April 27, 2007

Box Score

Stockton, Calif. - The Pacific Tigers gave up a 6-4 lead in the late innings as Pacific fell to No. 28 Long Beach State on Friday, April 27.

With the loss the Tigers fell to 10-32-1 on the season and 0-10 in the Big West Conference. Long Beach State, meanwhile, moved to 25-14 overall and 5-2 in conference play.

The 49ers got on the board first in the top of the first inning with two runs on a leadoff single, a hit batter, a walk and a sacrifice fly.

Pacific came right back in the bottom of the first with three hits, a walk and a fortunate Long Beach State error.

Sophomore Joe Oliveira (San Diego, Calif.) led off the first with a single through the right side. Sophomore Zach Chamberlin (San Rafael, Calif.) followed with a single up the middle, then junior Justin Baum (La Mesa, Calif.) drew a walk to load the bases with no outs. Following a strikeout by sophomore Curt Wideman (Fallbrook, Calif.), junior Greg Murray (El Cerrito, Calif.) blooped a single to left-center to drive home Oliveira.

Trailing 2-1 with the bases still loaded, junior John Joines (Milpitas, Calif.) bounced a ball toward 49er shortstop Danny Espinosa. Second baseman Matt Cline misplayed Espinosa's throw allowing the ball to go into right field, and give the Tigers a 3-2 lead.

Pacific added another run in the bottom of the second as junior Denis Hill (Pleasant Hill, Calif.) walked, moved to second as Oliveira reached on an error, then took third when Chamberlin bounced into a double play. Long Beach State starter Shane Peterson balked Hill home to make it a 4-2 contest.

The Dirtbags tied the game in the top of the third inning as Shane Peterson and Robert Perry each delivered RBI doubles to knot the game at 4-4.

Pacific reclaimed their two-run lead with single runs in the bottom of the fourth and the bottom of the fifth. Senior Clint Eastman (Pleasanton, Calif.) scored the go ahead run in the fourth as he walked and eventually scored on an RBI ground-out by Chamberlin. The Tigers' run in the fifth saw Murray draw a one-out walk, move to second on a single by freshman Matt Fuson (Lodi, Calif.) and score on two wild pitches.

The Tigers bullpen, however, could not hold the 6-4 lead as Long Beach State scored four runs in the final three frames to take the 8-6 contest.

Long Beach State reliever Adam Wilk (3-0) picked up the win as he tossed two innings of hitless relief.

Pacific freshman David Rowse (Pleasanton, Calif.) suffered the loss (2-6) as he allowed two runs on one hit and a hit batter in 1.1 innings of relief.

Jeff Shaw earned his eighth save of the season by not allowing a run in 1.1 innings of work

Pacific and Long Beach State will continue their three-game series on Saturday, April 28 at 1 p.m. Senior Curtis Pasma (Madera, Calif.) is scheduled to start for the Tigers, while Andrew Libel takes the mound for the Dirtbags.