In a marathon of a game that lasted longer than four hours, the Dirtbags suffered a 3-2 loss to No. 7 UCLA that saw the winning run scored in the ninth inning.
Long Beach State (6-7) fell below .500 despite outhitting the Bruins seven to five and striking out 11 opposing batters.
“I thought we played a hell of a game,” LBSU head coach Troy Buckley said.
Buckley aslo said that he wasn’t into moral victories, but if there was one, this was it. The Dirtbags’ effort against the highly-ranked Bruins (9-2) was the pure opposite of the one they put forward in a series loss to Seattle (3-9) over the weekend.
“The energy, fighting and competing was totally different from last weekend,” Buckley said. “I do think we lost tonight instead of they won, but…if there was a moral victory, this was the start to what we want to do on a consistent basis”
It appeared that the Bruins would blow out LBSU early on, as UCLA put two of its first three runners on base and scored a run before the Dirtbags could record more than an out. LBSU starting pitcher Ryan Millison started a strikeout trend for the home team when he got Bruins cleanup hitter Pat Valaika swinging to help him get out of the inning.
Millison didn’t last much longer though, as he was lifted in the third after walking in a run that put the Bruins up 2-0. He lasted just two and two-thirds innings, the same that LBSU southpaw Nick Sabo lasted one week ago at Southern California.
“We’re not in a luxury position,” Buckley said of his Tuesday pitching. “It’s kind of a ‘next man up’ mentality right now.”
However, The Beach’s pitching woes were solved when reliever Jake Stassi entered the game. He struck out the first batter he faced to get out of a bases-loaded jam and then proceeded to strike out six straight batters in the fifth and sixth innings.
Stassi eventually left the game in the seventh with a final line of four innings pitched, one hit, no runs and eight strikeouts.
“[Stassi] was extremely aggressive and extremely competitive,” Buckley said. ” He did an outstanding job.”
The Dirtbags scraped together a run to cut their deficit in half in the bottom of the third when shortstop Michael Hill scored on a double-play ball by second baseman Jeff McNeil. They then tied the game in the seventh on a home run over the left field wall by right fielder Richard Prigatano.
With the score tied at 2-2, UCLA had the first chance to go out front. With runners on first and third and just one out in the eighth, the Bruins had pinch hitter Nick Keck attempt to steal second. LBSU catcher Eric Hutting’s throw was too late to get Keck, but McNeil returned a perfect throw home to get UCLA pinch runner Brett Urabe out on a play at the plate.
UCLA ended up pushing the go-ahead run across not too long after though, as LBSU reliever David Hill walked in a run an inning later. The Dirtbags would make a comeback attempt in the bottom of the inning, but they stranded runners on first and second and eventually fell 3-2.
Up next for LBSU is a road trip to Tempe, Ariz., where The Beach will take on No. 23 Arizona State in a three-game series.