Baseball, Men's Sports, Sports

Dirtbags walk away with win after walk-off walk in 11th

The Dirtbags have had their share of close games this year, but none have gone to extra innings.

It might be something they’d like to try more often.

After erasing a 3-0 deficit in the ninth inning, Long Beach State went to the 11th to defeat San Diego State 4-3 in an extra-inning thriller Tuesday night at Blair Field.

The Dirtbags (13-18) appeared to be headed for their fourth shutout loss of the season, but the bats that had hibernated all game long came alive in the ninth inning and forced extra innings for the first time this season.

After holding the Aztecs (17-16) scoreless in the 10th and 11th, the Dirtbags backed up a leadoff triple by Ino Patron with three straight walks (two of which were intentional) to emerge with the 4-3 victory.

“I thought we grinded, we grinded, we grinded,” LBSU head coach Troy Buckley said. “I thought the pitching and defense kept us in the game, and our at-bats got better at the end … It was as much of a challenge night as it was anything.”

The Dirtbags weren’t able to get much of anything going against SDSU starter Mike Robards, as the only hits they had through seven innings were bunt singles by second baseman Jeff McNeil.

“[Robard’s delivery] is a little funky, and guys don’t see the ball very well,” Buckley said. “He can throw a couple pitches for strikes, and he gave us fits. It was kind of a frustrating night.”

The night was frustrating all the way up until the ninth inning, when McNeil led off with a double to right and shortstop Michael Hill followed with a single up the middle. Robard was then replaced by closer Bubba Derby, who had an equally hard time keeping the Dirtbags at bay.

Patron drove in LBSU’s first run of the night with a sacrifice fly off of Derby, and Juan Avila and Richard Prigatano followed with RBI hits to tie the game at three. The Dirtbags had a chance to finish the game in the ninth, but a pair of popouts with the bases loaded sent it to extra innings.

With the Dirtbags low on pitchers after essentially designating the game as a staff day, Jon Maciel and Ty Provencher shut the Aztecs down in the 10th and 11th to keep the game tied at three.

“[Maciel] needed to get going and gain some more confidence,” Buckley said of his closing pitcher, who blew a save and took the loss in a ninth-inning defeat at Pacific on Sunday. “I certainly wanted to get him back out there again after what happened on Sunday.”

It looked as if the game would go on for many more innings until Patron led off the 11th with a triple to right field. When asked if he ever considered stopping at second, Patron said “No, not at all.”

With a man on third and no outs, SDSU decided to intentionally load the bases to create a force play at home. Things didn’t go according to plan, though, as Aztecs pitcher Tyler Sapp walked the Dirtbags’ Josh Guerra on a 3-2 count to give up the go-ahead run.

“It showed some guts how we were able to come back tonight and finish the job,” Patron said. “We were all really happy with that … It’s a good feeling.”

The Dirtbags will resume Big West Conference play this weekend when they take host UC Davis in a three-game series. The first game is set for 6 p.m. on Friday at Blair Field.
 

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