Photos by John Fajardo, report by LBSU
The Long Beach State softball team suffered a 5-0 loss to Cal Poly before bouncing back with a shutout of its own as it defeated the Big West-leading Mustangs, 4-0, in the back end of a doubleheader Saturday afternoon at the 49er Softball Complex.
The Beach is now 21-21 overall and 5-6 in conference play, while Cal Poly sits at 19-18, 8-3 BWC.
Cal Poly 5, Long Beach State 0
In the series opener, Cal Poly raced out to an early lead and never looked back as it blanked the 49ers, 5-0.
Senior Ashley Weber led LBSU, going 2-for-3, while junior Liz Javier and freshmen Caitrin DeBaun and Bree Stephan each chipped in a hit.
Junior Brooke Turner picked up the loss as she earned the start and allowed four runs on one hit, one walk and two errors. Senior Bridgette Pagano tossed 7.0 innings of relief, giving up one run on seven hits.
The Mustangs struck early, taking advantage of a pair of 49er errors and three illegal pitches, to go up 4-0 in the top of the first. Cal Poly tacked on one more in the fifth frame when Dana Perez singled and eventually crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly.
Long Beach State’s best opportunity to get on the board came in the bottom of the fourth when Weber and DeBaun led off with back-to-back singles, but Mustang pitcher Rebecca Patton was able to get the next three 49ers to ground out to end the inning.
Patton, the reigning Big West Pitcher of the Week, improved to 7-4 on the season.
Long Beach State 4, Cal Poly 0
Long Beach State answered in the back end of the doubleheader as it won an early pitchers’ duel by scoring four runs in the bottom of the sixth to earn the split.
Sophomore Taylor Petty continued to impress on the mound, picking up her third shutout in six Big West Conference games. Petty scattered just four hits, while striking out six.
Despite being outhit, 4-3, The Beach used four Cal Poly errors to pull out the win. Bree Stephan, Caitrin DeBaun and senior Jodi Nakawatase all found their way into the hit column for LBSU.
Long Beach State broke open the scoreless game in the bottom of the sixth. Stephan and Weber reached on back-to-back fielding errors before DeBaun advanced both runners with a ground ball to the right side. Christina Schallig then hit a grounder to third base, which was bobbled by CP’s Kendal Hennings, allowing Stephan to score.
Alisha Rosen pinch ran for Schallig and stole second on the first pitch. Rosen and Weber then crossed the plate on Henning’s third error of the inning. Nakawatase eventually drove in Nalani St. Germain with a bloop single down the left field line to account for the 49ers’ final run.
Long Beach State and Cal Poly will square off in the rubber game Sunday at the 49er Softball Complex. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.