12:15pm | The Dirtbags were swept in a series for the first time all season, as Long Beach State lost an early lead to Arizona State and ultimately fell 17-9 on Sunday afternoon. Brennan Metzger was 4-for-4 with a triple on Sunday.
 
Jeff McNeil led off the game with a base hit for Long Beach State (23-22), and after moving to second a sacrifice, scored on a double by Mike Marjama to give the Dirtbags a lead. The Dirtbags held the Sun Devils off of the board in the first inning, moving to the second with a 1-0 lead.

Arizona State (35-11) took the lead in the bottom of the second, scoring a pair of runs on four hits after hitting three singles to start the inning. Long Beach State battled back through, scoring a run on a Johnny Bekakis sacrifice fly after Matt Duffy singled to start the inning and moved to third on a failed pickoff and a balk.

The game fell out of the Dirtbags’ reach in the fourth inning. Tied 2-2, Strufing got the first two outs of the inning, but plunked Xorge Carillo, and an error on shortstop Michael Hill allowed the inning to continue. The Sun Devils scored three unearned runs to take a 5-2 lead..

ASU’s Joey DeMichele led off the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run, and with two runners on, Andy Workman hit the first of two home runs, giving ASU a 9-2.

Arizona State added two more runs on Workman’s second home run in the sixth inning and capitalized on two additional Long Beach State errors in the eighth inning before securing six more runs.

The Dirtbags cut into the lead in the top of the ninth. ASU reliever Josh Moody loaded the bases with no outs and then gave up back-to-back doubles by Matt Hibbert and Bekakis, scoring four runs. Long Beach State added two more off of Trevor Williams, but the Sun Devils eventually closed the door on the rally.

Long Beach State faces another Pac-10 opponent in its return to Blair Field, hosting No. 13 UCLA on Tuesday, May 10, at 6:30 p.m.