Long Beach State
Click to enlarge Cal Poly Falls to Long Beach State 5-2 in Series Finale
5/1/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
LONG BEACH, Calif. – Starter Ryan Strufing and two relievers combined to allow no earned runs as Long Beach State won its Big West Conference baseball series against Cal Poly with a 5-2 victory Sunday afternoon at Blair Field.
Strufing (3-1), a freshman left-hander, allowed one unearned run and four hits in 5 2/3 innings while Matt Johnson and Jon Maciel kept Cal Poly relatively quiet the rest of the way as Long Beach State improved to 22-19 overall and 8-7 in Big West games.
Cal Poly fell to 19-19 and 9-6, two games behind Cal State Fullerton in the Big West standings.
As it did in all three games of the series, Cal Poly jumped to a 1-0 lead, scoring in the second inning Sunday. Senior shortstop J.J. Thompson singled to left, took second on a passed ball, advanced to third on a fly ball to the outfield and scored on a safety squeeze bunt by Elliot Stewart.
Long Beach State countered with two runs in both the third and fourth innings for a 4-1 advantage.
Cal Poly had a chance to get back in the game in the seventh, scoring a run and having runners at second and third.
With the bases loaded and one out, Tim Wise grounded out to third base to push across the run and cut Long Beach State's lead to 4-2, but sophomore outfielder Mitch Haniger flied out to center field to end the threat.
After the 49ers scored a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to restore their three-run lead, Cal Poly also had two runners on base in the eighth, but a double play halted the rally.
Freshman right-hander Chase Johnson (1-4) suffered the loss, allowing three runs and four hits in 3 1/3 innings.
Cal Poly's eight hits included two singles by Thompson (pictured above) and a double by Stewart, his fourth two-bagger of the series. Haniger's 11-game hitting streak came to an end as he went 0-for-4.
Third baseman Mike Marjama had two of Long Beach State's 10 hits, giving him six hits in the series – two hits in each game. Brennan Metzger and Kirk Singer also had two hits each for the 49ers.
Cal Poly won the series opener Friday night, 10-0, while Long Beach State rallied for a 4-3 triumph Saturday night.
Cal Poly will host Saint Mary's (18-21) for a non-conference game Tuesday night at 6 in Baggett Stadium before resuming Big West play next weekend at UC Irvine.
