Box Score

DAVIS, Calif. -- UC Davis freshman Alejandro Lara finished 3-for-4 and junior Alex Aguiar slugged his second home run of the season to tie the game in the fifth, but visiting Long Beach State scored six times over the final four innings to pull away for a 9-3 victory and a Big West Conference series win on Saturday afternoon at Phil Swimley Field at Dobbins Stadium.

The Aggies fell to 12-22 overall and 5-9 in Big West play following their third consecutive defeat, while Long Beach improved to 27-14 and 12-2 in league play with the win.

Lara, who had only two hits in his previous 13 appearances, finished off a career-high performance at the plate on Saturday, collecting his second career extra-base hit with a double in the second and singles in the sixth and eighth innings. Seniors Ignacio Diaz and Jacob Thomas joined him in the multi-hit club with two hits apiece.

Diaz, who finished 2-for-4, put his team on top quickly in the first, following a single by Thomas and a Ryan Anderson hit by pitch with a single to center, scoring Thomas from second base for the 1-0 lead.

Long Beach State responded with three in the second with the help of a pair of errors from the UC Davis defense, but the Aggies continued to chip away, getting a run in the second on an RBI single by Thomas, and tying things up in the fifth when Aguiar cleared the wall in left field with two outs to make it a 3-3 ballgame.

However, that's when the floodgates opened for the visitors as David Banuelos launched his sixth home run of the year to left with one out in the frame, and Laine Huffman, who finished 4-for-5 with three RBI, added a run-scoring single to center for an insurance run to make it 5-3. Long Beach State then went on to add two more in the seventh on a triple by Garrett Nelson, another in the eighth on an error, and a sacrifice fly in the ninth, to cap the scoring.

Starter John Sheaks (7-1) labored through five innings to earn the win for Long Beach, allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out four, working out of numerous jams over the first four innings by stranding seven UC Davis runners in scoring position.

Right-hander Justin Mullins (1-3) took the loss, allowing five earned on 13 hits over seven innings, striking out five during that span and stranding four in scoring position.

The Aggies will look to salvage game three of the series on Sunday afternoon (April 30) at 1 p.m.

Long Beach State 9, UC Davis 3 (Apr 29, 2017 at Davis, Calif.)
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Long Beach State.... 030 002 211 - 9 16 0 (27-14, 12-2 BIG WEST)
UC Davis............ 110 010 000 - 3 11 6 (12-22, 5-9 BIG WEST)
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Pitchers: Long Beach State - Sheaks, John; Radcliffe, Tyler(6); Baayoun, Zak(8); Villalobos, Eli(8); Riley, Connor(9) and Banuelos, David; Notch, Joey. UC Davis - Mullins, Justin; Loar, Connor(8) and Diaz, Ignacio.
Win-Sheaks, John(7-1) Loss-Mullins, Justin(1-3) T-3:23 A-258
HR LBSU - Banuelos, David (6).
HR UCD - Aguiar, Alex (2).
Weather: 76 deg.; wind:NNW 16 mph