The Long Beach State Dirtbags (3-16) got a leadoff home run from Riki DeSa at USC on Tuesday night, but the rest of the game belonged to the Trojans (8-11) as LBSU suffered a 5-2 loss at Dedeaux Field.
It was DeSa’s first career home run, and the junior transfer from Hawaii later added a single in his first start in the leadoff spot. Jacob Hughey walked and had an RBI double for his team-high 13th RBIs of the season. The Millikan High alum has driven in runs in four consecutive games collecting six RBIs in that span.
The annual nonconference series between the Dirtbags and Cal State Fullerton it at Bohl Diamond at Blair Field this weekend. CSUF is under .500 like the Dirtbags, but the Titans are still putting up good statistics with a .294 team batting average. The series is scheduled for 6 p.m.starts on Friday and Saturday, and concludes at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Men’s Volleyball
In its toughest test of the season, the No. 1-ranked Long Beach State men’s volleyball team battled back from down two sets to one against No. 3 UC Santa Barbara last week in a thriller in the Walter Pyramid in front of 1,500 fans. The match was a possible Final Four preview and an exhibition of two teams at the very top of the sport, with Long Beach up against the ropes before storming back to win a 22-25, 25-15, 26-28, 25-17, 15-11 thriller.
No. 1 Long Beach State Wins Five-Set Thriller Over No. 3 UCSB
LBSU is on the road Saturday for a rematch with No. 10 USC. At the end of January, LBSU used a season-high 13 aces and tough defense to beat USC at Walter Pyramid 25-17, 26-24, 19-25, 25-17.
Softball
LBSU got back to winning ways last weekend at the Easton Invitational hosted at Cal State Fullerton. The Beach (12-15) won four of their five games while only allowing three runs in the last nonconference tournament of the season. LBSU pitchers Ashley Coleman and Kellie White posted a combined 0.64 ERA over the weekend, and they both have a team-high 45 strikeouts this season. Offensively, Jamie Wren still leads LBSU with a .384 batting average as one of five players hitting over .300.
The Beach is back at home Saturday for the last nonconferece doubleheader of the season against Loyola Marymount. LBSU leads the all-time series with LMU 24-9 after winning nine of the last 10 meetings.
Women’s Water Polo
LBSU (13-10, 1-0) is also coming off of a great week that included a 15-6 win over Bucknell in the home opener at Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center, and a 10-8 win at Cal State Northridge in the Big West Conference opener. The Beach has now won seven consecutive games. Freshman Sarah Barker scored 10 goals in the three games last week.
LBSU is back at home on Thursday at 7 p.m. against Princeton. The Beach has won five of the six nonconference meetings with Princeton, and the Tigers haven’t beaten LBSU since 1999.
Beach Volleyball
LBSU (6-3) picked up a pair of sweeps against Irvine Valley and Missouri State last week to stay undefeated at home. Nicci Reinking and Zoi Konstantopoulou were dominant as the No. 1 duo for the Beach.
LBSU will be at Granda Beach on Belmont Shore for two matches on Friday, and two more on Saturday. The Beach will also face Nebraska, Stanford and Colorado Mesa.
Women’s Tennis
The Beach (8-1, 3-1) easily beat Youngstown State last week, but then lost to Houston over the weekend. LBSU is back in action at Rhodes Tennis Center on Thursday to host Hawaii in the first of three consecutive Big West matches in a 10-day span. The Beach leads the all-time series with Hawaii 17-11.
Track & Field
LBSU had representation at the Baldy Castillo Invitational and the Trojan Invitational last weekend. In Tempe, Courtne’ Davis finished second in the 100m. Ryan Coy placed second in the javelin at USC.
Women’s Golf
Junior Maria Davis shot a 2-under 70 in the final round of the Wildcat Invitational last week, while LBSU finished 10th overall in a stacked field.
