Saturday’s game featured freshman Jeff McNeil with a pair of hits for Long Beach State, finishing the day two-for-three with a walk, but Stanford starter Jordan Pries had the Dirtbags’ number, allowing only an unearned run over seven innings.
The Cardinal got off to an early start by scoring a pair of runs in the first inning. Jake Stewart led off the bottom half of the inning with a hit, and after a grounder moved him over, a Kenny Diekroeger single brought home the first run of the game. An RBI single from Brian Ragira then scored Diekroeger as the Cardinal took a 2-0 lead.
Branden Pinder settled down at that point, working three scoreless innings, and the Dirtbags cut the lead in half in the fourth inning. Michael Hill scorched a comebacker that hit Pries in the back and an overthrow that was late to first, allowing Hill to advanced to second. Hill would then advance on a grounder and a wild pitch to cut the lead to 2-1.
Stanford’s big inning came in the fifth, however. After a leadoff double by Zach Jones, an error by Matt Duffy put runners on the corners with two outs. Another RBI single by Diekroeger gave the Cardinal an insurance run. Then, with runners on second and third with two outs, Tyler Gaffney doubled to put the Cardinal in front 5-1.
Stanford added a solo run in the eighth inning, extra insurance for a Cardinal staff that held Long Beach State to one hit from the sixth inning on.
When the Dirtbags returned Sunday to the Sunken Diamond, spirits were high that they’d take the Cardinal, and it appeared that it would happen that way when Brennan Metzger started off the game with a double as the Dirtbags stormed out to a 4-0 lead, but the No. 12 Cardinal came all the way back and downed Long Beach State 6-5 in the third game of the series.
Long Beach State tallied up 11 hits as Metzger, Kirk Singer and Hill each had three hits, but the Dirtbags ended up with nine runners left on base, and committed three errors that doomed the team’s chances at the upset.
The game could not have started better for the Dirtbags, as Long Beach State jumped all over Stanford starter Dean McArdle. Metzger’s double was followed by a sacrifice bunt from Matt Hibbert, and Ino Patron doubled to get Long Beach State on the board 1-0.
Back-to-back singles from Mike Marjama and Matt Duffy brought home Patron while keeping the rally going, and Hill and Singer both added RBI singles before McArdle was taken out, having given up six hits and four runs, all earned.
The Cardinal loaded the bases with no outs in the second, but Long Beach State held the damage to a solo run. Stanford’s comeback was completed in the third inning. A one-out walk to Jake Stewart was followed by two singles, loading the bases once more, and a two-run single from Stephen Piscotty cut the lead to one. The Cardinal then scored two more runs on consecutive Long Beach State errors, taking the lead at 5-4.
The Dirtbags tied the score in the top of the sixth inning. A.J. Vanegas, who had pitched 4.1 innings in relief, gave a double to Kirk Singer to start the inning. Singer, after being pushed to third base, scored on an RBI single by Metzger to tie the game at 5-5. A double play got the Cardinal out of the inning however, and Stanford scored an unearned run in the bottom half of the inning to regain a one-run advantage.
Stanford closer Chris Reed ended Long Beach State’s best opportunity, striking out Juan Avila with one out and a runner on third. He finished the rest of the game, striking out four and not allowing a hit over the last 2.2 innings.
Long Beach State begins Big West play this weekend, heading back up to Northern California for a three-game series beginning Friday.