11:50am | Long Beach State got out to a quick start Saturday behind four hits from sophomore Matt Duffy, and Matt Johnson finished the game on the other end with 4.2 innings of one-hit relief as the Dirtbags defeated UC Riverside 7-5.

The Dirtbags (18-15) had one of their best offensive nights of the season, pushing across seven runs on 14 hits in support of Johnson and starting pitcher Shaun Stuart. Stuart struggled in the first inning, giving up four straight hits to start the game, but the Dirtbags caught the first runner stealing second and exited the inning with just the lone run to UC Riverside (15-14).

In the bottom half of the first, Duffy cracked the first of his four singles as the sophomore served as the leadoff batter for the first time all season. Jeff McNeil beat out a sacrifice, and Duffy advanced to third on a wild throw, coming home on an RBI groundout to tie the game.

Long Beach State added to their lead in the second. Juan Avila was plunked to start the inning and scored on a triple from Michael Hill as the Dirtbags took the lead. A wild pitch then scored Hill, and LBSU added one more run in the third to take a 4-1 lead.

 Stuart, who had gotten off to such a slow start, settled down, striking out eight batters before running into more trouble in the top of the fifth. Trevor Hairgrove started out the inning with a hit, and after an error on a sacrifice attempt, a single by Justin Shults and a triple from David Andriese tied the game at four, bringing home three runs.

The Dirtbags answered back in the bottom of the next inning, however. Matt Hibbert lined the first of two doubles into left field, and Duffy singled to put runners on the corners. McNeil then lifted a sacrifice fly into left field. Ino Patron, Mike Marjama and Jeff Yamaguchi followed with a trio of singles to give Long Beach State a 7-4 lead.

Johnson allowed a hit to the first Highlander batter in the sixth, who would come around to score with some small ball. Johnson did not allow another hit over the final four innings, collecting his second win of the year.      

The Dirtbags host UCR on Sunday for the final game of the series, with freshman Ryan Strufing starting.