Report by LBSU

A lone fifth-inning run was the difference Friday night as Stanford outlasted Long Beach State for a 3-2 victory Friday night. Derek Legg, on for Devin Lohman after the first inning, was 1-for-4 with an RBI single for the Dirtbags.

Stanford scored a pair of runs in the first inning on just one hit. Tyler Gaffney was hit by a pitch to start the game, and after a groundout, an infield single would score Gaffney after an error at second base. Then following another error on an attempt to get the lead runner, Stanford scored again after an attempt on the lead runner was ruled safe, and the Cardinal had a 2-0 lead.

Long Beach State would work to tie the game up in the next two innings. Jordan Casas worked a one-out walk in the second inning, and after advancing to second, scored on a base hit by TJ Mittelstaedt to cut the lead in half. The next inning, Derek Legg singled to score Kirk Singer, who had a base hit and stole second to tie the game. Two walks would load the bases, but with two outs, a strikeout ended the Dirtbags threat for the inning as well as for the rest of the game.

Andrew Gagnon, who settled down for six innings after the long first, had three strikeouts and scattered seven hits, but gave up one more run after three hits in the fifth inning before striking out Kenny Diekroeger and Zach Jones to end the inning.

After the third, the Dirtbags didn’t have much action offensively, as Cardinal starter finished with nine strikeouts, though he did give up five walks over six innings. Stanford then turned the ball over to Brian Busick, who earned his first save with three one-hit innings.

For Long Beach State, the Dirtbag bullpen also combined for three innings of scoreless ball, allowing just one hit from the seventh on. 

Long Beach State and Stanford return to Blair Field tomorrow for game two of the three-game series. First pitch has been changed from the ordinary start time to a special one of 2 p.m., which will be the case on both May 8 and May 15.