Hughes shuts down Anteaters

Long Beach State sophomore right-hander Jared Hughes threw a two-hit

shutout to help the visiting 49ers earn a 10-0 victory in the rubber

game of the three-game Big West Conferernce baseball series Sunday at

Anteater Ballpark.

Hughes struck out a career-high 10 in the complete-game effort,

allowing UCI to hit only two balls out of the infield.

UCI sophomore shortstop Chad Lundahl opened the third inning with

an infield single.

That was the only Anteater hit, until Andy Amara opened the ninth

with a pinch-hit single to left. Amara’s hit and a fly to right field

in the second were the only balls to leave the infield with Hughes on

the mound.

Hughes has now allowed just two runs in his last three starts,

adding to an already strong Dirtbag rotation that includes Cesar

Ramos and Marco Estrada.

UCI starter Steve Schroer matched zeros with Hughes for three

innings, until the visitors scored one in the fourth.

No. 13-ranked Long Beach (24-10, 5-1 in the Big West, tied for

first with Cal State Fullerton and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo) scored

five in the sixth and cruised.

Hughes hit three batters, but one was caught stealing. Amara was

erased on a double play, allowing Hughes to face just four hitters

over the minimum.

UCI (15-15, 2-4), which was hoping to carry over the momentum

gained by its dramatic 4-3 victory in 11 innings Saturday night, was

shut out for only the second time this season. The Anteaters had a

runner in scoring position with less than two outs in the third,

fourth and fifth innings, but couldn’t break through against Hughes

(4-2).

Sean Boatright extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a home

run and a double, while Brandon Godfrey went 4 for 5.

One positive for the Anteaters was its errorless defense. It was

the first time in eight games UCI did not commit an error.

Big West Conference

Long Beach State 10,

UC Irvine 0

Score by Innings

*--*

LB 0 0 0 1 0 5 0 1 3 - 10 16 1

UCI 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 2 0

*--*

Hughes and Cruz; Schroer, Robertson (6), Koehler (8), Nakashima

(9) and Wagner. W -- Hughes, 4-2. L -- Schroer, 3-4. 2B -- Mocny

(LB), Boatright (LB), Cruz (LB), Huizar (LB), Velazco (LB). HR --

Boatright (LB).