May 7, 2004
Long Beach, Calif. -
Two late inning rallies by host 18th-ranked Long Beach State led to two losses for the UC Santa Barbara softball team, snapping its four-game win streak. The Beach (45-10, 15-2 Big West) won the opener 5-0 with two in the fifth and three in the sixth. In the nightcap, the 49ers picked up a 1-0 win over the Gauchos (29-28, 11-6 Big West) with a run in the bottom of the sixth.
In the opener, the 49ers Meredith Cervenka (18-5) went the distance, allowing just three hits while striking out six in the 5-0 win. Scoreless after four, the 49ers broke through with two runs in the fifth off Lindsey Herrin (7-2). Lauren Johnson drew a walk to begin the inning. After being moved to second on a sacrafice by Arleigh Thorp, Jamie Farnworth tripled over the head of UCSB right fielder Leslie Simien to give LBSU a 1-0 lead. After a walk to Marcel Torres put runners on the corners, Kourtney Gervasi singled to left to bring home Farnworth.
Long Beach put the game away in the sixth as Johnson hit a three-run homer over the left field fence staking Cervenka to a 5-0 lead. The homer was the fifth of the season for Johnson and capped a 3-3 day as she singled, doubled, homered, drew a walk, scored twice and drove in three. Gervasi also had a strong game finishing 2-3 with an RBI.
In the second game it was a pitchers duel until the sixth between the 49ers Lindsey Knoff and this week's Big West Pitcher of the Week Jennifer Davis. Davis (13-14) had handcuffed LBSU without a hit for the first four and two-thirds innings before Melanie McCauley had a two-out single to left. In the sixth, Colleen Burdick led off with a single to center. Johnson sacraficed her to second and Burdick then came around to score on a double to left-center by Farnworth. The Beach's run is just the fifth run allowed by Davis in her last 31 innings pitched.
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Knoff (14-3), who allowed just two hits in the game, closed out the Gauchos with a 1-2-3 seventh.
Long Beach and UCSB close out their three-game series on Saturday with a single game at 1 pm at the 49er Softball Complex.
