Reports From LBSU
Junior Jonathan Jones went 4-for-5 with a double and a home run for Long Beach State, but a deep 7-0 early hole was too much for the Dirtbags to overcome in a 10-8 loss in the series finale.
C.J. Belanger started off the scoring for Cal State Northridge (28-23, 9-12) in the first inning, as the senior hit a solo home run to get the Matadors on the board against freshman Eddie Magallon, who was making his first weekend start of the season for Long Beach State (22-29, 7-14)
Alex Muren started off the second inning with a double for CS Northridge, and after a single and a walk loaded the bases, Dominic Piazza drove in a run on a groundout to bring across the first run of the inning. The Matadors scored two more in the inning to take a 4-0 lead.
Back-to-back singles in the fourth inning by Belanger and Ryan Pineda brought home three more runs for the Matadors as Cal State Northridge took a 7-0 lead through four innings.
Long Beach State stormed back in the fifth inning. After only managing one hit against Matador starter Ryan Pineda over the first four innings, the Dirtbags pounded out seven total in the fifth, starting with a single by Joey Terdoslavich. With two runners on, Jacob Lollar’s first career hit, a double scored the team’s first run, and that was followed by singles from Tre Dennis and Joel Thys to cut the lead to 7-4. One more single from Brennan Metzger brought home Thys as the Dirtbags cut the lead back to two at 7-5.
CS Northridge continued to have answers for the Long Beach State threats however, scoring again in the bottom of the fifth, seventh and eighth innings. The Dirtbags loaded the bases in the seventh down three at 9-6, but couldn’t break through with a final big hit to get going.
Finally in the ninth, CSUN closer Jimmy Jolicoeur plunked Brennan Metzger and then surrendered a homer to Jones as Long Beach State started the final inning with a bang. The senior was able to get the next three outs however to earn a 2.2 inning save, his fourth of the season and close out the win for CS Northridge.
Long Beach State finishes the season next week with four home games. The Dirtbags start the stretch by hosting Pepperdine on Tuesday, May 25. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Blair Field.