Beach Hosts UC San Diego Starting Thursday In First Home Big West Series

Thursday, March 13

Long Beach, Calif.

6 p.m.

Long Beach State University

UC San Diego

Beach Hosts UC San Diego Starting Thursday In First Home Big West Series

3/12/2025 9:09:00 AM | Softball

Game Notes - Week 6

Long Beach State takes on the Tritons Thursday and Friday in an early week.

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

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Long Beach State continues league play this week, hosting UC San Diego during the week in a unique series. The Beach will start by taking on UC San Diego Thursday night at 6 p.m. on ESPN+ before finishing the series with a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. on Friday, March 14.

LEADING OFF
• Beach Softball is coming off of a road series win, taking two of three at Hawai'i as the LBSU bats came through in Saturday's doubleheader in support of strong pitching from Eryka Gonzales, making her season debut, as well as sophomore Kate Barnett, who leads the Big West with a 1.42 ERA this season.

• Long Beach State has been led by their pitching. The Beach leads the Big West and ranks 32nd nationally with a 2.38 ERA, and Long Beach State's staff comes into the week with four pitchers ranking in the Top 10 of the Big West, led by Kate Barnett, but all four have an ERA under 3.00

• In classic Beach style, Long Beach State's defense has also been excellent in support of their pitching. Long Beach State ranks 28th nationally with a .974 fielding percentage and are 12th in the nation with 13 double plays turned this season.

• Senior Rebekah Durazo is having a massive season so far. The catcher is leading the Big West in all three slash categories, batting .483 with a .565 on-base percentage and a .741 slugging percentage. Durazo is leading Long Beach State with 18 RBI, 3 home runs, 26 hits and 6 doubles this season.

• Long Beach State's two catchers were both named to the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic All-Tournament team after an outstanding weekend in Cathedral City. Rebekah Durazo continues to lead Long Beach State, hitting safely in all five games to improve her average to .436 on the year while hitting another home run. Brooklyn Lee hit .588 with 6 RBI, hitting three doubles and picking up three hits in three separate games as the Beach went 2-3 in the desert.

• In the circle, Long Beach State has four pitchers that are all averaging over an inning pitched per game, and have all thrived this season. Senior Shannon Haddad, a returning two-time First Team All-Big West selection, is 4-2 with a 2.90 ERA and a team-high 39 strikeouts, while
freshman Brynne Nally is 4-2 with a 2.54 ERA and a team-high 41.1 innings pitched as the pair have started the majority of the team's games. Sophomore Kate Barnett leads the team with a 1.42 ERA with a 2-2 record, while Maddy Martin is also under a 2.00 ERA at 1.97 this season in 21.1 innings pitched.

• Haddad led Long Beach State to a 3-1 weekend at their second home tournament, the Louisville Slugger Invitational. Making two starts, Haddad pitched two complete games, striking out 11 batters and giving up just six combined hits and one run, earning her sixth career Big West Pitcher of the Week honor.

• Long Beach State got a massive boost to their pitching staff as senior Eryka Gonzales made a return to the circle last week. Earning a win at Hawai'i with five scoreless innings of relief, the 2023 All-Big West pitcher had not pitched since last March before making her return Saturday.

• Senior Shannon Haddad and freshman Brynne Nally each contributed in the circle against Fresno State to the second combined no-hitter in program history, and the 34th overall. Haddad and Nally collaborated on 7.0 scoreless innings, and then Rebekah Durazo salvaged the contest in a unique way with a two-run double to walk off the no-no against the Bulldogs.

• Weather wasn't an issue at all on a perfect day Sunday for Long Beach State's home opener, as the Beach pushed No. 2 Oklahoma to the limit for 11 innings. The Beach had chances and held the Sooners off the scoreboard for the most consecutive innings since 2018, but the defending champions ultimately prevailed in extra innings.

• The freshman class for Long Beach State had a huge week in their first competition. Nally was named the Big West Freshman of the Week for her part in the no-hitter while also leading LBSU in innings pitched, going 2-0 on the week with an 0.60 ERA. Priscilla Iniguez hit .462 and hit three doubles, and Lina Apodaca started the season with a four-game hitting streak. Finally, Maddy Martin was the standout of the Oklahoma game, striking out two and throwing six innings total against the Sooners, five scoreless until the breakthrough in the 11th inning.

PLAYER NOTES
• Senior Shannon Haddad returns to the pitching staff following a season-ending injury in 2023. A two-time first team All-Big West selection, Haddad helped lead Long Beach State to the Big West title in each of those seasons, and over those two healthy seasons posted a 21-10 overall record with 173 strikeouts. The veteran pitcher has again impressed early, striking out a team-high 39 batters and throwing a combined no-hitter and two shutouts already in 2025, posting a 4-2 record with a 2.90 ERA.

• Brynne Nally was very active in the first week of her collegiate career, winning Big West Freshman of the Week in her first opportunity after going 2-0 with a 0.60 ERA and sharing in a no-hitter with Haddad. Nally now leads the team with 41.1 innings pitched and has 29 strikeouts with a 2.54 ERA and a 4-2 record in 10 appearances as a true freshman.

• Also having a spectacular debut was Maddy Martin, who as the game with No. 2 Oklahoma kept getting extended, ultimately threw six innings against the Sooners and allowed just four hits and two runs, striking out two in her collegiate debut coming against the defending national champions. Martin has now made six appearances with one start, posting a 1.97 ERA with nine strikeouts in 21.1 innings.

• Sophomore Kate Barnett was a bright spot in the circle for Long Beach State to begin her college career in 2024 and has continued to pitch well for the Beach this year. Barnett has now made eight appearances and two starts in 2025. Leading both the Big West and the Beach with a 1.42 ERA in 24.2 innings pitched, Barnett closed out the UH series with a complete game victory in her last action.

• Brooklyn Lee had a monster week in Cathedral City at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, batting .588 with three doubles and six RBI on the way to earning All-Tournament Team honors. Lee, a transfer from UC San Diego, is now third on the team with a .383 batting average while playing primarily as the team's designated player while also working as the team's backup catcher.

• Corissa Sweet is a senior who is succeeding both on the diamond and off. Sweet hit over .270 in her first two seasons at Long Beach State, and is now batting .407, second on the team while leading the Beach in stolen bases this season and reaching base in over half of her plate appearances. A President's Scholar, the Molecular Cell Biology major was one of 25 students in her matriculation class selected for the highest merit-based scholarship awarded academically at Long Beach State to it's over 41,000 students.

• Junior Makayla Medellin returns for Long Beach State after two outstanding seasons. The 2023 Big West Freshman of the Year and a two-time All-Big West selection, Medellin led Long Beach State with a .384 batting average, 10 doubles and three home runs and hit .461 in Big West play last season in 2024. Medellin hit .429 in the Louisville Slugger Invitational and is tied for second on the team with 15 RBI.

• Senior Jacquelyn Bickar returns for her fourth year as a starter at Long Beach State. A career .287 hitter, Bickar is a two-time All-Big West selection has started over 150 games for the Beach. She currently is tied for 8th in career stolen bases at Long Beach State with 33 and is just outside of the Top 10 in career runs scored at LBSU as a staple at the top of the lineup for the Beach.

• Senior Carly Robbins is another regular returning starter for Long Beach State. Having started 121 games in her career, Robbins started the year off hot, hitting .385 with two perfect sacrifice bunts in the opening week and is now hitting .263 on the year. Robbins, a graduate student, was selected this fall to represent the Big West at the NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Forum in Charlotte, North Carolina specifically for her drive and desire to be an active leader on campus and beyond.

• Also returning is junior Selena Perez after starting at shortstop in each of her first two seasons. An excellent defensive shortstop, Perez has made fewer than 10 errors each season while starting over 100 games at shortstop for the Beach in her career.

• Freshman Lina Apodaca has taken a grasp on a starting role, playing in every game while mostly starting in right field. The freshman hit a single late in the game against No. 2 Oklahoma, and had a six-game hitting streak to start the season. Apodaca is currently batting .302 in her first season at the Beach.

• Priscilla Iniguez led Long Beach State as a true freshman in hitting through the first weekend. With three hits in each of her first two games, Iniguez began the season batting .462 with three doubles and a pair of RBI. The freshman is now batting .237 with 6 RBI and a pair of home runs.

• Also having a strong week at home at the Louisville Slugger Invitational was sophomore Malayna Terrones. Going 6-for-11 with a double, Terrones batted .545 with a pair of RBI in the four home games. Terrones had a pair of home runs as a true freshman for Long Beach State in 2024.

• Long Beach State's final senior is catcher Savannah Magadan. Magadan played in a career-high 29 games one season ago while serving as the team's backup catcher.