From LBSU reports
The Long Beach State softball team opened its season on Friday at the Cathedral City Tournament. The 49ers, ranked No. 20 in the nation in an ESPN.com/USA Softball preseason poll, dropped both games of the doubleheader at Big League Dreams Ball Park. They fell first to the No. 22 Georgia Bulldogs, 10-6, and, in their second game of the day, the 49ers dropped a 7-1 decision to Southern Illinois.
In the opener, sophomore Brooke Turner pitched 6.1 innings with only seven strikeouts. Sarah McCloud, who came in to pitch 3.0 innings of relief for Georgia, is credited with the win for the Bulldogs.
Junior Ashley Weber led the 49er offense with two hits, two RBI and one run scored. Senior Brianna Goad also had a good day at the plate, going 2-for-3, while classmates Jennifer Griffin and Danielle Linke had a solo home run each.
The 49ers took a 5-3 lead into the final inning before Georgia erupted for seven runs. LBSU was able to retire the first batter, but the Bulldogs then loaded the bases for Kristin Schnake, who delivered a two-run double to right to tie the game. Alisa Goler followed with another two-run double, giving UGA a 7-5 advantage. The Bulldogs added three more runs in the inning, with two coming off the bat of Megan Wiggins, who homered to right field.
Long Beach State attempted a comeback of its own in the bottom half of the inning as Weber led off with a double. After Griffin flied out, the 49ers had three consecutive singles with senior Jonae Perez driving in Weber. Georgia was able to retire the next two batters, however, holding on for the 10-6 victory.
UGA dented the scoreboard first, taking a 1-0 lead on an RBI double by Wiggins. Long Beach State responded in the bottom of the third with a pair of home runs from Linke and Griffin, but the Bulldogs eventually evened the score at 2-2 with a solo shot by Brianna Hesson.
The 49ers’ big inning came in the bottom of the fourth. After loading the bases with one out, Goad singled in the go-ahead run and the bases remained full. Georgia got a second out in the inning by going to the plate on a fielder’s choice, but Weber then smacked a two-run single to left to extend the advantage to 5-2. Georgia closed the gap to 5-3 with a home run from Goler in the sixth.
Against Southern Illinois, junior Bridgette Pagano recorded a career-high nine strikeouts but gave up seven earned runs on 11 hits in 6.2 innings pitched. Danielle Glosson earned the victory for the Salukis as she went the distance, striking out eight.
Linke went 3-for-4 at the plate and had the 49ers’ lone RBI, while junior Ashley Levine added a pair of hits.
The game started off as a pitchers’ duel as the two teams went through four scoreless innings before the Salukis put up two runs with a pair of RBI singles. The Beach responded in the sixth inning when Linke drove in freshman Alisha Rosen, who was pinch-running for Levine, with a two-out single.
With a 2-1 lead, Southern Illinois scored five runs in the top of the seventh to run away with the 7-1 victory.
Long Beach State will continue play at the Cathedral City Kickoff on Saturday with an evening doubleheader. The 49ers are slated to take on Wisconsin at 5:30 p.m. and Illinois at 8 p.m.