Friday, February 23
Cathedral City, Calif.
3:30 p.m.
Long Beach State University
1-9
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BYU
10-3
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BYU
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10
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Long Beach State
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Photo by: JohnoMoto Photo
Long Beach State Grabs Win Over BYU In First Day At Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic
2/23/2024 10:34:00 PM | Softball
The Beach beat the Cougars in the opener 6-4 before falling to No. 23 Oregon.
CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. – Long Beach State split their first two games at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, winning a tight game with BYU 6-4 before falling to No. 23 Oregon in the nightcap.
In a back-and-forth game with BYU (8-3), Long Beach State got the last big hit from Carly Robbins, and Sophia Fernandez had a bounce-back performance in the circle to earn the save with two scoreless innings of relief.
The Cougars scored first, as Ailiana Agbayani led off the game with a single and was eventually pushed around to score to give BYU a 1-0 lead after the top of the first. Long Beach State (1-10) rallied quickly, as Sara Olson also had a leadoff single, and after a single from Sinclair Lawhorn, Rebekah Durazo hit a double to score Durazo and push Lawhorn to third. A sacrifice fly by Jocylyn Vidal scored the senior and put the Beach on top 2-1.
BYU rallied to retake the lead with a two-run home run from Maddie Udall in the top of the second, but the Beach again had an answer in the bottom half. Lilyanna Martinez singled to put the leadoff batter on for the second straight inning, and the Beach capitalized as the speedy center fielder scored on a sacrifice bunt from Selena Perez to tie the game at 3-3.
Both teams pushed across a leadoff runner once again in the third inning, keeping the score deadlocked at 4-4, with the key hit for the Beach coming from Vidal in her second RBI of the game.
Long Beach State broke through for good in the fifth. For the fourth time in five frames, the Beach put the leadoff runner on base as Lawhorn worked a walk. Corissa Sweet reached on an error, and then a two-run double from Robbins scored both runners, putting the Beach in front 6-4.
Fernandez entered in the top of the sixth in relief of Eryka Gonzales, holding BYU to one hit while striking out a pair to pick up the save in support of Gonzales, who earned her first win of the season.
In the day's second game, No. 23 Oregon took an early lead behind a two-run home run from Vallery Wong in the top of the first inning.
Long Beach State battled back with a big inning of their own in the second. Durazo kicked off the inning with a single, and then Jaeden Barajas followed with an RBI triple. A third straight hit, this time from Martinez tied the game at 2-2. With runners on the corners after a fourth straight hit, this time from Robbins, a sac fly from Malayna Terrones gave the Beach a 3-2 lead after two innings.
Oregon answered back with a four-run third inning to retake the lead, with Alyssa Daniel hitting a solo home run to cap the frame giving the Ducks a 6-3 lead. Daniel then hit a second solo home run in her next time up, pushing the lead to 7-3 in the fifth.
A leadoff single from Sara Olson led to a LBSU run in the bottom of the fifth, but Ariel Carlson hit a grand slam after an error extended the inning in the sixth to make the Oregon advantage 11-4 where the game finished.
Long Beach State will play one game Saturday at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, facing Wisconsin at Noon before closing out their time in Cathedral City with two games Sunday against No. 21 California and Fresno State.
In a back-and-forth game with BYU (8-3), Long Beach State got the last big hit from Carly Robbins, and Sophia Fernandez had a bounce-back performance in the circle to earn the save with two scoreless innings of relief.
The Cougars scored first, as Ailiana Agbayani led off the game with a single and was eventually pushed around to score to give BYU a 1-0 lead after the top of the first. Long Beach State (1-10) rallied quickly, as Sara Olson also had a leadoff single, and after a single from Sinclair Lawhorn, Rebekah Durazo hit a double to score Durazo and push Lawhorn to third. A sacrifice fly by Jocylyn Vidal scored the senior and put the Beach on top 2-1.
BYU rallied to retake the lead with a two-run home run from Maddie Udall in the top of the second, but the Beach again had an answer in the bottom half. Lilyanna Martinez singled to put the leadoff batter on for the second straight inning, and the Beach capitalized as the speedy center fielder scored on a sacrifice bunt from Selena Perez to tie the game at 3-3.
Both teams pushed across a leadoff runner once again in the third inning, keeping the score deadlocked at 4-4, with the key hit for the Beach coming from Vidal in her second RBI of the game.
Long Beach State broke through for good in the fifth. For the fourth time in five frames, the Beach put the leadoff runner on base as Lawhorn worked a walk. Corissa Sweet reached on an error, and then a two-run double from Robbins scored both runners, putting the Beach in front 6-4.
Fernandez entered in the top of the sixth in relief of Eryka Gonzales, holding BYU to one hit while striking out a pair to pick up the save in support of Gonzales, who earned her first win of the season.
In the day's second game, No. 23 Oregon took an early lead behind a two-run home run from Vallery Wong in the top of the first inning.
Long Beach State battled back with a big inning of their own in the second. Durazo kicked off the inning with a single, and then Jaeden Barajas followed with an RBI triple. A third straight hit, this time from Martinez tied the game at 2-2. With runners on the corners after a fourth straight hit, this time from Robbins, a sac fly from Malayna Terrones gave the Beach a 3-2 lead after two innings.
Oregon answered back with a four-run third inning to retake the lead, with Alyssa Daniel hitting a solo home run to cap the frame giving the Ducks a 6-3 lead. Daniel then hit a second solo home run in her next time up, pushing the lead to 7-3 in the fifth.
A leadoff single from Sara Olson led to a LBSU run in the bottom of the fifth, but Ariel Carlson hit a grand slam after an error extended the inning in the sixth to make the Oregon advantage 11-4 where the game finished.
Long Beach State will play one game Saturday at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, facing Wisconsin at Noon before closing out their time in Cathedral City with two games Sunday against No. 21 California and Fresno State.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Gonzales, Eryka (1-3)
L: Dahle, K. (3-2)
S: Fernandez, Sophia (1)
Batting:
HR: Udall, M. 1
RBI: Ava, H. 1 ; Udall, M. 3
SH: Bejarano, M. 2 ; Kamoku, K. 1
SF: Zavodnik, V. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Agbayani, Ai 1 ; Owens, L. 1 ; Kamoku, K. 1 ; Udall, M. 1
SB: Owens, L. 2
Batting:
2B: Durazo, Rebekah 1 ; Robbins, Carly 1
RBI: Durazo, Rebekah 1 ; Vidal, Jocylyn 2 ; Robbins, Carly 2 ; Perez, Selena 1
SH: Terrones, Malayna 1 ; Perez, Selena 1
SF: Vidal, Jocylyn 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Olson, Sara 1 ; Lawhorn, Sinclair 2 ; Dowden, Emily 1 ; Martinez, Lilyanna 1 ; Sweet, Corissa 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
1
R
2
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
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OF
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