Baseball, Men's Sports, Men's Volleyball, Softball, Sports, Women's Sports

Individual milestones met for Long Beach State

The Long Beach State softball and baseball teams both had memorable spring breaks, as the 49ers and Dirtbags each won their weekend series and saw a couple individuals reach career milestones.

Leading the softball team (29-9, 6-0 Big West) to a sweep of UC Riverside was pitcher Erin Jones-Wesley, who shut out the Highlanders (19-20, 0-6 Big West) on Saturday for her 79th career win at LBSU. The achievement moved her past Meredith Cervenka for for the most wins in school history.

Jones-Wesley had plenty of support, though, as the 49er offense outscored UCR 30-4 over the three-game series.

The Dirtbags also had a successful weekend, and they took two of three from defending national champion UCLA.

The week didn’t start out great, however, as LBSU lost 4-3 to Southern California on Tuesday. It then kicked off its series with UCLA on Friday with a 1-0 loss to the Bruins in a pitching battle that lasted 11 innings.

“I thought [Andrew] Rohrbach pitched great,” head coach Troy Buckley said of his starter, who threw eight shutout innings. “We didn’t do enough on the offensive end to give us a chance to win even though we had a chance at the end.”

The Dirtbags ended their weekend with momentum, though, as they shut out UCLA on Saturday. LBSU has dealt with numerous injuries to the pitching staff, but Josh Frye and Ryan Millison filled in successfully on Saturday, combining efforts to hold down the Bruins.

The Dirtbags then took the series rubber match Sunday afternoon, coming back from an early deficit en route to an 8-5 win.

–  written by Sports Editor Jason Clark

Men’s volleyball team drops two

Spring break wasn’t very relaxing even for The Beach, as the men’s volleyball team dropped two crucial matches against UC Santa Barbara and UCLA, each in five sets.

After losing three of the four road matches a couple of weeks ago, Long Beach State (16-9, 13-9 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) hoped to pick up a pair of wins as they returned home to host last weekend’s games.

Instead, the 49ers lost to the Gauchos (15-8, 14-8 MPSF), 25-16, 21-25, 25-23, 23-25 and 12-15, and followed it with a heartbreaker against the Bruins with scores of 25-23, 24-26, 24-26, 25-18 and 13-15.

Every set the 49ers lost to the Bruins was by only two points, ending the weekend with disappointment as they picked up their third straight loss.

“We played a lot more like how we usually play [compared to previous weeks],” head coach Alan Knipe said. “But it came down to a few plays and we just didn’t execute.”

Jeff Ornee led the 49ers against the Gauchos with his first career double-double, contributing 10 kills and 11 blocks while Taylor Crabb collected his ninth double-double with 18 kills and 12 digs. Ian Satterfield contributed 16 kills and 10 digs.

Taylor Crabb racked up 28 kills and 10 digs against the Bruins while Cody Martin made his first big break with a career-high 18 kills, hitting a .630.

LBSU dropped to No. 6 in NCAA standings and is now tied with Hawaii and UCSB for sixth in MPSF standings.

–  written by Assistant Sports Editor Anita Wang

Women’s water polo team defeats UC Davis in close thriller

The No. 12 Long Beach State women’s water polo team proved it can win close games, squeaking by No. 16 UC Davis, 5-4, Sunday at the Campus Pool.

Hillary Veselik secured a steal on the game’s final possession to ward off a late power-play opportunity for the Aggies (11-15, 0-4).

It was sweet redemption for the 49ers (17-8, 1-1) after the team lost its conference opener at Hawaii in overtime.

Head coach Gavin Arroyo thought the win was significant for another reason.

“It wasn’t our best game, but to get the last stop was big,” he said. “It was a character builder.”

The Beach struggled to find its way on offense. Aggie goalkeeper Jillian Wilding kept the 49ers off the scoreboard in the first half.

In the third period, Long Beach erupted for four goals. Coriann Snyder tied the score for the third time in the quarter before Christina Kotsia lifted LBSU to its first lead of the game.

The Aggies pulled even at 4 on a five-meter penalty shot by Keelia Houston.

LBSU secured a late 6-on-5 situation and the 49ers took advantage.

The 49ers worked the umbrella from right to left without the ball touching the water. Jessica Brooks to Chelsea Parks to Kayla Robert ended up with the go-ahead goal for The Beach.

“At some point you start learning how to win or you start learning how to lose,” Arroyo said. “We’re definitely at that crossroads. That’s why today was so significant.”

–  written by Assistant Sports Editor Andrew Turner

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