LBSU vs. Fresno State box score
LOS ANGELES — After outdueling UNLV, 3-1, in 13 innings to fight off elimination, the 49er softball team just had nothing left in the tank.
Long Beach State (35-21) was upended by Fresno State, 12-2, Saturday night at UCLA’s Easton Stadium to bring its NCAA Regional campaign to a close.
Sophomore right-hander Brooke Turner (18-13) took the loss after striking out three, walking one and allowing six runs — two earned — on seven hits in 1 2/3 innings of work.
The Buena Park-native had already pitched 6 2/3 innings of relief in the 49ers’ extra-innings win over UNLV prior to the contest.
“Brooke felt really good so we decided to stick with her,” 49er head coach Kim Sowder said.
Turner compared receiving the start after having pitched in relief to her senior year at Kennedy High School when she once totaled 13 innings in a doubleheader.
“Physically, I could have continued,” Turner said. “Mentally, the hitters were getting to me a little bit so it was a good decision to put the other pitchers in.”
Senior Kelly Cross pitched 3 1/3 innings in relief to strike out two, walk two, and allow three runs on three hits. Junior Bridgette Pagano walked one and allowed three runs on four hits in two innings.
The Bulldogs pasted two runs on the board in the first inning after Haley Perkins and Haley Gilleland led off with infield singles. Perkins batted 4-for-5 with four RBIs and three runs scored.
Two batters later, Caitlin Stiglich laced a two-run single to left field to put Fresno up 2-0.
Fresno State broke the game open in the second frame after Jody Badorine and Perkins singled and Gilleland took first on an error.
That loaded the bases with two outs for Bulldog first baseman Michelle Moses, who blasted Turner’s 0-2 pitch over the left field wall for a grand slam, giving Fresno a 6-0 advantage. Moses went 2-for-5 with five RBIs.
Sowder said the six-run hole would be difficult to overcome considering the near four-hour marathon that was the earlier game.
“That game against UNLV was an emotional rollercoaster,” she said.
The Bulldogs added one in the fourth to go up 7-0 when Gilleland stole home after reaching on a triple three at-bats earlier.
Fresno stretched its lead to 9-0 in the top of the fifth frame on Perkins’ two-run single before the ‘Niners pieced together a rally in bottom of the inning.
Jodi Nakawatase led off with a single and Pagano moved her to third with a double. In the following at-bat, catcher Brandy Reyes delivered a two-run double to cut the lead to 9-2 and help The Beach avoid a run-rule loss.
“I’m happy with the fight that the team had,” Sowder said.
Perkins added a two-run double and Moses chopped an RBI single up the middle to extend Fresno’s lead to 12-2.
The Bulldogs’ Morgan Melloh (30-15) punched out 10, walked one and surrendered two runs on six hits to pick up the complete-game win.
‘Niner shortstop Ashley Levine led LBSU with two hits.
Seniors Danielle Linke, Jennifer Griffin, Jonae Perez and Brianna Goad, all of whom earned All-Big West Conference honors, finished their 49er careers on a bitter note, going a combined 0-for-10 with seven strikeouts.
“We’re certainly going to miss the seniors, but it’s time for other people to step up,” Sowder said.
Linke powers 49ers to extra-innings win over UNLV
Senior Danielle Linke played like she wanted to extend her career for at least one more game.
The 49ers outlasted the Rebels, 3-1, in 13 innings to stave off elimination at the Los Angeles Regional thanks to Linke’s two-run, walk-off homer.
“We felt like we were on top of the world when she hit it over the fence,” Turner said.
Nakawatase jump-started the 13th frame with a single to left field before Linke belted her eighth home run of the season over the center field wall.
Nakawatase led all 49ers with three hits, while Linke added two hits and drove in two.
“I can’t say enough about Jodi coming out everyday practicing,” Sowder said. “It was good to see her work her way back into the lineup.”
Turner picked up the win in relief after tossing 6 2/3 innings, allowing six hits, walking one and fanning four batters.
Freshman Taylor Petty earned the start, lasting 6 1/3 innings. The San Pedro-native struck out five, walked two and allowed one run on four hits in her first-ever NCAA Tournament game.
“She shut a very good hitting team down until the seventh,” Sowder said. “She’s pitched a lot within the championship setting in high school.”
The 49ers’ NCAA hopes looked all but dead in the eighth until UNLV first baseman Kendall Fearn’s two-run homer was overturned. Shortstop Jaci Hull was ruled out for stepping off first base before Turner could release her pitch, wiping off the blast that would have put UNLV up 3-1.
Rebel starter Stephanie Bregante lasted two innings, allowed two hits and fanned a pair before being relieved by lefthander Traci Odegard (9-7), who was charged with the loss.
The ‘Niners went up 1-0 in the second when Ashley Levine hammered an 0-2 pitch over the right field wall for her second home run of the season.
The Rebels (31-21) answered in the top of the sixth when Hull bombed her 12th home run of the season on a solo shot to left to tie the game at 1.
LBSU stranded 14 runners to UNLV’s 13 in the contest. The game ran a total of 3 hours, 57 minutes.
Game notes
Jonae Perez’s nine-game hitting streak came to an end after the LBSU first baseman went 0-for-5 with a walk in the 49ers’ 3-1 win over UNLV.
Fresno State’s Morgan Melloh notched her 900th career strikeout after getting Jennifer Griffin to strike out swinging in the fifth inning of the Bulldogs’ 12-2 win. Melloh later added two more to bring her career total to 902.