Kyle McDonald, Sports Writer, @kylesportsbias
Friedrichs of Long Beach State struck out 12 batters and didn’t allow a walk through seven innings of work to help the Dirtbags to a 6-2 win over the Utah Valley University Wolverines on Friday February 20, 2015 in Long Beach, CA.
The Wolverines were able to get an early 2-0 lead just four batters into the game but they would go scoreless the rest of the game. Kade Andrus led off the game for UVU with a double on the first pitch and he scored on a Seth Rhineer single. Rhineer would score two batters later when Jake Atkinson drove him in with a single. It was all the offense UVU would have. LBSU pitchers allowed only three baserunners the rest of the way.
The pitching staff for UVU wasn’t as sharp in their second weekend of baseball. Danny Beddes gave up four runs (three earned) on four hits but he also put Dirtbag runners on base by giving up five hits. The damage could have been worse but in the third inning after walking two hitters he was able to escape by picking runners off at first base. Marco Briones, a freshman out of Alhambra, CA, made his season debut for UVU and struck out three batters in 1.1 innings of work.
Friedrichs, who struck out 10 batters against Michigan in the season opener for LBSU, would retire 19 of the final 20 batters he faced as a Jordan Schlehuber single would be the only baserunner allowed after the first inning.
The two teams meet against Saturday February 21, 2015 at 2 p.m. PT/3 p.m. MT.
