LOS ANGELES – Beau Ankeney notched three hits including a double off the blue monster, was hit by a pitch to score a run, and made a slick defensive play in the first inning to save a run to display his well-rounded ability in the Lions' 7-4 victory over Long Beach State on Tuesday night at Page Stadium.
The Lions got four solid innings out of Avery Laine in a planned bullpen game for the pitching staff. Laine struck out six Dirtbag hitters while allowing a pair of runs on three hits.
Zack Mack came on in relief in the fifth and went 2.2 innings, striking out three and also giving up a pair of runs.
Cole Stucky slammed the door shut on Long Beach State's evening, throwing 2.1 shutout innings while striking out a pair and earning his first career save.
Ankeney was the offensive anchor all night long. The redshirt-junior first baseman scored the first run of the ballgame after lining a single into left field. He advanced to second on a
Devan Ornelas single before coming around to score on a wild pitch.
Ankeney was the catalyst again in the fourth inning, lining a 1-2 pitch through the right side for this second hit of the evening. After Ornelas was hit by a pitch, Ankeney came around to score on a Joe Reid single to left field. He hustled around third and slid in well ahead of the throw. Ornelas and Reid would follow with a nicely executed double steal to put both runners in scoring position before
JD Dunn picked up his first RBI of the earlygoing with a groundout.
The Lions staged something of a two-out rally in the fifth to extend their lead. Cam Hassert led off the inning with a line drive off the pitcher for a single and advanced to second on a stolen base. With two outs, it was Ankeney again, this time driving an elevated fastball off the blue monster in left field for an RBI double. Ornelas followed with a walk before
Kolton Freeman dropped a perfectly placed single into center field, just out of reach of the diving centerfielder. With both runners moving on the pitch and the ricochet from the center fielder, Ornelas was able to score all the way from first base extending the lead to 6-2.
The Dirtbags would put up a pair of runs in the seventh inning to cut the lead to 6-4.
Ankeney again provided an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth.
Hassert hit a one-out single through the right side and stole second. After a Colby Wallace walk,
Zion Williams came on to pinch hit. Williams would wear a 1-0 pitch to load the bases, bringing Ankeney up. After looking at two strikes, Ankeney fouled off six straight pitches before being plunked in the back to plate Hassert from third and mark the final tally.
The Lions have a pair of off days before facing Tulane in a weekend series on the road in New Orleans, Lou. The weekend's contests will be streamed live on ESPN+.
