The 49ers played "little ball" Tuesday afternoon to eliminate
Miami 6-3 and advance to the semi-finals of the College World
Series in Omaha, Neb.
The victory avenged an opening round loss to the second-seeded Hurricanes in the double elimination tournament.
Long Beach State scored three runs in the ninth despite no extra base hits and only two balls getting out of the infield. The decisive blow was a two-run single by Chuck Lopez to give the 49ers a 5-3 lead. Terrmel Sledge then scored on a wild pitch to provide the final score.
Strong pitching enabled the 49ers to come back for the second time in three days.
Miami's potent offense was held to just seven hits allowing the team to overcome a 3-2 deficit after five innings. The Dirtbags came back from a 4-1 disadvantage Sunday against Florida State.
Mike Hota and Justin Hall collected three hits apiece for the
49ers. Hall connected on his seventh home run of the season in the second inning off Miami starter Darryl Roque. Collectively, the team pounded out 14 hits.
According to President Robert Maxson, the Dirtbags gave a "gutsy, gutsy effort" and Head Coach Dave Snow gave one of his greatest coaching performances. "I thought it was one of the most thrilling victories ever by a Long Beach State baseball team," Maxson said. "Snow is the best college baseball coach in America having beaten a team that was previously the top-ranked team in college baseball."
Maxson had to miss the 49ers win because he had to attend an awards ceremony to honor staff members at Cal State Long Beach, but he watched the excitement of the game play out in his office television.
"I thought being back to present these awards was so important that I had to fly back," he said. However, Maxson said that he will fly back to Omaha if the 49ers advance past Arizona State.
The 49ers' run through the CWS is beginning to look familiar. In the regionals, the team lost its opening round game against North Carolina State before sweeping the board. The 49ers defeated Alabama twice in a row to capture the regional.
Here, the team must do the same. The 49ers must defeat Arizona State
twice to advance to the championship game on Saturday.