So-Cal native Shane Peterson hit for the cycle and drove in five runs as No. 25-ranked Long Beach State (20-14) crushed visiting No. 32-ranked Pepperdine (23-12), 10-0 on Tuesday evening paced by 14 hits. Peterson went 4-for-4 with five RBIs and a walk, while Jonathan Jones, Steve Tinoco and Robert Burk added two hits a piece.

Peterson’s night is the first known cycle in Dirtbag and maybe 49er history.

Peterson completed the cycle with a double down the right field line to score two in the sixth. He started the night with a two-run opposite field home run in the first, added an RBI triple to center in the third and had an infield single in the fourth.

Brett Lorin (2-2) pitched the first five shutout innings, striking out five, while walking two. He scattered four hits on 99 pitches. Lorin, David Roberts, Nick Vincent and Bryan Shaw combined on a six-hitter.

The last time Lorin won, on March 24 against Harvard, LBSU was 17-3, prior to losing at Pepperdine the next day. Since then they have lost 11 of 13 prior to tonight’s win. It was also the last the team hit double digits.

The Dirtbags went up 3-0 in the first inning, paced by a sacrifice fly by Jason Corder, followed by a two-run home run by Peterson (3).

Long Beach State then added to four runs in the third off of two Pepperdine pitchers to lead 7-0. After Robert Dickman (3-4) gave up a single, followed by an RBI triple by Peterson, reliever Jonathan Harmston walked three straight to make it 5-0, before a two-run single by Robert Burk made it 7-0.

Dickman gave up the first five runs on seven hits.

LBSU embarks on a four-game road trip beginning with a three-game trek to CS Northridge starting on Friday.

WOMENS WATER POLO
Long Beach State senior Dayna Wawrzynski was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation co-Player of the Week following 16 goals over four games, and four wins last week.

Wawrzynksi started her week with four goals in the team’s upset of No. 4-ranked Hawaii. She went to work early giving the 49ers and early 2-0 lead, before her final goal, in the fourth quarter, put LBSU up 10-8 en route to the 10-9 upset.

On Sunday, Wawrzynski tallied 12 goals over wins against Claremont-Mudd, Pomona-Pitzer and Sonoma State. In the final game of the day, she had five scores against Sonoma State, after beginning the day with four against Claremont-Mudd.

Wawrzynski, who had just 23 career goals coming into this season, leads the club with 59 goals this season. She has scored in each of the last 11 contests, as the season total is sixth-best during a single season at LBSU

Wawrzynski, along with Geraldine DiTommaso, Brittany Thornback and Rachelle Denaro, will play her final two home matches this week, against UC Irvine in a rare 7 p.m. start on Thursday, before the 49ers (15-13), winners of four-straight, host USC on Saturday at noon.

The 49ers, who sit in ninth place in the standings, can move up to eighth with a win over UCI on Thursday. They finished last year’s regular season in 10th place. The MPSF Tournament starts on April 24 in San Diego.

Goalie Kristen Stragier, who has 243 saves this season, is one save away from the all-time single-season record, set by Bri Hawkins in 2005. Stragier has saved over 10 shots, 10 times this season.

MENS VOLLEYBALL
Sophomore Dean Bittner, a Lakewood native, was selected on Monday as the Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week. This is the second time he has won this honor, with the first coming on March 24. Bittner led the 49ers to two road wins this week and a first place finish in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

He averaged 5.83 kills and 1.17 blocks per game while hitting an impressive .500 in the two wins. He was outstanding in Saturday’s sweep at CS Northridge with 22 kills and a .645 (22-2-31) hitting percentage. Friday at UCSB he tallied 13 kills and five blocks while hitting .333. He was also selected as the Molten/MPSF Player of the Week, the third time he has won the conference honor.

The 49ers finished the regular season at 23-5 and will be the No. 1 seed in the MPSF Tournament, April 24 & 26 at the Walter Pyramid.

Tickets for the tournament can be purchased through the Walter Pyramid Box Office at (562) 985-4949 or you can order tickets on-line at www.longbeachstate.cstv.com.

Information provided by longbeachstate.com