Baseball: Heavy rain cancels series finale against Arizona
Heavy rains in the Tucson area forced the cancellation of the final game of the Dirtbags’ three-game series against Arizona.
Long Beach State (3-3) had won the first two games of the series, pulling off an 8-7 comeback win over the Wildcats on Friday before duplicating the win, 10-3, on Saturday.
The Dirtbags return home for the next nine games, starting Tuesday when they host USC at Blair Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
Softball: 49ers drop games to Colorado State, No. 13 California
The Long Beach State softball team (5-9) dropped a pair of games on the final day of the Cathedral City Classic in Palm Springs.
Colorado State 3, Long Beach State 2
Colorado State scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh to defeat The Beach, 3-2, Sunday morning.
The Rams’ Sarah Sullivan led off with a single and came around to score on a two-out walk-off double by Christine Thomsen.
Freshman Nalani St. Germain led The Beach, going 2-for-4, while clubbing her team-best seventh home run of the season, while seniors Ashley Weber and Kristen Pocock also tallied hits.
Sophomore Taylor Petty (2-6) suffered the loss after giving up three runs on six hits, while striking out four.
No. 13 California 8, Long Beach State 1
California used a four-run third inning to propel it to an 8-1 victory over LBSU in Sunday’s second game for the 49ers.
Valerie Arioto tossed a two-hitter for the Golden Bears as she struck out nine 49ers.
Junior Casey Burba and sophomore Megan Denio each had a hit, while Burba scored LBSU’s lone run.
Cal (10-3) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning before breaking the game open with four runs in the third. Jace Williams highlighted the rally with a two-run double.
LBSU got on the board in the bottom of the fifth when Burba and Denio had back-to-back infield singles. Freshman Nalani St. Germain then reached on a fielder’s choice and an error by Cal second baseman Shannon Thomas allowed Burba to come around to score.
The Golden Bears tacked on two more runs in the seventh for the final 8-1 margin. Williams led the Cal offense, which finished with 11 hits, as she went 2-for-3 with three RBI.
LBSU returns to action next weekend when it competes in the San Diego Classic I, March 5-7.
Women’s Tennis: LBSU falls to No. 18 Washington
Deborah Armstrong picked up a singles victory for the 49ers’ lone point in a 6-1 loss to No. 18 Washington 6-1 on Sunday.
Armstrong defeated Lina Xu at No. 3 singles in three sets 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 to get LBSU (6-2) on the board.
She also grabbed a win in doubles after teaming with Anais Dallara to defeat Venise Chan and Samantha Smith in a 9-8decision at No. 2 doubles. The 49ers were unable to take the point, as the team lost 9-7 at both No. 1 and No. 3 doubles.
The 49ers had a tough draw at the top of singles, facing the No. 6 and No. 14 players in the nation. Dallara fell to No. 14 Chan, 6-2, 6-4, at No. 1 singles, while Jaklin Alawi fought No. 6 Denise Dy to a third set before falling 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 at No. 2 singles.
Rachel Manasse also went three sets before losing to Smith 6-4, 4-6, 8-10 at No. 4 singles. Anna Jeczmionka fell to Joyce Ardies, 6-2, 6-4 at No. 5 singles and Sarah Cantlay dropped a 7-6 (4), 6-2 decision to Aleksandra Malovic at No. singles.
LBSU returns to the Rhodes Tennis Center on March 4 to host Eastern Michigan.
Women’s Water Polo: The Beach goes winless at UC Irvine Invitational
The 49ers lost two one-goal matches on Sunday to conclude the UC Irvine Invitational.
The Beach (3-10) lost, 8-7, to Big West foe UC Davis before succumbing to UC San Diego, 10-9, in the team’s final match of the tournament.
Krizia Cerda scored six goals on the day, including four goals against the Tritons in the final game of the tournament to lead the 49ers.
The Beach’s day started with a match against UCD as the 49ers grabbed an early 1-0 lead on a goal by Chelsea Grabowski. The Aggies scored three goals to take a big lead, and would remain on top at halftime, 5-4.
The 49ers rallied from a late deficit to tie the game at 7-7 with 2:05 left in the game on a goal from Julie Lantz, but UC Davis’ Mille scored with 1:38 left in the contest to steal the win.
In the final game of the day, the 49ers fell behind the Tritons 5-2 in the first period, and despite Cerda’s four goals, came up one short in a 10-9 loss.
The 49ers will take one week off before hosting Colorado State at noon on March 13 in the Campus Pool.