Report by LBSU

Long Beach State leaned on strong outings from Jake Thompson and Branden Pinder, as both starters went seven innings to help the Dirtbags sweep No. 9 Oregon State on Saturday 7-1 and 8-4. The sweep gave Long Beach State its third consecutive weekend series win.

Playing a doubleheader Saturday to avoid potential heavy rains in the Corvallis area, Long Beach State shook off a poor performance on Friday in a pair of wins to take the series.

In game one, Long Beach State took an early 1-0 lead after Juan Avila scored on an RBI single by Steve Tinoco with the bases loaded. Oregon State tied the game with a run in the bottom of the first, but the Dirtbags regained the lead after a solo home run by Kirk Singer, and the Dirtbags turned to Jake Thompson.

Thompson turned in six scoreless innings after the lone run in the first, and staked Long Beach State to a 4-1 lead after the Dirtbags added two more in the fourth with a sacrifice fly from Devin Lohman and an RBI double from Avila. With that lead, the Dirtbags added three more runs in the late innings, while Jason Markovitz shut down the Beavers with two hitless innings to take a 7-1 win.

In game two, the Dirtbags took the momentum from the game one win and jumped all over Oregon State starter Tyler Waldron. Brennan Metzger started off the day with a double, and Tre Dennis started with a walk. Waldron picked up one out, but Joey Terdoslavich singled, TJ Mittelstaedt walked, and after a sacrifice fly from Tinoco, an RBI single by Legg chased the Beaver starter from the game. Singer and Joel Thys followed with back-to-back singles as Long Beach State put up a five-spot in the first.

Terdoslavich hit a solo home run to give the Dirtbags a 6-0 lead in the second inning, and that was more than enough room for Pinder. The sophomore starter, pushed up from a scheduled Sunday start, followed Thompson’s seven strikeout, seven inning start with seven innings of his own., striking out four and allowing two runs as he left with the Dirtbags out front 7-2.

Markovitz and David Brown combined to finish out the last two innings of the second game, completing the sweep as the Dirtbags closed out the day winning 8-4.

In all, Long Beach State picked up 28 hits and 15 runs between the two games, led by Lohman and Tinoco who each had five hits.

Next up for Long Beach State is the beginning of Big West conference play, as the Dirtbags host Pacific for three games beginning on Thursday, April 1. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Blair Field.