TJ Mittelstaedt hit two home runs to lead the 49ers as Long Beach State started their Northern California road trip in impressive fashion, pounding out a 14-4 win over Santa Clara.
Jason Markovitz earned the win in his first start of the year, as the reliever turned starter pitched three scoreless innings in the longest outing of his career.
Long Beach State got out to a quick start in the first inning, as Jonathan Jones and Jordan Casas began the game with back-to-back singles. Devin Lohman would then drive in the first run of the game after groundout.
Santa Clara had an opportunity to tie the game in the second inning, starting off the frame with back-to-back doubles to put two players in scoring position. A flyout to right field by Chris Morton appeared to do the job, but after an appeal to third base, it was determined that Brady Fuerst left early. Markovitz then followed with the third out to keep the lead at 1-0.
After scoring an unearned run in the third, Long Beach State broke out with their biggest inning of the year in the fourth. The Dirtbags began the inning by getting five singles from their first six batters, and then after a second out, TJ Mittelstaedt capped the inning with a three-run homer to right field. The Dirtbags finished the inning with a 9-0 lead, having scored seven runs in the fourth.
The teams traded solo runs in the fifth inning, and while Santa Clara continued to nibble at the lead. However, after putting zeroes up for three innings, Long Beach State dialed in on reliever Paul Twining. Mittelstaedt started the fireworks with his second home run, followed by a second homer by Rylan Sandoval. After a hard hit single by Derek Legg, Brennan Metzger hit a third home run in four batters to put the game out of reach.
The Dirtbags continue their spring break road trip tomorrow, taking on Cal for a second mid-week game. That game time has been moved to 2:30 p.m. in Berkeley, Calif.
Report By LBSU