Long Beach State University Athletics
Saturday, February 28
Tucson, Ariz.
11 a.m. MT
Long Beach State University
11-7
7
vs
6
Howard
6-11
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
R
H
E
Howard
5
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
6
11
0
Long Beach State
0
1
4
1
0
0
0
1
7
11
0
Softball Battles Back To Win Two Games At Hillenbrand Invitational
2/28/2026 3:03:00 PM | Softball
Long Beach State rallied to beat Howard before shutting out Minnesota.
TUCSON, Ariz. – Long Beach State showed what's become one of their trademarks under Kendall Fearn, fight and belief, rallying from a slow start to beat Howard before dominating Minnesota for a pair of wins at Arizona Saturday.
Howard (6-11) jumped out to a big lead in the first inning. Loading the bases with a single and two walks to start the game, a single from Maryn Jordan began the scoring for the Bison. A hit batter added another run while keeping the bases loaded with no outs. Another single scored a third run to make it 3-0. The Beach finally collected their first out, but a hit batter and an RBI groundout scored two more before the Beach took their first turn at bat down 5-0.
Long Beach State (12-7) went to work. Malayna Terrones was hit by a pitch in the bottom of the second, and scored on an RBI double from Emily Dowden to get the comeback started. The next inning, Kali Su'e had the first of her two hits to have a runner on in front of Miranda Gonzalez, who hit the first home run of her collegiate career, a no-doubt shot to left to make the score 5-3. A single and another hit batter, this time Priscilla Iniguez, put two on for the Beach, and heads up baserunning from Apodaca saw the sophomore score from second on a groundout to cut the lead to one.
A double from Audree Mendoza tied the game before the end of the third as the Beach erased the deficit. Long Beach State then took their first lead in the fourth. Dowden started the inning with a single, followed by a single from Su'e. After pushing the runners, an RBI groundout from Apodaca scored pinch runner Erica Estrada and the Beach moved on top 6-5.
A leadoff double in the seventh inning led to a run for Howard, pushing the game into extra innings. With the tiebreaker rule in place, the Beach picked up two huge outs from Isabella Alonso who saw Aniyah Whipper lay down a bunt outside of the box and then a pop up to take a sacrifice fly off the table. Merci Hart then flied out to right field, holding the Bison scoreless in the top of the eighth.
Long Beach State quickly took care of business in the bottom half. Su'e moved the runner, Dowden, to third and then a sacrifice fly from Gonzalez ended the opening game as a walkoff for the Beach.
In the second game, it was Long Beach State that got off to a fast start this time against Minnesota (7-12). Isabella Alonso worked a straightforward first inning and the Beach went to work immediately in the bottom half, as Lina Apodaca led off the game for LBSU with a solo home run. Weisbrook followed with a walk, and back-to-back singles from Iniguez and Sepulveda put the Beach in front 2-0 after one after scoring the junior shortstop.
Long Beach State added two more in the third. Weisbrook was plunked to start the frame, and then Iniguez singled. A passed ball moved both runners into scoring position, where they would both score on an RBI groundout and a wild pitch as the Beach again worked to manufacture runs.
Three more runs would come in the fourth, as Gonzalez walked and Apodaca reached in front of Weisbrook, who then doubled to score both runners. A single from Iniguez moved Weisbrook to third, where she would score again on an RBI groundout from Sepulveda.
Alonso earned both wins on the day, pitching four scoreless innings against the Golden Gophers. Priscilla Ramirez and Jaylin Banda combined to finish off the shutout against Minnesota.
Long Beach State will close the Hillenbrand Invitational on Sunday, getting a rematch against No. 14 Arizona set to begin at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
Howard (6-11) jumped out to a big lead in the first inning. Loading the bases with a single and two walks to start the game, a single from Maryn Jordan began the scoring for the Bison. A hit batter added another run while keeping the bases loaded with no outs. Another single scored a third run to make it 3-0. The Beach finally collected their first out, but a hit batter and an RBI groundout scored two more before the Beach took their first turn at bat down 5-0.
Long Beach State (12-7) went to work. Malayna Terrones was hit by a pitch in the bottom of the second, and scored on an RBI double from Emily Dowden to get the comeback started. The next inning, Kali Su'e had the first of her two hits to have a runner on in front of Miranda Gonzalez, who hit the first home run of her collegiate career, a no-doubt shot to left to make the score 5-3. A single and another hit batter, this time Priscilla Iniguez, put two on for the Beach, and heads up baserunning from Apodaca saw the sophomore score from second on a groundout to cut the lead to one.
A double from Audree Mendoza tied the game before the end of the third as the Beach erased the deficit. Long Beach State then took their first lead in the fourth. Dowden started the inning with a single, followed by a single from Su'e. After pushing the runners, an RBI groundout from Apodaca scored pinch runner Erica Estrada and the Beach moved on top 6-5.
A leadoff double in the seventh inning led to a run for Howard, pushing the game into extra innings. With the tiebreaker rule in place, the Beach picked up two huge outs from Isabella Alonso who saw Aniyah Whipper lay down a bunt outside of the box and then a pop up to take a sacrifice fly off the table. Merci Hart then flied out to right field, holding the Bison scoreless in the top of the eighth.
Long Beach State quickly took care of business in the bottom half. Su'e moved the runner, Dowden, to third and then a sacrifice fly from Gonzalez ended the opening game as a walkoff for the Beach.
In the second game, it was Long Beach State that got off to a fast start this time against Minnesota (7-12). Isabella Alonso worked a straightforward first inning and the Beach went to work immediately in the bottom half, as Lina Apodaca led off the game for LBSU with a solo home run. Weisbrook followed with a walk, and back-to-back singles from Iniguez and Sepulveda put the Beach in front 2-0 after one after scoring the junior shortstop.
Long Beach State added two more in the third. Weisbrook was plunked to start the frame, and then Iniguez singled. A passed ball moved both runners into scoring position, where they would both score on an RBI groundout and a wild pitch as the Beach again worked to manufacture runs.
Three more runs would come in the fourth, as Gonzalez walked and Apodaca reached in front of Weisbrook, who then doubled to score both runners. A single from Iniguez moved Weisbrook to third, where she would score again on an RBI groundout from Sepulveda.
Alonso earned both wins on the day, pitching four scoreless innings against the Golden Gophers. Priscilla Ramirez and Jaylin Banda combined to finish off the shutout against Minnesota.
Long Beach State will close the Hillenbrand Invitational on Sunday, getting a rematch against No. 14 Arizona set to begin at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Alonso, Isabella (5-2)
L: Calloway, Destiny (2-1)
Batting:
2B: Taylor, Makyia 1 ; Ames-Alexander, Taylor 1
RBI: Trotter, Tori 1 ; Riggins, Angel 2 ; Jordan, Maryn 1 ; Taylor, Makyia 1 ; Whipper, Aniyah 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Riggins, Angel 1 ; Jones, Lauryn 1 ; Hart, Merci 1 ; Lee, Na'khia 1 ; Taylor, Makyia 1 ; Ames-Alexander, Taylor 1
SB: Lenon, Amirah 1
CS: Riggins, Angel 1
HBP: Riggins, Angel 1 ; Whipper, Aniyah 1
Batting:
2B: Mendoza, Audree 1 ; Dowden, Emily 1
HR: Gonzalez, Miranda 1
RBI: Apodaca, Lina 1 ; Mendoza, Audree 1 ; Gonzalez, Miranda 3 ; Dowden, Emily 1 ; Sepulveda, Nina 1
SH: Su'e, Kali 1 ; Gonzalez, Miranda 1
SF: Gonzalez, Miranda 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Terrones, Malayna 1 ; Su'e, Kali 1 ; Apodaca, Lina 1 ; Gonzalez, Miranda 1 ; Dowden, Emily 1 ; Sepulveda, Nina 1 ; Estrada, Erica 1
SB: Su'e, Kali 1 ; Sepulveda, Nina 1
HBP: Terrones, Malayna 1 ; Iniguez, Priscilla 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
lf/dp
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
P
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
INF
/ SoftballC
/ SoftballOF
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