A two-out solo home run in the 11th inning proved to be the difference at Bohl Diamond at Blair Field on Sunday as Xavier salvaged a 2-1 win from the weekend series. The No. 17 Long Beach State Dirtbags won the first two games.
“We have a lot of work to do,” Dirtbags coach Eric Valenzuela said. “That was our worst loss of the year, by far, but we’re not going to harp on it. I just think we’ve got guys pressing.”
The Dirtbags (10-5) struggled offensively again with 10 men stranded on base and failed to score in the final eight innings while freshman pitcher Luis Ramirez scattered five hits and three walks in a career-high eight innings.
Xavier (5-9) tied the game in the fourth inning with a triple and an RBI single, and then won it on Garrett Schultz’s home run to left field. Starting pitchers Xander Rojahn and Jack Lynch combined for nine innings of five-hit baseball with six strikeouts.
LBSU took the lead in the bottom of the third inning on an RBI single by Tyler Porter with the bases loaded. That scored Connor Kokx from third while Leonard Jones was thrown out at the plate on the play.
Freshman Devereaux Harrison worked the final three innings, piling up five strikeouts, but he was burned by a solo home run in the 11th and suffered his first loss.
The first weekend road trip of the season is a big one as the Dirtbags visit New Orleans to take on the Tulane (13-2).
“We have to get back on track,” Valenzuela said. “We need a good week of practice with no midweek game.”
