March 29, 2008

Final Stats

DAVIS, Calif. - Fourteenth-ranked Long Beach State hit three home runs in the second game on Saturday afternoon, erasing an early two-run deficit, as the 49ers completed a Big West Conference softball sweep over UC Davis at LaRue Field with an 8-3 victory after posting a 1-0 win in the opener.

UC Davis moved to 15-21 overall after its first-ever Big West games while Long Beach State won for the 11th time in its past 12 games to irmprove to 26-9 overall and 2-0 in the league.

Pitcher Brooke Turner out-dueled the Aggies' Jessica Hancock for the shutout win in the opener as each pitcher gave up just four hits. Bridgette Pagano earned the win for the 49ers in the nightcap, allowing five hits, one of them a homer to catcher Deanna Menapace.

The teams played a tight game in the opener with Long Beach State scoring the only run in the third inning after Jonae Perez doubled to right-center to lead off then gave way to pinch-runner Casey Burba who later scored on an infield error.

UC Davis left five runners on base in the game and was unable to score in four innings when it had runners in scoring position.

Four different Aggies - Michelle Espiritu, Erin Emde, Ashley Johnson and Sarah Axelson - had hits in the first game with Emde collecting a double. Hancock gave up just four hits in the tough one-run loss, striking out seven batters and allowing four walks. Turner had eight strikeouts and no walks while also allowing just four hits.

Long Beach State had four extra-base hits in the second game, picking up homers from Jessica Beaver, Jennifer Griffin and catcher Brooke LeSage, along with doubles from Beaver and Jonae Perez. The 49ers scored a pair of runs in the second, sixth and seventh innings along with single runs in the third and fifth.

The scoring burst helped them counter an early 2-0 lead from UC Davis which tallied its runs in the first inning on an infield error that allowed Espiritu and Julie Stauder to score. Espiritu had opened the frame with a single to left while Menapace singled to center for another. However, the advantage was short-lived as Griffin led off the second with a homer to left and Brianna Goad had a sacrifice fly for another run.

Beaver's home run to left later on in the fifth inning made it 4-2 while LeSage's two-run homer to down the left-field line in the seventh extended the lead to 8-3. Menapace's roundtripper - her team-leading sixth of the season - had cut the deficit to 6-3 with one out in the sixth. Pagano improved to 11-6 while Aggie starter Alex Holmes fell to 5-9. Both pitchers had three strikeouts and a walk.

Menapace had a pair of hits in the second game for UC Davis while Espiritu, Trish Paine and Axelson also had hits.

UC Davis committed seven errors in the doubleheader, four of them in the opener. Long Beach State had four errors on the day, three of them in the second game.

"Right now we've got to do a better job as a club," said head coach Karen Yoder. "We've got to make adjustments. That's the key, making adjustments."

UC Davis, playing its second nationally ranked team in a row after dropping a tough game at No. 5 Stanford on Wednesday, returns to the field on Sunday against Long Beach State in the series finale. First pitch at LaRue Field is noon.