Long Beach State University
22-23-1, 8-14
UC Irvine
36-10, 16-6
Dirtbags Retire Weaver's No. 36; #16 UCI Defeats LBSU
5/10/2024 7:25:00 PM | Baseball
John Newman Jr. hit his team-leading 11th home run for the Dirtbags
LONG BEACH, Calif.—On a night in which Long Beach State retired former Dirtbags' great Jered Weaver's No. 36, No. 16 UC Irvine defeated LBSU 18-3 to open the Big West baseball series Friday at Bohl Diamond at Blair Field. For more on the Weaver jersey retirement, click here.
Woody Hadeen opened the game with a double down the right field line. Jo Oyama hit a grounder to second. Adrian Lopez fielded the ball cleanly, but first baseman Jonny Rodriguez went too far to field the ball, allowing Oyama to reach safely with Hadeen moving to third. Myles Smith was hit by a 1-2 Owen Geiss pitch to load the bases. Anthony Martinez grounded out to first, scoring Hadeen. Geiss hit Dub Gleed on a 2-2 breaking ball to load the bases again. Will Bermudez's sac fly drove in the second UCI run. Thomas McCaffrey's single scored Smith for a 3-0 lead. Chase Call popped out to second for the final out.
John Newman Jr. led off the bottom of the second by hitting his team-leading 11th home run. Johnny Rodriguez followed with a double to left center. He moved to third with one out on a passed ball. Cole Santander's sac fly to left plated Rodriguez to make it a 3-2 game.
Smith opened the top of the third with his sixth home run to right center. Martinez singled to center. Gleed walked. Bermudez struck out before McCaffrey singled to load the bases. Call doubled down the left field line to score two runs. Jacob Stinson singled to left to create a 7-2 game. A Geiss balk allowed the eighth run to come home. Hadeen grounded out to short for the second out. Oyama flew out to left to conclude matters.
Oyama hit a three-run home run with two outs in the top of the fifth to increase the Anteaters' advantage. Smith followed with his second home run of the game.
Alex Champagne singled with two outs in the bottom of the fifth. Ty Borgogno singled to send Champagne to third. The Dirtbags pulled off a successful double steal, resulting in Long Beach State's third run.
The Anteaters scored in the seventh on a one-out Smith double. In the top of the eighth, UC Irvine sent 11 batters to the plate, scoring five runs.
Rodriguez and Champagne both posted two hits for the Dirtbags. Smith was 3-for-4 with his two home runs, four runs scored, and three RBI. Hadeen and McCaffrey both posted three hits for UCI.
UP NEXT
Long Beach State (22-23-1, 8-14 Big West) and UC Irvine (36-10, 16-6 Big West) continue the series Saturday night. ESPN+ coverage begins at 6 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Pinto, Nick (9-2)
L: Geiss, Owen (3-3)
Batting:
2B: Hadeen, Woody 1 ; Smith, Myles 1 ; Gleed, Dub 1 ; Call, Chase 1
HR: Oyama, Jo 1 ; Smith, Myles 2
RBI: Hadeen, Woody 1 ; Oyama, Jo 3 ; Smith, Myles 3 ; Martinez, Anthony 2 ; Gleed, Dub 2 ; Bermudez, Will 1 ; McCaffrey, Thomas 1 ; Call, Chase 2 ; Stinson, Jacob 1
SF: Bermudez, Will 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hadeen, Woody 3 ; Oyama, Jo 4 ; Smith, Myles 4 ; Martinez, Anthony 1 ; Gleed, Dub 1 ; McCaffrey, Thomas 2 ; Call, Chase 1 ; Stinson, Jacob 2
SB: Oyama, Jo 1
HBP: Smith, Myles 1 ; Gleed, Dub 1 ; Call, Chase 1 ; Stinson, Jacob 2
Batting:
2B: Rodriguez, Jonny 1
HR: Newman Jr., John 1
RBI: Newman Jr., John 1 ; Santander, Cole 1
SF: Santander, Cole 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Newman Jr., John 1 ; Rodriguez, Jonny 1 ; Champagne, Alex 1
SB: Champagne, Alex 1 ; Borgogno, Ty 1
