Long Beach State University Athletics
East Coast beckons as Dirtbags head to South Carolina
3/3/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 3, 2009
Long Beach, Calif. -
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Leading Off
Long Beach State gets their furthest trip of the year this week, heading to the East Coast as the Dirtbags take on South Carolina on the road in Columbia, S.C. Because of the long trip, the Dirtbags will not have a midweek game, and instead will head to South Carolina on Thursday. The team then starts the series on Friday night, starting at 4 p.m. Pacific Time. The following two games are slated for 1 p.m. on Saturday, followed by the final game of the series at 10:30 p.m. Pacific Time.
Carolina On My Mind
The Dirtbags are the first West Coast team to play in the brand new Carolina Stadium, the Gamecocks' brand-new stadium. The $24 million-dollar venue has hosted one other weekend series prior to Long Beach State's arrival, as South Carolina hosted Duquesne in their first series of the year.
What's Coming Up?
After this weekend at South Carolina, the Dirtbags will then return home for a five-game homestand, with mid-week games against San Diego and LMU along with a three-game weekend series with their third Pac-10 opponent, Washington State. The team then takes their second plane trip of the year, resuming a traditional series with Wichita State, this time taking the field in Kansas against the Shockers.
Scouting South Carolina
South Carolina entered the polls this week after improving to 4-0 last week. The Gamecocks started the year by sweeping Duquesne at home in a three-game series. The Gamecocks then played a home-and-home with rival Clemson, as South Carolina took the first game on the road 3-1 before the second at Carolina Stadium was rained out.
Long Beach State vs. the Gamecocks
This weekend marks the first time that Long Beach State and South Carolina will meet in baseball.
California Dreaming
Long Beach State struggled in its first full home series against Cal, dropping all three games, each by a total of three runs. The Dirtbags fared well offensively, putting across 17 runs in the series, but also left 37 runners in key positions that would have helped offset the hitting success of Cal. The Bears were able to force early exits for starters Tyler Topp and Jeff Lease on Friday and Saturday, helping offset 29 hits that Long Beach State was able to produce on the weekend.
The Trojan War
The 2009 season started with a traditional split series with USC, as the Trojans hosted two games at Dedeaux Field while The Beach brought USC in for one game. Pitching dominated the first two contests, as USC's Brad Boxberger and Kevin Couture along with Jake Thompson for the Dirtbags put together great starts. USC took the first two games, but Long Beach State grabbed the finale, coming from behind by pushing a run across in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings.
In The Middle
The middle of the lineup has been very productive for the Dirtbags so far in 2009. Devin Lohman leads the team in hits and stolen bases, batting .429 in his first full season as a starter. Taylor Krick, who opened the year with a three-run home run at USC, has compiled a seven-game hitting streak to start the year and is batting .370 with a team-leading five RBI. The tandem has spent most of the season batting 3-4 in some combination.
