Long Beach State University Athletics
Dirtbags Head To Pepperdine For Tuesday Game
2/17/2014 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 17, 2014
MIDWEEK TRIP TO MALIBU
The Dirtbags will take the short trip up to Malibu, Calif. on Tuesday for their first road game of their first road test of the season. The 2 p.m. game will be the first of two matchups this season between the Long Beach State Dirtbags and the Pepperdine Waves. The Beach swept the season series last year with a 5-3 win in Malibu and a 3-1 win at Blair. Pepperdine went 2-1 in its season opening series against St. John's last weekend.
DIRTBAG DEBUTS
Nine newcomers made their Dirtbag debuts last weekend against Vanderbilt. Freshmen Garrett Hampson, Daniel Jackson, Cody Marshall and Austin McGeorge all made early appearance in their young careers. Transfers Nolan Meadows, Zack Domingues, Cameron Pongs, Alex Bishop and Andrew Rohrbach also jumped right into the mix. Of the nine newcomers making their first appearance in a Dirtbag uniform, five made at least one start over the weekend.
SPEAKING OF DEBUTS, HAMPSON MAKES HIS TO JOIN ELITE COMPANY
Freshman Garret Hampson made his Dirtbag debut right out of the gates on Friday as the starter at shortstop. With the opening day nod, Hampson became the first freshman to start at short since Danny Espinosa did so in 2006. He went 2-for-4 in his debut with a run scored in the first inning of his first game, and went on to go 3-for-12 on the weekend. Espinosa was the first freshman to start Opening Day at shortstop since Bobby Crosby in 1999. Both Crosby and Espinosa are easily recognizable names in the history of Shortstop U. Both made the majors with Crosby winning the Rookie Of The Year Award for the American League. Another name that comes up when talking about the long line of elite shortstops at Long Beach State is Troy Tulowitzki. He did play on Opening Day and went on to start 50 games as a freshman but entered the Dirtbags' first game of his freshman season as a pinch hitter.
MORE ON DEBUTS, MARSHALL IMPRESSES
A Vanderbilt rally in the third shortened the debut of Andrew Rohrbach but made way for freshman Cody Marshall to make his. Marshall, a local product, made his debut on the mound and gave the strong middle relief effort that the Dirtbags needed after falling behind 5-0. He immediately pitched out of the jam he entered into out of the bullpen by striking out the first batter he saw and went on to pitch 4.1 impressive innings. He breezed through the fourth and fifth, pitched out of another jam in the sixth and surrendered just one run in the seventh. He scattered three hits, allowed two free passes and struck out three.
DIRTBAG FAITHFUL OUT IN FORCE
Dirtbag fans were out in force this weekend for the Dirtbags opening series against Vanderbilt. The Dirtbags and Commodores played in front of 1418 on Friday, 1572 on Saturday and 1463 on Sunday for a total of 4,453 fans that passed through Blair Field's gates this weekend. That total ranked 25th in the nation in terms of total attendance while the average crowd of 1,484 fans ranked as the 27th highest in the nation. The weekend's total attendance was the 23rd-highest total in the Dirtbags history at Blair Field.
SABO STEPS NICELY INTO FRIDAY ROLE
Nick Sabo stepped into the Friday night role for the first weekend of 2014 and responded strongly against the Vanderbilt Commodores, who were ranked as high as eighth in the nation. Sabo struck out the first batter of the season and allowed just four hits over 5.2 innings. Although he was pegged with the loss on the mound, Sabo surrendered just one earned run (three runs total) as he kept the Dirtbags within striking distance most of the way. His venture into the sixth gave him the longest outing of his career. He was also just one K shy of his career best as he fanned five Commodores.
BATS LOOKING TO TURN THINGS AROUND
The Vanderbilt pitching staff proved to be both talented and extremely deep last weekend as they kept the Dirtbags from putting up big numbers on the scoreboard. The Dirtbags managed just four runs in the series and hit .140 as a team. Michael Hill picked up three of the Dirtbags 13 hits on the weekend with his first inning double on Sunday being the only one of the 13 that went for extra bases.
OPENING WITH THE BEST
The series opener against the eighth ranked Commodores is the third time in head coach Troy Buckley's four years that the Dirtbags have opened the season with a top-10 team but it is the first time that the Dirtbags have been swept on opening weekend. Digging even farther back, the Dirtbags have opened seven out of the last 10 seasons with a team ranked in the top-25 but were never swept. For an opening weekend sweep of the Dirtbags, you have to dig all the way back to 1990 when the Dirtbags dropped all three at No. 5 Arizona State to open the season.
