The562’s coverage of Long Beach State athletics for the 2022-23 season is sponsored by Marilyn Bohl.
Just 20 days after women’s basketball coach Jeff Cammon stepped down to take the job at Saint Mary’s College, Long Beach State has announced the hiring of new coach Amy Wright.
“I am very happy with the outcome of our national coaching search,” said Long Beach State Interim Executive Director of Athletics Ted Kadowaki in an official release. “(Wright) brings over 20 years of coaching experience at many different levels after a standout career as a player. She is a person of high character and is a proven winner.”
Wright, a Williamsburg, Ind. native, spent the last two years at Oklahoma as the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator where she helped lead the Sooners to their first Big 12 Championship since 2009.
“Every (LBSU) coach from Joan Bonvicini to Jeff Cammon has done a remarkable job… I look forward to continuing that winning tradition of success for Long Beach State,” Wright said.
Wright played at the University of Arkansas from 1998-2002 and was drafted by the WNBA’s Detroit Shock. She started her coaching career at Cleveland State in 2007 before making stops at Arizona State and Texas A&M.
BASEBALL
Everything was going according to plan last Friday night on Bohl Diamond at Blair Field.
The Dirtbags had an early lead over visiting Cal State Northridge with ace Graham Osman on the mound when freshman Ty Borgogno hit a second-inning home run.
However, Borgogno didn’t touch second base and CSUN noticed. They threw the new ball to second and recorded the out that ended the inning.
“I saw him miss it and I almost ran out there to tell him to go back,” Dirtbags coach Eric Valenzuela said. “It was like momentum shifted to their direction.”
CSUN proceeded to score three runs in the next frame, and 11 total runs in the next three innings, to beat the Dirtbags 12-6 in Big West Conference action.
Osman (4.2 IP, 11 H, 9 ER, 3 K, 2 BB) suffered his first loss of the season, but Jake Rons (4 IP, 4 H, ER, K, BB) came out of the bullpen and stopped the bleeding.
For the second consecutive night on Saturday, the Dirtbags once again made some serious noise in the bottom of the night inning only to fall short in a 3-2 loss. It’s the first series loss for the Dirtbags since March 19.
“We’re not panicking at all, that’s a really good team and they’re hungry,” Dirtbags coach Eric Valenzuela said of CSUN. “We’ve been in a lot of these battles and it will only continue to help us moving forward.”
CSUN (21-9, 8-4) scored all three of its runs with two outs in the fifth inning.
Dirtbags starter Nico Zeglin pitched very well while scattering five hits across five innings. He struck out six and walked three. He fell to 4-3 on the season with a 2.95 ERA.
“He’s an older guy who is experienced and composed,” Valenzuela said of Zeglin. “He’s been in there with some really good teams and he continues to just pound the strike zone. When he’s on the mound the other guys feel that energy.”
Catcher Connor Burns, who had a hit, a walk and a run scored, said Zeglin’s changeup has been the difference maker.
“He’s probably got one of the best changeups I’ve ever seen, caught or try to hit,” he said. “It’s really plus stuff.”
CSUN starter Thomas Bainton was the star of the night with 6.2 scoreless innings. He struck out seven and walked two.
“He was getting that down call from the umpires and he was living there,” Valenzuela said. “Our guys were hitting it into the ground and swinging over top of it.”
The Dirtbags got to CSUN closer Joshua Romero thanks to a pair of walks drawn by Rocco Peppi and Burns to lead off the ninth. Kyle Ashworth singled to score Peppi, and Burns scored on an error, but a strikeout and groundout stranded the game-tying run at third base.
“I thought we’ve been taking good swings all weekend but they’re just not falling our way,” Burns said. “We just have to stay with it and we’ll figure it out.”
“It seems like everyone is beating everyone,” Valenzuela said of the Big West where his team is now in fifth place. “We just have to continue to play good baseball and we’ll come around. We have to get this one tomorrow.”
That’s exactly what they did as the Dirtbags avoided the sweep by beating Cal State Northridge 6-4 on Sunday.
Jonathon Long went 3-for-3 at the plate with a walk and three RBI for the Dirtbags.
LBSU (22-12, 9-6) starts an eight-game road trip next weekend at Hawaii.
SOFTBALL
The Beach (21-18, 11-4) stayed tied atop the Big West standings alongside Cal State Fullerton by taking a key series at UC Santa Barbara last weekend.
Sara Olson has been leading the LBSU offenses with a .351 batting average and four triples, which ranks ninth and second in the conference, respectively.
LBSU hosts Cal Poly this weekend.
TRACK & FIELD
The Beach celebrated their seniors last weekend at the Bryan Clay Invitational and the Beach Invitational at home.
Senior Ryley Fick ran a 4:21.49 in the women’s 1500m at the Bryan Clay Invitational to break the LBSU record that had stood for a decade.
Also in Azusa, Cristian Martinez made history in the men’s 1500m by running a 3:48.61 to move into the top ten on the LBSU all-time list.
Back home at the Jack Rose Track in Long Beach, Kaitlyn Williams posted lifetime bests in both the 100m and the Long Jump. Her 11.48 in the sprint ranks fourth fastest time in program history. In Long Jump, she topped her season best by over five inches and PR by an inch and a half, for 6.00m (19-8.25). That also ranks in the LBSU all-time top ten.
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
The pair of Malia Gementera and Taylor Hagenah picked up their 28th win of the season last week to set a new LBSU single-season pairs record.
