Dirtbags Drop 2 of 3 at Davis

Long Beach State (27-15, 9-6 Big West) lost a critical conference series this weekend. Recent D1 addition UC Davis stormed back against The Beach on Saturday and Sunday to salvage not only one win but a series victory as well.

Andrew Liebel got the Dirtbags off on the right track Friday afternoon with another tremendous performance. He went the distance for a complete game shutout. Long Beach won the game 6-0.

It was his first career shutout and he allowed just six hits while fanning six Aggies. Jason Corder led the way offensively in what has already become a breakout year for him. The RF smacked his 12th homer of the year in the first, finishing 3-5 with 2 RBI's.

Shane Petersen had four hits, Steve Tinoco added three and leadoff man Jonathan Jones had a pair en route to 15 hits on the afternoon.

A wild affair Saturday ended in a 5-4 defeat. Three 7th inning runs by Davis would prove to be enough to hold on to the lead. In the ninth, the Dirtbags left two guys on and had one thrown out trying to score from first on a double.

They scored two early runs on wild pitches. Danny Espinosa had two hits and so did Catcher Travis Howell.

Sunday's rubber game was another one-run loss for the Dirtbags. Jake Thompson pitched into the 7th leaving with a 2-0 lead.

Jason Corder had three more hits and plated both Dirtbag runs but couldn't come up with the biggest hit of all, striking out to end the game with the tying run in scoring position.

Closer Bryan Shaw came in to pitch the eighth in an attempt to get six outs for the save but gave up the three runs that would provide the margin of victory.

The Beach hosts Fresno State Tuesday night and UCSB this weekend.