Bakersfield (7-39, 2-21 Big West) got two strong innings from Brianna Sanchez and then Kirsten Martinez dodged trouble as the Beach had runners on in five of seven innings. The breakthrough came for Long Beach State in the fifth inning. Sinclair Lawhorn, on as a pinch hitter, singled to start the inning, and after getting pushed to second, a double from Jacquelyn Bickar over the top of the head of center fielder Savanna Montoya for the lone run of the opening game.
Long Beach State worked to manufacture runs early in the second game as well. After two quick innings on both sides, the Beach were able to load the bases with no outs in the third, and then brought in a pair with back-to-back groundouts to give LBSU a 2-0 lead.
The Beach then expanded their lead in the fourth. Lilyanna Martinez was plunked to start the inning, and after and error allowed runners to move to second and third, a sacrifice fly from Selena Perez and an RBI triple from Sara Olson extended the advantage to 4-0.
A solo home run from Cam Cecil added more insurance for Shannon Haddad, who matched the effort of Fernandez with another complete game shutout in the circle. Haddad struck out five over 7.0 innings, giving up one walk and two hits while improving to 11-9 on the year with the win.
Long Beach State will go for the sweep and an opportunity to host Cal State Fullerton with the Big West championship on the line next weekend at the LBSU Softball Complex. First pitch in the series finale with the Runners is scheduled for 1 p.m., with live coverage on ESPN+.
Sophia Fernandez got Long Beach State (27-21, 17-6 Big West) off on the front foot with a great start in the opening game. Going the distance for her fourth complete game of the season, Fernandez struck out six while giving up just two hits on the way to the third shutout of the season for the junior. Fernandez now 6-1 in Big West play.
CSU Bakersfield (7-39, 2-21 Big West) got two strong innings from Brianna Sanchez and then Kirsten Martinez dodged trouble as the Beach had runners on in five of seven innings. The breakthrough came for Long Beach State in the fifth inning. Sinclair Lawhorn, on as a pinch hitter, singled to start the inning, and after getting pushed to second, a double from Jacquelyn Bickar over the top of the head of center fielder Savanna Montoya for the lone run of the opening game.
Long Beach State worked to manufacture runs early in the second game as well. After two quick innings on both sides, the Beach were able to load the bases with no outs in the third, and then brought in a pair with back-to-back groundouts to give LBSU a 2-0 lead.
The Beach then expanded their lead in the fourth. Lilyanna Martinez was plunked to start the inning, and after and error allowed runners to move to second and third, a sacrifice fly from Selena Perez and an RBI triple from Sara Olson extended the advantage to 4-0.
A solo home run from Cam Cecil added more insurance for Shannon Haddad, who matched the effort of Fernandez with another complete game shutout in the circle. Haddad struck out five over 7.0 innings, giving up one walk and two hits while improving to 11-9 on the year with the win.
Long Beach State will go for the sweep and an opportunity to host Cal State Fullerton with the Big West championship on the line next weekend at the LBSU Softball Complex. First pitch in the series finale with the Runners is scheduled for 1 p.m., with live coverage on ESPN+.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Fernandez, Sophia (7-4)
L: Martinez, Kirsten (0-9)
Batting:
2B: Bickar, Jacquelyn 1
RBI: Bickar, Jacquelyn 1
SH: Salazar, Emily 1 ; Perez, Selena 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Thies, Teah 1
SB: Olson, Sara 1 ; Martinez, Lilyanna 2
CS: Martinez, Lilyanna 1
HBP: Ceballos, Mikayla 1
Batting:
2B: Head, Jordan 1
SH: Rodriguez, Natalya 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
1
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballOF
/ SoftballINF
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