There is a saying in baseball: the worst part and best part is you get to play every day, which gives you plenty of chances for your momentum to swing…for better, or worse. While the Long Beach State softball team may not play “every day”, they have gone from a nine-game winning streak ripping opposing pitching, to a current two-game losing streak in the span of 24 hours, where they can’t buy a hit with runners on base. Good thing is the ‘Niners play again today, twice, for a chance to fix their hitting woes.
The Beach had only three hits and stranded eight runners in their 3-0 loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes Saturday in day two of the Long Beach State Invitational at Mayfair Park. It was an opportunity for the ‘Niners to avenge their season ending 5-2 loss to Iowa in Iowa City in their NCAA Regional bracket last May.
“I was a little disappointed in how we came out,” head coach Kim Sowder said. “We talked about (the loss at Iowa) and we really wanted to play better. We had them here at home but for some reason we didn’t come out attacking.”
Freshman Taylor Petty (6-1) got her first loss of her young ‘Niner career, scattering nine hits in seven innings of work, striking out six. Petty was still impressive, unfazed by the unfamiliar site of runners crossing the plate. She was very effective working the lower strike zone, using her riseball as her out-pitch and wasn’t afraid to go inside against a lineup that had five hitters enter the game hitting over .300.
Instead Amanda Zust got the win for Iowa with Hawkeye’s ace Brittany Weil getting the save.
“Taylor pitched well,” said head coach Kim Sowder. “Well enough to win. She is not going to shut every team out every week, though she’s pretty much done that up until this point.”
Petty had an impressive streak snapped in fourth inning when Iowa’s pinch hitter Katie Keim lifted a two-out single to left bringing in Rachel West and Chelsey Carmody. Petty had not allowed an earned run in 38 2/3 innings leading up to that at bat. Iowa would then add a run in the seventh when Liz Watkins doubled to deep center and scored on a single from Erin Riemersma.
But the story of the game was Long Beach State’s inability to get the clutch hit, for the second consecutive day. The ‘Niners left the bases loaded in the second and third inning, both times hitting soft rollers to the pitcher. Though the Beach has shown the ability to come back in the past, it didn’t happen Saturday morning at Lisa Fernandez Field. ‘Niner hitters were 0-for-14 with three walks and four strike outs after Iowa scored in the fourth.
Junior transfer from St. John Brandy Reyes has done a great job behind the plate with Petty. The lefty-catcher, a sport rarity, has been alternating the catching and designated player spot with the team’s leading hitter, junior and two-time Big West Player of the Week Kristen Pocock. Since the ‘Niners got back from road, Reyes has at least one hit in all but one game (their 4-0 win versus Longwood Friday morning) played at Mayfair Park. This includes her first home run in the black and gold against Florida International Friday afternoon. Reyes got on base in all three of her at-bats Saturday, with a single in the second inning and two walks on full counts in the third and sixth. She was stranded on third in the second, when the Beach had bases loaded with one out and couldn’t score. But she remains optimistic the team can reach the potential they have flashed in previous games.
“We know we’re a good team,” Reyes said. “We’ll get it—well get it all together.”
This is the fourth time this season Long Beach State has lost back-to-back games—so far they’ve rebounded with a win. Look for the ‘Niners to bounce back today when they face no.4 UCLA at 1:30pm and Syracuse at 3:45pm, at Mayfair Park.
Facing UCLA will give Long Beach State the chance to knockoff a top-5 team for the second year in a row. Last season the Beach beat then no.5 Florida at home in the 49er Softball Complex.