{"id":175992,"date":"2026-02-13T03:22:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T03:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/175992\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T03:22:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T03:22:08","slug":"early-spark-not-enough-as-eku-falls-to-long-beach-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/175992\/","title":{"rendered":"Early Spark Not Enough as EKU Falls to Long Beach State"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>                    &#13;<br \/>\n                        &#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<p>                <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/UTSARowdy.png\" alt=\"UTSA\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                Next Game:<\/p>\n<p>vs. UTSA<\/p>\n<p>2\/13\/2026 | 2 p.m.<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n                    Feb. 13 (Fri) \/ 2 p.m.&#13;\n                <\/p>\n<p>                    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sidearm-story-template-next-game-opponent-logo\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/UTSARowdy.png\" alt=\"UTSA\"\/><\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n                        vs.\u00a0UTSA&#13;\n                    <\/p>\n<p>                    <a class=\"sidearm-story-template-next-game-details-history\" href=\"https:\/\/ekusports.com\/sports\/softball\/opponent-history\/utsa\/343\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">History <\/a><\/p>\n<p>                             &#13;<\/p>\n<p>                    PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico \u2014 On Day 2 of the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge, the Eastern Kentucky University softball team fell to Long Beach State, 8-2.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nLong Beach State overcame a 2-0 deficit in the third inning and scored eight unanswered runs over the next five frames.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nThe Colonels struck early, scoring twice in the first inning before Long Beach State recorded an out.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/ekusports.com\/sports\/softball\/roster\/kennedy-drafton\/10787\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"10787\" target=\"_blank\">Kennedy Drafton<\/a> led off with a single and stole second. <a href=\"https:\/\/ekusports.com\/sports\/softball\/roster\/jaelin-haynes\/10790\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"10790\" target=\"_blank\">Jaelin Haynes<\/a> followed with an infield RBI single, scoring Drafton and advancing to second on a throwing error.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/ekusports.com\/sports\/softball\/roster\/lilly-davis\/10786\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"10786\" target=\"_blank\">Lilly Davis<\/a> singled, and <a href=\"https:\/\/ekusports.com\/sports\/softball\/roster\/jordan-smith\/10800\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"10800\" target=\"_blank\">Jordan Smith<\/a> delivered an RBI single to shallow center, bringing home Haynes for a 2-0 lead.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nLong Beach State responded in the third inning, taking advantage of a double and two EKU errors to score an unearned run and cut the lead to 2-1.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nIn the top of the fourth, EKU threw out two runners attempting to steal, but Long Beach State kept the inning alive with a walk and a fielding error. With two outs, Nina Sepulveda reached on an error that plated two unearned runs.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nLong Beach State pulled away in the fifth, scoring three runs to extend its lead to 6-2. Audree Mendoza reached on an error and advanced on a wild pitch before scoring on an RBI single by Erica Estrada. A bases-loaded hit-by-pitch forced in another run, and a passed ball allowed a third to score.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nThe Beach added two more runs in the sixth. After a throwing error allowed a runner to reach, Elissa Guerrero hit a two-run home run to left, pushing the lead to 8-2.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nEKU threatened in the fifth and sixth with singles but could not capitalize. Long Beach State retired the Colonels in order in the seventh to seal the win.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nNEXT UP<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nThe Colonels return to action tomorrow at 2 pm ET, facing UTSA after defeating them 11-1 on Wednesday. The roadrunners are coming off a 9-10 loss to Southern Illinois.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"&#13; &#13; &#13; Next Game: vs. UTSA 2\/13\/2026 | 2 p.m. &#13; Feb. 13 (Fri) \/ 2 p.m.&#13;&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":175993,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":{"0":"post-175992","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-long-beach","8":"tag-long-beach","9":"tag-long-beach-headlines","10":"tag-long-beach-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175992\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}