Long Beach State Beats Nevada in 12 Innings

Long Beach State pitcher Jason Marr struck out the final two batters in the bottom of the 12th inning to preserve a 6-5 victory over Nevada Friday in the Big West baseball tournament.

Long Beach (35-20-1) stayed unbeaten in the tournament with its second consecutive one-run victory.

Nevada (31-21) had runners on second and third with one out before Marr struck out pinch hitter Ryan Church and Paul Bartolucci, who had five hits in the game.

“I was ready to take [Marr] out, but as soon as we scored in the top of the 12th, he came to me and asked to stay in,” Long Beach Coach Dave Snow said. “I liked the look in his eye.”

Long Beach’s winning run in the nearly five hour-long game came in the top of 12th when Chuck Lopez doubled with two out, driving in Bryan Kennedy. Kennedy had singled with one out for his fourth hit of the game.

“They got the hits when they needed to, and we didn’t,” Nevada Coach Gary Powers said.

Long Beach took a 5-4 lead in the top of the 11th when Justin Hall doubled, took third on an infield out and scored on Dru Martinson’s wild pitch.

The Wolf Pack tied it at 5-5 in the bottom of the 11th against Marr, who gave up two hits and one run in three innings. Marr hit one batter and Bartolucci singled up the middle. Marr’s throw to third on a bunt was late, loading the bases. Marr got a strikeout, but Lyle Overbay’s sacrifice fly brought in a run. Each team had 15 hits.

In another tournament game:

UC Santa Barbara 3, Pacific 2--UC Santa Barbara stayed alive in the tournament and eliminated Pacific behind a solid pitching performance from Troy Kinto.

Kinto (5-4) pitched a complete game, giving up eight hits and four walks. He struck out seven. Pacific’s Kyle May (7-6) also pitched well, giving up 11 hits and striking out five.

Santa Barbara (18-30-2) scored the winning run in the eighth on an RBI single by Jim Alderete.