Score: Long Beach State 5, UC Davis 3
Location: Davis, Calif. (Dobbins Stadium)
Records: UC Davis 18-22 (8-14 Big West), Long Beach State 13-28 (7-15 Big West)
THE SHORT STORY: A 3-2 lead in the eighth slipped away as Long Beach State rallied for two unearned runs in the eighth and tacked on another in the ninth to spoil UC Davis's Big West series opener 5-3 on Friday night at Dobbins Stadium.
Keenan Anzai delivered six innings of two-run ball with seven strikeouts in his third straight quality start,
Ryan Lee drove in both Aggie runs with RBI singles in the fourth and sixth, but a pair of throwing errors over the final two innings opened the door for the Beach.
LEADING OFF
- Anzai went 6.0 innings with seven hits, two earned runs, three walks and seven strikeouts on 90 pitches, his third straight quality start
- Lee was the most productive Aggie at the plate, finishing the night 2-for-4 with two RBI, driving in both UC Davis runs and extending his hitting streak to three games
- McNeal also had a good night at the dish, going 2-for-3Â with a walk and a run scored
- Howard went 2-for-5 atop the order
- Lerma (3-2) took the loss after allowing two unearned runs over 1.2 innings of relief
- Rowen Barnes also made an appearance, going 1.1 innings, allowing just one hit, and one unearned run
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Anzai and LBSU starter Ka'imi Kahalekai traded zeros into the second, when Murphy and McNeal opened the bottom half with back-to-back singles before Lee's grounder reached on a third base error to plate Murphy and put UC Davis up 1-0.
- UC Davis added on in the fourth on Johnson's two-out double to left followed by Lee's RBI single to center to make it 2-0.
- Long Beach State broke through with two-out damage in the fifth, stringing together singles by Damon Valdez and Trotter Enright, a Smith Chandler sacrifice that pushed the runners up, and Matt Toomey's two-RBI single to right to tie the game 2-2.
- UC Davis answered immediately in the sixth as McNeal singled, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on Lee's second RBI single of the night for a 3-2 Aggie lead.
- The eighth turned the game. After Murchael Turner's pinch-hit single and a throwing error on a Perez sacrifice bunt put runners on the corners with no outs, a Camden Gasser RBI groundout and a Damon Valdez RBI single off Lerma flipped the score to 4-3 Long Beach.
- The Beach added an insurance run in the ninth on a Toomey walk, a Dylan Lina single and a Reid Montgomery sacrifice bunt that reached on an error, scoring Toomey unearned to make it 5-3.
- UC Davis put the tying run aboard in the bottom of the ninth as Story singled and Mault was hit by a pitch with two outs, but were left stranded, allowing the Dirtbags to hold on for the 5-3 win.
UP NEXT
UC Davis hosts Long Beach State again on Saturday at 6 p.m. for game two of the Big West conference series at Dobbins Stadium.
