LBSU infielder Jarren Duran takes his position at second base after a four-run third inning. The Dirtbags lost to UCLA 11-10 on Tuesday at Blair Field.
An eight-run first inning for UCLA proved to be too much for the Long Beach State baseball team as the Dirtbags’ rally fell short in an 11-10 loss Tuesday night at Blair Field.
LBSU outscored UCLA 8-0 after the top of the third. The loss ended the Dirtbags’ five-game winning streak.
However, the Dirtbags’ (26-17, 9-6) last run came in the eighth after junior shortstop Garrett Hampson doubled to left field and scored after sophomore designated hitter Luke Rasmussen hit an RBI double to left field to bring the lead to 11-10. But, with one out left in the ninth, UCLA ended the rally attempt after getting Rasmussen to pop out to end the game.
“[When we were down] we were just telling each other to turn the scoreboard off,” Hampson said. “That’s all you can do, you can’t just give up. We know we’re down, but you have to play the game.”
The Bruins (21-21, 10-11) hit early and often against freshman pitcher Jacob Hughey, who only faced five batters, walking two and giving up two hits and four runs.
UCLA’s run didn’t stop there as they continued to hit when junior right-hander Dave Smith came in. Smith gave up seven runs, four earned, and faced eight batters in the first inning as the Bruins took an 8-0 lead.
UCLA right-hander Jake Bird pitches to Dirtbags freshman second baseman Jarren Duran in the third inning.
“It’s certainly very, very difficult to come back from that kind of deficit,” Dirtbags head coach Troy Buckley said. “I’m really proud of the guys from a position player side, to come back and make this more of a competitive game.”
The Dirtbags didn’t go down without a fight as they scored one in the bottom of the first after Rasmussen hit an RBI single to score second baseman Jarren Duran.
After the first, LBSU kept UCLA scoreless and was able to cut the lead to 8-2 in the second when freshman Brooks Stotler hit a RBI double that scored junior Daniel Jackson.
The Bruins answered back with three unearned runs against Dave Smith at the top of the third. However, after the third, the Dirtbags’ pitchers kept the Bruins scoreless using six pitchers. Senior Ryan Cruz faced eight batters in 1.2 innings of action with two walks and one strikeout before being replaced by sophomore Lucas Jacobsen in the fifth.
Rasmussen got the LBSU run going with a lead-off single in the bottom of the third to extend his multi-hit streak to six.
“I’m more free and easy,” Rasmussen said. “My coaches and my teammates have confidence in me, even when I was struggling they still had confidence in me and I just kept working and now it’s paying off.”
Junior left fielder Brock Lundquist and junior Daniel Jackson followed Rasmussen’s single with back-to-back singles to load the bases. Freshman Domenic Colacchio delivered a two-RBI single up the middle to cut the lead to 11-4.
Stotler followed that with an RBI groundout to bring in Jackson and make the score 11-5. LBSU wasn’t done as freshman second baseman Jarren Duran singled to center to score Colacchio. The Dirtbags ended the third trailing UCLA 11-6.
In the fifth, Jackson helped put LBSU on the board again with a leadoff single. Jackson advanced to second after Colacchio hit a sacrifice groundout. The Dirtbags loaded the bases after Duran and Stoler walked then senior third baseman Zack Domingues delivered with a two-run single that brought UCLA’s lead down to 11-8.
Hampson, who went 3 for 6 on the night with one RBI, hit a single to center in the fifth to score Duran that brought the UCLA lead to 11-9 after five innings.
The LBSU comeback fell short in the final inning, but Hampson said the Dirtbags will carry some firepower into their series against Hawai’i this weekend.
“We’ve built some momentum,” Hampson said. “So, I think we can take it right in when we head to Hawai’i. [Our] pitchers have been good all year, we just have to figure out how to avoid the big innings like [the first].”
The Dirtbags look to bounce back when they travel to Hawai’i for a three game series against the Rainbow Warriors starting on Friday at 9:35 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.
“We have to play well,” Buckley said. “We have to pitch well and we have to hit. [Hawai’i] is a tough place to play. [It’ll be a] long travel and they have competitive crowds.”