A comeback and a walkoff led to an exciting day at the LBSU Softball Complex, as No. 21 Long Beach State finished the first day of the Louisville Slugger Invitational with wins over Michigan State and Boston.
LBSU Softball on X (formerly Twitter): “Nichole Fry’s RBI single gave Long Beach State a walkoff victory over Boston to complete the second of two wins on Thursday! @LBSUSoftball plays San Jose State at 2 p.m. tomorrow to continue the Louisville Slugger Invitational. #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/63ePsRnjjy / X”
Nichole Fry’s RBI single gave Long Beach State a walkoff victory over Boston to complete the second of two wins on Thursday! @LBSUSoftball plays San Jose State at 2 p.m. tomorrow to continue the Louisville Slugger Invitational. #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/63ePsRnjjy
Report from LBSU:
Long Beach State (18-5) opened the day against Michigan State (9-9) and the Spartans took an early lead against the Beach. Started Devyn Magnett had held MSU scoreless through four innings, but walked and hit the first two batters in the fifth inning to get into a jam.
A single loaded the bases for Michigan State, and Jessica Flores came in for relief and walked in a pair of runs before recovering with three straight outs to limit the damage.
The senior escaped more bases-loaded trouble in the sixth inning without allowing a run, and that resilience was rewarded as the Beach bounced back in the bottom of the sixth.
Naomi Hernandez reached on an error, and Jamie Wren followed with a single to put two on for Taylor Rowland. The sophomore DP doubled to right field, scoring Hernandez, and Julia Lombardi followed with a two-run triple to give LBSU the lead.
An error allowed Lombardi to come home as well, putting the Beach in front 4-2, and Flores struck out two in the seventh and held on for the win.
Pitching prevailed in the second game of the day for Long Beach State, as Cielo Meza and Cali Dolfi battled into extra innings. Meza showcased her regular dominance, striking out nine over eight innings, while Dolfi had no strikeouts but still confounded the Beach offense, with no runs being scored over seven innings.
With the international tiebreaker in place for the eighth inning, Boston bunted the runner over to third, but Meza’s ninth strikeout of the game made for a key second out, as a fly ball to Wren in left field ended the inning as a harmless third out.
Flores was placed on second for the Beach, and after a bunt single from Grayce Majam put runners on the corners, Fry singled to bring home the only run of the game in walkoff fashion.
Long Beach State returns to the LBSU Softball Complex on Friday, hosting San Jose State at 2 p.m.
