March 19, 2004

Box Score

LONG BEACH, Calif.- The No. 10-ranked Long Beach State baseball team opened a five-run lead through the first three innings and then cruised to a 10-2 victory over No. 17 Arizona at Blair Field on Friday.

The loss was Arizona's eighth straight to the 49ers dating back to 2001 and dropped the Wildcats to 11-9-1 for the year. The season-high 10 runs scored handed LBSU its fifth series victory of the year and improved it to 15-5.

The 49ers opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the second after UA starter Luis Cortez issued a lead-off walk to Jason Vargas and hit Troy Tulowitzki to place runners on first and second with no outs. A fly ball to deep left field by John Bowker advanced the pair to second and third before Mike Hofius plated Vargas on a sacrifice fly to right and Tito Cruz drove in Tulowitzki with a single up the middle.

LBSU added three more runs in the third on RBI triple by Vargas, a run-scoring error on failed pick off by Cortez and RBI-single by Bowker.

Cortez, who was charged with his second loss of the season, was roughed up for eight runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings of work. LBSU's Cesar Ramos picked up his fourth win of the year after limiting the Wildcats to just the two runs on nine hits in 7 2/3 innings. The left-hander struck out five and walked just one.

Offensively, the Wildcats rapped out 10 hits in the loss, including a single, double and triple by senior Moises Duran, who finished 3 for 4 in the game. The double digit hit total marked the second time in the last four games that the Wildcats have posted 10 or more hits in a contest and managed to score just two runs (3/12 vs. Notre Dame, 4-2 L; 3/19 at LBSU, 10-2 L).

Arizona stranded eight runners on base, including five in scoring position on the night.

The Wildcats will try to salvage the series and avoid the three-game sweep in the finale at 1 pm PT on Saturday. UA's Kevin Guyette will take on LBSU's Jason Vargas on the mound.