Long Beach State University Athletics
Saturday, April 11
Long Beach, Calif.
3 p.m.
Long Beach State University
22-16, 10-6
8
vs
1
UC Santa Barbara
23-18, 13-3
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UC Santa Barbara | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
| Long Beach State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | X | 8 | 10 | 2 |
Softball Takes Two Saturday Against UC Santa Barbara
4/11/2026 8:49:00 PM | Softball
A big inning in game one and a walkoff single in game two led the Beach to two wins over the league leaders.
LONG BEACH, Calif. – Facing the Big West leaders, it was Long Beach State that came away with a pair of wins, earning a series victory against UC Santa Barbara with an 8-1 blowout before a 3-2 walkoff rally.
Pitching dominated the early innings of the opening game, as Isabella Alonso and Sophia Clark breezed through four innings with little action to show for it other than excellent defense. UC Santa Barbara (23-19, 13-4 Big West) broke through first. A bloop single from Jaelyn Toledo put a runner on, and then Bella Fuentes doubled into the gap to score a run, but was thrown out trying to advance to third.
Turning to Kate Barnett in the circle, the junior picked up two quick outs, and Long Beach State (23-16, 11-6 Big West) answered right back. Emily Dowden started the inning with a single, and after getting pushed to second, Dowden scored on an RBI single by Jiselle Hernandez to even the score at 1-1.
Barnett worked around an error to put up a zero in the top of the sixth, and the Beach broke the game open in the bottom half. A walk to Brooklyn Lee and an error on a sacrifice put two on with no outs, and an RBI single from Nina Sepulveda gave the Beach the lead. Dowden then doubled for her second hit of the game, adding two more as the Beach took a 4-1 lead.
Two more Gaucho errors allowed another run to come home while loading the bases, and the Beach batted around, bringing up Lee for the second time in the inning. The junior doubled into the gap to clear the bases and put Long Beach State in front 8-1. Barnett worked a quick seventh to earn the first of her two wins on Saturday.
UC Santa Barbara struck first again in the second game, though Long Beach State avoided a big inning in what would be a critical start. Two infield singles and a bloop single loaded the bases with no outs to begin the game. A ground ball double play brought home a run, but Long Beach State got out of the inning with no more trouble and trailed just 1-0 despite an inauspicious start.
In another similarity to the first game, the Beach quickly bounced back. Lina Apodaca singled to start the game, and after a double from Priscilla Iniguez, a sacrifice fly by Avery Weisbrook tied the game at 1-1.
The score remained the same until the Gauchos again took the lead in the sixth. A leadoff single from Tehya Banks cost the Beach, as she then stole second base and reached third on an error. Another hit from the Gauchos gave UCSB a 2-1 lead.
Long Beach State still trailed 2-1 going into the bottom of the seventh, but pinch hitter Elissa Guerrero delivered with a leadoff double to give the Beach life. After moving the runner, Apodaca singled to score the tying run, and then the Beach looked to set up the winning run. Iniguez walked to put two on, and then a fielder's choice put runners on the corners with two outs.
A walk to Weisbrook loaded the bases and set up a magical moment. With a large group of her current and former teammates and coaches from Quartz Hill High School in attendance, freshman Nina Sepulveda came up with the game on the line and delivered with a base hit up the middle, scoring Apodaca and giving the Beach the series win with a walkoff.
The final game of the series is scheduled for Sunday, with first pitch pushed to 1 p.m. after anticipated overnight rain. Live coverage can be found at beachlivestats.statbroadcast.com.
Pitching dominated the early innings of the opening game, as Isabella Alonso and Sophia Clark breezed through four innings with little action to show for it other than excellent defense. UC Santa Barbara (23-19, 13-4 Big West) broke through first. A bloop single from Jaelyn Toledo put a runner on, and then Bella Fuentes doubled into the gap to score a run, but was thrown out trying to advance to third.
Turning to Kate Barnett in the circle, the junior picked up two quick outs, and Long Beach State (23-16, 11-6 Big West) answered right back. Emily Dowden started the inning with a single, and after getting pushed to second, Dowden scored on an RBI single by Jiselle Hernandez to even the score at 1-1.
Barnett worked around an error to put up a zero in the top of the sixth, and the Beach broke the game open in the bottom half. A walk to Brooklyn Lee and an error on a sacrifice put two on with no outs, and an RBI single from Nina Sepulveda gave the Beach the lead. Dowden then doubled for her second hit of the game, adding two more as the Beach took a 4-1 lead.
Two more Gaucho errors allowed another run to come home while loading the bases, and the Beach batted around, bringing up Lee for the second time in the inning. The junior doubled into the gap to clear the bases and put Long Beach State in front 8-1. Barnett worked a quick seventh to earn the first of her two wins on Saturday.
UC Santa Barbara struck first again in the second game, though Long Beach State avoided a big inning in what would be a critical start. Two infield singles and a bloop single loaded the bases with no outs to begin the game. A ground ball double play brought home a run, but Long Beach State got out of the inning with no more trouble and trailed just 1-0 despite an inauspicious start.
In another similarity to the first game, the Beach quickly bounced back. Lina Apodaca singled to start the game, and after a double from Priscilla Iniguez, a sacrifice fly by Avery Weisbrook tied the game at 1-1.
The score remained the same until the Gauchos again took the lead in the sixth. A leadoff single from Tehya Banks cost the Beach, as she then stole second base and reached third on an error. Another hit from the Gauchos gave UCSB a 2-1 lead.
Long Beach State still trailed 2-1 going into the bottom of the seventh, but pinch hitter Elissa Guerrero delivered with a leadoff double to give the Beach life. After moving the runner, Apodaca singled to score the tying run, and then the Beach looked to set up the winning run. Iniguez walked to put two on, and then a fielder's choice put runners on the corners with two outs.
A walk to Weisbrook loaded the bases and set up a magical moment. With a large group of her current and former teammates and coaches from Quartz Hill High School in attendance, freshman Nina Sepulveda came up with the game on the line and delivered with a base hit up the middle, scoring Apodaca and giving the Beach the series win with a walkoff.
The final game of the series is scheduled for Sunday, with first pitch pushed to 1 p.m. after anticipated overnight rain. Live coverage can be found at beachlivestats.statbroadcast.com.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Barnett, Kate (2-3)
L: Clark, Sophia (9-6)
Batting:
2B: Fuentes, Bella 1
RBI: Fuentes, Bella 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Toledo, Jaelyn 1
Batting:
2B: Weisbrook, Avery 1 ; Dowden, Emily 1 ; Lee, Brooklyn 1
RBI: Dowden, Emily 2 ; Lee, Brooklyn 3 ; Sepulveda, Nina 1 ; Hernandez, Jiselle 1
SH: Mendoza, Audree 1 ; Weisbrook, Avery 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Iniguez, Priscilla 1 ; Su'e, Kali 1 ; Mendoza, Audree 1 ; Weisbrook, Avery 1 ; Dowden, Emily 1 ; Sepulveda, Nina 1 ; Hernandez, Jiselle 1 ; Estrada, Erica 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
dp/c/PH
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
3
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
P
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
C
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
INF
/ SoftballC
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
INF
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