Long Beach State University
4-19
Princeton
6-7
Princeton, Grand Canyon Grab Wins Over Softball
3/9/2024 7:33:00 PM | Softball
Long Beach State will close out the Louisville Slugger Invitational with the final game against Utah State.
A wild first game with Princeton (6-7) started with a leadoff home run from Julia Dumais and a two-run home run by Karis Ford as the Tigers had a 3-0 lead before Long Beach State (4-20) came to the plate.
Undaunted, Long Beach State rallied back immediately. Jacquelyn Bickar got a rally started with the first of three straight singles, and then double by Carly Robbins cleared the bases for Long Beach State to tie the game. Lilyanna Martinez then singled to score Robbins, putting the Beach in front after the first inning.
The Tigers pushed across a tying run after a leadoff walk in the second, but the Beach pushed quickly back out in front in the third.
Robbins tripled to start the inning, and scored on an RBI single from Martinez for the second time in three innings to retake the lead. A KaLeena Gonzales single kept the inning going, and then Bickar tripled for her third hit of the game, scoring a pair as the Beach took a 7-4 lead.
Princeton would have one final answer with a one-out rally in the fourth. Two singles and a hit batter loaded the bases, and Dumais doubled to score two, making the score 7-6. After an error packed the bases again, three more runs would come home on singles from Sonia Zhang and Ford to give Princeton a 9-7 lead. The Tigers added an insurance run in the top of the seventh to lead to the final score of 10-7.
In the second game, Hailey Hudson went the distance for Grand Canyon (18-5), limited the Beach to three hits in a complete game shutout.
Trailing 1-0 in the third inning, Erica Estrada worked a one-out walk, and Makayla Medellin singled to put two on. Pushed over to second and third, Hudson worked out of the jam and kept the Lopes ahead by a run.
GCU picked up an insurance run in the top of the fifth, and then broke the game open with a three-run home run from Lovie Kepa'a. Long Beach State threatened in the seventh, loading the bases behind hits from Jocylyn Vidal and Corissa Sweet, but a force out at home and a popup ended the rally early for the Beach. That closed out an 8-0 win for Grand Canyon.
The tournament closes with one final game Sunday as Long Beach State hosts Utah State at Noon, with live broadcast coverage provided by ESPN+.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Wright, Brielle (1-0)
L: Barnett, Kate (0-22)
Batting:
2B: Dumais, Julia 1
HR: Dumais, Julia 1 ; Ford, Karis 1
RBI: Dumais, Julia 4 ; Zhang, Sonia 1 ; Ford, Karis 4 ; Bade, Cate 1
SH: Zhang, Sonia 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Dumais, Julia 2 ; Sablone, Lauren 1 ; Zhang, Sonia 1 ; Ford, Karis 1 ; Jackson, Grace 3 ; Ha, Allison 1 ; Bade, Cate 1
SB: Zhang, Sonia 1 ; Jackson, Grace 2
CS: Bade, Cate 1
HBP: Hornberger, Abby 1
Batting:
2B: Robbins, Carly 1
3B: Bickar, Jacquelyn 1 ; Robbins, Carly 1
RBI: Bickar, Jacquelyn 2 ; Robbins, Carly 3 ; Martinez, Lilyanna 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Olson, Sara 1 ; Medellin, Makayla 1 ; Lawhorn, Sinclair 1 ; Durazo, Rebekah 1 ; Robbins, Carly 2 ; Gonzales, KaLeena 1
CS: Bickar, Jacquelyn 1
