The Dirtbags didn’t seem to want to leave Blair Field, as their final home game of the season went into extra innings, leading to a walk-off single by freshman Zack Rivera and a series sweep of UC Riverside on Senior Day.
Long Beach State (28-25, 14-10 Big West Conference) scored two runs in the ninth and another in the 10th to earn a 5-4 win over the Highlanders (12-31, 8-16 Big West) and send the seniors out victorious.
“Good win for the seniors,” head coach Troy Buckley said. “We put together some really good at-bats in the ninth … It was a good collective team effort.”
On a day dedicated to seniors, the freshmen were the ones that came up with the clutch hits. With the Dirtbags down 4-2 in the ninth, catcher Eric Hutting and designated hitter Zack Belanger started the bottom of the inning with a pair of singles. Each of them ultimately scored, sending the game to extra innings.
It was then that Rivera clubbed his third hit of the game and drove in senior Juan Avila, who scored the winning run in walk-off fashion.
“Rivera’s definitely not a freshman anymore,” Buckley said. “And I’m happy for Juan [Avila]; he got the winning run.”
Rivera said he was happy to give the four Dirtbags seniors a win in their final game in LBSU uniforms at Blair Field.
“It was really special for me, but it was even more special for [the seniors],” he said.
The series started with a gem by Shane Carle, who struck out 13 in a complete game shutout. It was the second complete game in a row by Carle, who said last week’s nine-inning effort against Hawaii helped him build momentum for his start against the Highlanders, which resulted in a 5-0 Dirtbags win.
“I guess after the last one I really found a rythym,” he said. “I just tried to work on that this week, and it turned out pretty good.”
Carle and Buckley both said the changeup was the difference-maker in the game.
“That was definitely the pitch of the night,” Carle said.
LBSU took the series on Saturday with the help of Avila, who went 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI.
“It’s really good for Juan [Avila],” Buckley said. “He’s a really good senior, and you need good seniors in your program to be competitive.”
The Dirtbags nearly gave up the lead in the ninth, but they held on for a 5-4 win.
“[Jon Maciel] made it a little interesting,” Buckley said, “but it was a good series win.”
The seniors have one series left in Dirtbags uniforms, as they will play three games at UC Irvine next weekend. Avila, catcher Zach Miller and pitchers Landon Hunt and Eddie Magallon were all honored in a pregame ceremony recognizing their service to LBSU baseball.
Avila said that he hadn’t thought much about his Dirtbags career coming to a close but that we was ending it with a hot bat.
“It’s been a long journey, and it hasn’t hit me yet, but it feels good to go out hitting,” he said. “The things you take home at the end of the day are the relationships you’ve built with the guys around you.”
LBSU will begin the first game of its season-ending series at UCI on Friday at 6 p.m. With an RPI of 94, the Dirtbags will need to win the series against the Anteaters to have an outside chance at making the NCAA tournament as an at-large team. No. 4 Cal State Fullerton swept UCI this weekend and clinched its fourth straight Big West title in the process.