Leuenberger Makes Pitch for Postseason

Long Beach State, spurred by another strong pitching performance by Jeff Leuenberger, continued its late-season run toward an at-large berth in the NCAA baseball playoffs Thursday night.

The 49ers, who won two of three games from Big West champion Cal State Fullerton last weekend, won the opener of a three-game series against fifth-ranked Miami, 12-0, in front of 1,498 at Blair Field.

Leuenberger, a sophomore right-hander from Canyon High, shut out Miami through seven innings on seven hits. It extended his stretch of consecutive scoreless innings to 15.

It was the fourth start for Leuenberger (5-2), who had pitched in relief through much of the season. He had held the sixth-ranked Titans scoreless on five hits in eight innings in the first game of last weekend’s series.

The shutout was the eighth of the season for Long Beach, setting a school record. It was only the second time Miami (39-13) has been held scoreless this season. Darren Merrill held Miami hitless in the last two innings. Long Beach (33-21), a disappointing third in the Big West Conference race after reaching the College World Series last season, ripped the Hurricanes for 14 hits.

“I felt great,” Leuenberger said. “Fullerton and Miami are always two of the better teams in the nation, and I hope this will be enough to get us in the playoffs.”

Long Beach Coach Dave Snow also was pleased, but is hoping his team can finish well. “I’d like to see us challenge ourselves and try to win this series,” Snow said.

Long Beach scored seven runs in the first four innings.

The 49ers loaded the bases after two were out in the first on base hits by Terrmel Sledge and Jaeme Leal and a walk to Bryan Kennedy. Greg Dobbs’ single brought in a run.

Long Beach scored three more runs after two were out in the third off Hurricane starter Darin Spassoff (2-1).

Leuenberger got out of both the fifth and seventh innings with the bases loaded without giving up a run.

“He dealt with those situations well,” Snow said. “He’s done his best pitching with runners on base, which shows he’s growing as a pitcher.”

Miami Coach Jim Morris was impressed by Leuenberger’s effort. “He has a great arm, and he worked the inside of the plate well,” Morris said. “Long Beach also hit the ball well, and we were just the opposite.”