The Dirtbags took two out of three from nationally ranked Rice over the weekend, winning the first two in dramatic fashion at Blair Field. In the opener, the billing of a pitcher's duel more than lived up to the hype. Andrew Liebel went eight innings, surrendering just five hits. He struck out 11 while walking only one. Most importantly he kept Rice off the scoreboard. Equally impressive reigning National Freshman Pitcher of the Year Ryan Berry threw seven shutout innings while fanning 8 Dirtbags. Danny Espinosa's two-out bases loaded single brought home the winning run in the 10th to give the Dirtbags an exciting 1-0 victory. Saturday brought much of the same drama as the night before. A close, low scoring game was once again the theme. Led again by Espinosa, who attacked the first pitch for the game winner on Friday, rocked the first pitch he saw in the third inning to put Long Beach up 2-0. Freshman Devin Lohman singled in the go ahead run in the eighth and the score held with the Dirtbags starting the season off well by posting back-to-back victories.
The Owls, led by a strong performance on the bump from Matt Langwell, avoided the sweep Sunday at Blair Field by eking out another barnburner, 3-1. Zach Barger's solo home run was the lone Dirtbag tally. Rice took a 2-0 lead with two unearned runs in the fourth, and failed to relinquish the lead after that.
Long Beach hosts San Diego tonight at Blair Field at 6:30 pm. The Shockers of Wichita State join the Dirtbags for a three game set Friday-Sunday.
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