10:54am | Down 6-1 in the bottom of the ninth inning, Long Beach State clawed back to score five runs and send Saturday’s contest with Oregon into extra innings before freshman Jeff Yamaguchi completed the job, knocking in fellow freshman Ino Patron, who doubled to start the 12th inning.

Oregon struck first, as the Dirtbags and Ducks moved through the first two innings with no score. KC Serna reached with one out in the third, and stole both second and third, coming home on a RBI single by Jack Marder. A second single by Tyler Kuresa brought home two more runs as the Ducks took a 3-0 lead.

The Ducks added two more runs in the fifth inning courtesy of a pair of Dirtbag errors, as Kuresa reached on a dropped fly after a hit batter. Both runs would come around to score after a throwing error and a single by Ryan Hambright.

The Dirtbags got on the board in the sixth inning, as starter Madison Boer walked back-to-back batters to start the inning. Brennan Fulkerson pushed over both Royce Murai and Brennan Metzger, and then Matt Duffy popped a single into no-man’s land in shallow right field to score Murai. The RBI was Duffy’s seventh of the year, leading the team.

Boer left the game having put together an outstanding start, allowing one run on three hits with four strikeouts and left the game with a 5-1 lead. Long Beach State would turn on the heroics once more in the ninth inning.

After the Ducks added another unearned run in the top of the ninth, the Dirtbags mounted a late rally. Mike Marjama started the inning by sliding under a tag on a throw wide of first base, and that was followed by a slew of gutsy moves from the Dirtbags.

Patron singled through the right side to put runners on the corners, and Michael Hill, making his first appearance of the season, doubled to bring home both runs and get the Dirtbags started, cutting the lead to 6-3. A passed ball moved Hill’s replacement on the bases, Juan Avila to third, and after a walk to Jake Stassi, a wild pitch brought home Avila and moved Stassi to scoring position.

Brent Tani singled to score Stassi and bring the Dirtbags within one with the top of the lineup coming up. Metzger was hit by a pitch to move the tying run into scoring position, and then, on a groundout by Bekakis, a hard slide by Metzger kept the game alive for the Dirtbags by breaking up the double play that would have ended it. Jeff McNeil, pinch running for Tani, then came home on another wild pitch to tie the game at 6-6 and send it to extra innings.

In the extra frames, Nate Underwood and Kyle Friedrichs combined for three scoreless innings. In the 12th inning, Patron stretched a base hit into left into a double with one out to give Long Beach State a chance. Yamaguchi then came through with a base hit, and Patron scored on the play to end the thrilling comeback victory.

The final game of the series is set for today, with first pitch scheduled at 12:30 p.m. in Blair Field. Shaun Stewart will start for Long Beach State against Oregon’s Christian Jones.