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There were plenty of chances for the Long Beach State Dirtbags to come back from an early deficit on Saturday night on Bohl Diamond at Blair Field, but they couldn’t tip the scales enough in a 10-6 loss to Michigan that ties the series. The rubber match is Sunday at 1 p.m.
“We had 21 base runners tonight and we just didn’t get that big hit,” Dirtbags coach TJ Bruce said. “But I’m really proud of our team because we fought. I think if you’re sitting in the stands as part of this community you’re probably proud of this team too because they’re fighting. If you can’t see that I’d question what you’re watching.”
Michigan jumped out to a six-run lead in the fourth inning and then fended off multiple Dirtbags rallies while the home team stranded 13 runners in the first seven innings. Center fielder Alex Champagne had two hits and two runs scored while first baseman Connor Charpiot drove in four runs with a pair of doubles.
“I’m just trying to be a guy that everyone can look up to,” Charpiot, who has started 56 games for the Dirtbags. “It’s setting an example for the younger guys as to what this program has been built on in the past and trying to reshape that for the future.”
“He’s been around a long time who’s an older guy who knows what he’s doing and his leadership is going to be a big deal as we move forward,” Bruce said of Charpiot.
Charpiot had been struggling in the heart of the order until breaking out on Saturday.
“Obviously when you put the barrel on the ball good things happen and I hadn’t been doing that recently, but it feels a lot better,” he said. “I’m way more confident and seeing the ball better, usually when those two things happen then good things happen.”
The Dirtbags scored the first run of the game with a two-out rally in the bottom of the first inning. Champagne singled to left field with two down and then stole second base before shortstop Armando Briseno drew a walk. They both moved into scoring position on a passed ball, then consecutive walks drawn by Dylan Lina and Charpiot brought Champagne in to score. Luke Taylor grounded a 2-2 offering back to the pitcher to end the inning with the bases loaded.
Michigan quickly took the lead 2-1 in the second inning on a pair of two-out RBI singles from Robert Hamchuk and AJ Rausch.
Long Beach State left two more runners on base in the bottom of the frame before the Wolverines chased Dirtbags starter Josh Donegan with a four-run third inning. They had six hits in the frame and the big blow came on a Noah Miller single to left that scored a pair to make it 6-1.
Donegan only gave up one extra base hit but Michigan had nine singles in three innings against the sophomore righty from Los Alamitos High School. He struck out two and walked one while 45 of his 60 pitches were for strikes. His ERA ballooned from 1.80 to 5.54 over three starts.
“I thought (Donegan) made some pitches and some of them just kind of fell in… That’s baseball,” Bruce said.
After Michigan pushed its lead to 7-1 in the top of the fourth on Jeter Ybarra’s RBI double, the Dirtbags got two runs back in the bottom of the frame. They also came with two outs as Nathan Cadena singled home Efren Ortega and Champagne singled home Kyle Ashworth to make it 7-3.
Van Larson (IP, H, ER, 2 K, BB) relieved Donegan before Tyler Gebb pitched a 1-2-3 fifth inning.
Long Beach State stayed on the front foot in the fifth when Lina led off with a walk before Charpiot brought him all the way around to score with a RBI double to left field. Lina narrowly beat the tag at home thanks to a good slide. The Dirtbags had a chance to cut more into the 7-4 lead but left two more runners on base when Ortega and Ashworth both flied out.
Canena drew a leadoff walk in the sixth, and moved to third on Lina’s two-out single, but he was stranded there on a fly out.
Taylor legged out a single for his second hit of the night to lead off the seventh. Easton Elliot replaced him as a pinch runner and moved to second on Matt Toomey’s walk. Ortega’s sacrifice bunt moved them both into scoring position with one out, but Ashworth struck out and Cadena grounded out.
LBSU lefty reliever Nick Williams (2.1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 K, 3 BB) kept Michigan off the scoreboard for two innings but the Wolverines pushed the lead to 10-4 in the eighth with a two-run single from Ybarra and RBI double from Cole Caruso.
Charpiot kept Dirtbags hopes alive in the bottom of the eighth when he blasted a two-run double to left center field that plated Champagne and Lina to make it 10-6 with one out. He was stranded at third base after consecutive ground outs.
In the ninth, the Dirtbags were set down in order by Michigan’s Will Rogers (3.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, K, BB) who picked up his second save of the season.
After a very loud and energetic reaction to Friday night’s win, the Dirtbags were somber after the loss on Saturday.
“You’re never as good as you think you are and you’re never as bad as you think you are, and that’s where we have to find that balance,” Bruce said. “The dugout was good with no wavering and no blaming. It’s going to be a mentality Sunday and it’s going to be a street fight and we know our streets.”
