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LBSU
finishes regular season with sweep over
Highlanders
By
Matt Pearson
Daily Forty-Niner
Sports Editor
The
No. 24-ranked Long Beach State 49ers
softball team put the finishing touches
on their Big West championship season
with a three-game sweep of the UC Riverside
Highlanders.
The
Beach finished with a record of 39-14,
19-2 Big West. This is the best conference
record in school history and LBSU has
posted a 54-8 record in conference play
since 2003.
On
May 13, the 49ers began their final regular-season
series of the 2005 campaign by defeating
UCR 5-3, and then again 3-2.
In
the first game, the contest remained
scoreless until the fifth inning when
UCR struck first to go up 2-0. But LBSU
promptly came back with a run in the
sixth, courtesy of a sacrifice fly by
freshman Jonae Perez that scored freshman
second Jessica Beaver.
But
the Highlanders pushed the lead to 3-1
in the bottom half of the inning when
Jennifer Thompson singled home Mandi
Salcido. But that would be the last run
for UCR.
The
Beach came back with two runs to tie
the game in the seventh, 3-3. With one
out, sophomore left fielder Kourtnee
Gervasi ripped a double down the left
field line. After senior center fielder
Lauren Johnson and Beaver walked to load
the bases, senior Oli Keohohou singled
to score Gervasi. Senior Marcel Torres
then reached on an error to score Johnson
to tie the game.
LBSU
took the lead in the seventh when junior
third baseman Melanie McCauley doubled
to score freshman shortstop Lacy Tyler.
Senior Melissa Backstrom added an RBI-single
that scored McCauley to give The Beach
a 5-3 lead they did not relinquish.
Senior
pitcher Meredith Cervenka improved her
record to 23-8 despite giving up a season-high
11 hits.
A
leadoff home run by Johnson along with
two more runs in the sixth inning was
all it took as LBSU held on for a 3-2
win in game two.
Torres
(15-6) allowed two runs on nine hits
to go along with five strikeouts to pick
up the win.
Despite
losing senior pitchers Cervenka and Torres
at the end of this season, freshman pitcher
Jennifer Martinez showed that LBSU still
has a bright future by pitching a three-hit
shutout for her first career win.
LBSU
got on the board quickly in the first
inning when Keohohu hit a sacrifice fly
to score Johnson from third. Beaver then
scored when Torres reached on a fielder's
choice to give The Beach a 2-0 lead.
Beaver
increased the lead with a solo homer
in the third and McCauley singled home
Tyler in the fifth to increase the lead
4-0 in the fifth. Tyler connected for
her fourth homer of the year in the seventh
to seal the 5-0 victory.
Cervenka
and Torres were both named the 2005 Big
West Conference Co-Pitchers of the Year
for second straight season Tuesday. And
Jonae Perez was named the Big West Conference
Freshman Field Player of the Year.
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