
Photo by: Photos by Izzy J
Dirtbags Shutout UCSD 10-0
3/23/2025 4:25:00 PM | Baseball
Ashworth & Champange each post three hits
LA JOLLA, Calif.—A six-run seventh inning sent Long Beach State past UC San Diego 10-0 Sunday afternoon at Triton Ballpark.
Kyle Ashworth and Armando Briseno recorded back-to-back two-out singles in the top of the first. Nathan Cadena reached on an infield single to shortstop to load the bases. Luke Taylor reached on catcher's interference by Emiliano Gonzalez to allow Ashworth to score. Steele Murdock recorded his third strikeout of the inning, setting down Reid Montgomery on a 1-2 count.
LBSU starter Owen Geiss hit Anthony Potestio with his second pitch of the bottom of the first. Noah Lazuka doubled Potestio to third. Geiss battled back from being down 2-0 to Michael Crossland to strike out the Tritons' leading home run hitter (9). A Geiss pitch hit Gabe Camacho to load the bases. J.C. Allen hit into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.
Patrick Hackworth singled with one out in the bottom of the second. Gonzalez hit a grounder to third, where Dylan Lina dove for it. He came up with a throw to retire Hackworth but missed turning the double play. Delshuan Lanier singled down the right-field line, allowing Gonzalez to reach third. Potestio hit a short fly ball toward the center. LBSU second baseman Jake Evans made a running backhanded catch for the third out.
Lina began the third with a double to left. He advanced to third on an Ashworth fly ball that reached the warning track in left-center field. Briseno walked to give the Dirtbags runners on the corners. Cadena hit a grounder to short, which allowed Lina to score and Briseno to move to second. Taylor grounded out for the final out.
Camacho singled through the right side with two outs in the bottom of the third. Allen reached on a single to third base, bringing Colton Lomanto to the plate. Lomanto hit a grounder to third, where the ball bounced off Lina's glove to Briseno at short. Briseno threw onto first, where the runner was initially called out. The umpires elected to use replay to review the play where the call was upheld.
Geiss hit Hackworth to begin the bottom of the fourth. With the count 0-2 to Gonzalez, Hackworth attempted to advance on a ball in the dirt. Conner Stewart, the LBSU catcher, threw to second and caught Hackworth for the out. Geiss retired the next two batters to wrap up matters.
Lina singled with one out in the top of the fifth. Ashworth followed with an opposite-field single to left. Briseno flew out to left before Cardena flew out to center to end the inning.
Geiss walked Potestio to begin the bottom of the fifth. Lazuka hit into a 6-4-3 double play. With two outs, Crossland reached on an infield single. Camacho hit a blast to the warning track in center where Alex Champagne tracked it down to conclude the frame.
Champagne singled to lead off the seventh. With one out, Ashworth singled through the right side. With Briseno up, UCSD pitcher Jake Villar appeared to have Champagne picked off between second and third. His throw was wide of third, allowing both runners to advance. Briseno, the cleanup hitter, was intentionally walked to load the bases.
The Tritons went to the bullpen, calling in Sam Hasegawa to face Cadena. Hasegawa struck out Cadena on a 3-2 slider. Pinch-hitter Connor Charpiot's opposite-field single to right center drove in two runs. Zech Samayoa's bloop single to left earned the Dirtbags' third run of the inning. Evans doubled to the left-center gap to plate two runs for LBSU. Stewart walked. Champagne's liner to left-center got down, allowing Evans to come home to complete the six-run outburst.
Geiss retired the first two batters of the UCSD seventh before walking Potestio. Matching his career-high of 6.2 innings, Geiss was relieved by Tyler Gebb as Lazuka came to bat. Lazuka ran the count to 3-2 before Gebb struck him out with a high fastball.
Back-to-back UCSD (13-9, 5-4 Big West) errors with two outs in the top of the ninth resulted in the ninth Long Beach State run. Champagne's third hit, a double, scored Stewart to make it 10-0.
Gebb retired the four batters he faced before giving way to Ka'imi Kahalekai in the ninth. The freshman righthander struck out Lomanto to begin the inning before issuing a four-pitch walk to Hackworth. He stole second before Kahalekai struck out pinch-hitter Andy Ambriz. A second pinch-hitter, Cooper Thacker, struck out to end the inning.
Sunday's result is the first Big West shutout for the Dirtbags on the road since Apr. 7, 2023, when LBSU defeated UC Irvine 9-0. It is also the first league shutout for Long Beach State since May 12, 2023, when Long Beach State defeated UC Santa Barbara 1-0.
Geiss limited the Tritons to six hits over his starting stint. He struck out five, walking one. Geiss threw a career-high 112 pitches, 65 for strikes. Ashworth and Champagne both charted three hits to lead the Dirtbags. The LBSU relievers did not give up a hit, struck out five and walked on in 2.1 innings. Lena had two hits for Long Beach State.
Long Beach State (8-15, 2-7 Big West) returns to Bohl Diamond at Blair Field Friday night to begin a three-game Big West series against No. 15 UC Santa Barbara (15-7, 4-5 Big West). The first pitch is 6 p.m.
Kyle Ashworth and Armando Briseno recorded back-to-back two-out singles in the top of the first. Nathan Cadena reached on an infield single to shortstop to load the bases. Luke Taylor reached on catcher's interference by Emiliano Gonzalez to allow Ashworth to score. Steele Murdock recorded his third strikeout of the inning, setting down Reid Montgomery on a 1-2 count.
LBSU starter Owen Geiss hit Anthony Potestio with his second pitch of the bottom of the first. Noah Lazuka doubled Potestio to third. Geiss battled back from being down 2-0 to Michael Crossland to strike out the Tritons' leading home run hitter (9). A Geiss pitch hit Gabe Camacho to load the bases. J.C. Allen hit into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.
Patrick Hackworth singled with one out in the bottom of the second. Gonzalez hit a grounder to third, where Dylan Lina dove for it. He came up with a throw to retire Hackworth but missed turning the double play. Delshuan Lanier singled down the right-field line, allowing Gonzalez to reach third. Potestio hit a short fly ball toward the center. LBSU second baseman Jake Evans made a running backhanded catch for the third out.
Lina began the third with a double to left. He advanced to third on an Ashworth fly ball that reached the warning track in left-center field. Briseno walked to give the Dirtbags runners on the corners. Cadena hit a grounder to short, which allowed Lina to score and Briseno to move to second. Taylor grounded out for the final out.
Camacho singled through the right side with two outs in the bottom of the third. Allen reached on a single to third base, bringing Colton Lomanto to the plate. Lomanto hit a grounder to third, where the ball bounced off Lina's glove to Briseno at short. Briseno threw onto first, where the runner was initially called out. The umpires elected to use replay to review the play where the call was upheld.
Geiss hit Hackworth to begin the bottom of the fourth. With the count 0-2 to Gonzalez, Hackworth attempted to advance on a ball in the dirt. Conner Stewart, the LBSU catcher, threw to second and caught Hackworth for the out. Geiss retired the next two batters to wrap up matters.
Lina singled with one out in the top of the fifth. Ashworth followed with an opposite-field single to left. Briseno flew out to left before Cardena flew out to center to end the inning.
Geiss walked Potestio to begin the bottom of the fifth. Lazuka hit into a 6-4-3 double play. With two outs, Crossland reached on an infield single. Camacho hit a blast to the warning track in center where Alex Champagne tracked it down to conclude the frame.
Champagne singled to lead off the seventh. With one out, Ashworth singled through the right side. With Briseno up, UCSD pitcher Jake Villar appeared to have Champagne picked off between second and third. His throw was wide of third, allowing both runners to advance. Briseno, the cleanup hitter, was intentionally walked to load the bases.
The Tritons went to the bullpen, calling in Sam Hasegawa to face Cadena. Hasegawa struck out Cadena on a 3-2 slider. Pinch-hitter Connor Charpiot's opposite-field single to right center drove in two runs. Zech Samayoa's bloop single to left earned the Dirtbags' third run of the inning. Evans doubled to the left-center gap to plate two runs for LBSU. Stewart walked. Champagne's liner to left-center got down, allowing Evans to come home to complete the six-run outburst.
Geiss retired the first two batters of the UCSD seventh before walking Potestio. Matching his career-high of 6.2 innings, Geiss was relieved by Tyler Gebb as Lazuka came to bat. Lazuka ran the count to 3-2 before Gebb struck him out with a high fastball.
Back-to-back UCSD (13-9, 5-4 Big West) errors with two outs in the top of the ninth resulted in the ninth Long Beach State run. Champagne's third hit, a double, scored Stewart to make it 10-0.
Gebb retired the four batters he faced before giving way to Ka'imi Kahalekai in the ninth. The freshman righthander struck out Lomanto to begin the inning before issuing a four-pitch walk to Hackworth. He stole second before Kahalekai struck out pinch-hitter Andy Ambriz. A second pinch-hitter, Cooper Thacker, struck out to end the inning.
Sunday's result is the first Big West shutout for the Dirtbags on the road since Apr. 7, 2023, when LBSU defeated UC Irvine 9-0. It is also the first league shutout for Long Beach State since May 12, 2023, when Long Beach State defeated UC Santa Barbara 1-0.
Geiss limited the Tritons to six hits over his starting stint. He struck out five, walking one. Geiss threw a career-high 112 pitches, 65 for strikes. Ashworth and Champagne both charted three hits to lead the Dirtbags. The LBSU relievers did not give up a hit, struck out five and walked on in 2.1 innings. Lena had two hits for Long Beach State.
Long Beach State (8-15, 2-7 Big West) returns to Bohl Diamond at Blair Field Friday night to begin a three-game Big West series against No. 15 UC Santa Barbara (15-7, 4-5 Big West). The first pitch is 6 p.m.
~#LongBeachBuilt~
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Geiss, Owen (2-5)
L: Murdock, Steele (0-2)

Batting:
2B: Champagne, Alex 1 ; Lina, Dylan 1 ; Evans, Jake 1
RBI: Champagne, Alex 2 ; Cadena, Nathan 1 ; Charpiot, Connor 2 ; Samayoa, Zech 1 ; Evans, Jake 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Champagne, Alex 1 ; Lina, Dylan 1 ; Ashworth, Kyle 2 ; Briseno, Armando 1 ; Charpiot, Connor 1 ; Samayoa, Zech 1 ; Evans, Jake 2 ; Stewart, Conner 1

Batting:
2B: Lazuka, Noah 1
Base Running:
SB: Hackworth, Patrick 1
CS: Hackworth, Patrick 1
HBP: Potestio, Anthony 1 ; Camacho, Gabe 1 ; Hackworth, Patrick 1
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