– Photo By David Cohen, BHEphotos
Long Beach State 7 San Diego State 4
LONG BEACH, Calif. – In a must-win situation on Sunday afternoon, the Dirtbags came through with a 7-4 victory over San Diego State (42-21) to stay alive in the Long Beach Regional. Long Beach State (39-18-1) fell behind 2-0 in the first, but scored five unanswered runs and held on for the win. LBSU will have a rematch with Texas at 7 p.m., looking to force a winner-take-all championship game on Monday night.
Jarren Duran had a pair of RBIs, Daniel Jackson had three hits, and Lucas Tancas also recorded a multi-hit game as the top of the order was strong. Those three batters combined to hit .500 in the game, scoring three runs and driving in three. Luke Rasmussen had a pair of runs scored to pace the offense in that category.
John Sheaks picked up the win, going 6.0 innings allowing four runs on eight hits, including a two-run home run in the first inning. He settled in nicely, however, posting five straight scoreless innings to allow the Dirtbags to take the lead.
Long Beach State 4 Texas 3
LONG BEACH, Calif. – Blair Field had the best show in town on Sunday night as Long Beach State (40-18-1) and Texas (39-23) played another terrific baseball game at the Long Beach Regional. The Dirtbags were able to pull out a 4-3 win to keep their season alive, setting up a winner-take-all Game 7 on Monday at 8 p.m. The win was Long Beach State’s second of the day, and gives the Dirtbags 40 wins in a season for the first time since 2004.
Redshirt sophomore Tyler Radcliffe was called on to make his first career start for the Dirtbags, and delivered a terrific performance. The Long Beach native set new career highs in innings pitched (5.0) and strikeouts (7) to put Long Beach State in a position to win. Radcliffe didn’t walk a batter and allowed two runs on five hits.
