Long Beach State University Athletics
Dirtbags Home For Two, Away On Sunday
2/20/2014 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 20, 2014
Game 1: Friday, Feb. 21 vs. ASU
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Long Beach, Calif.
Stadium: Blair Field
Promotion: Pregame Student Tailgate
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Game 2: Saturday, Feb. 22 vs. Wright State
Time: 2 p.m.
Location: Long Beach, Calif.
Stadium: Blair Field
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Game 3: Sunday, Feb. 23 at UC Irvine
Time: 1 p.m.
Location: Irvine, Calif.
Stadium: Anteater Ballpark
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IT'S A ROUND ROBIN WEEKEND
The Dirtbags will face three different opponents this weekend at two different venues. Long Beach State will host 18th-ranked Arizona St. on Friday and Wright State on Saturday prior to making the quick trip to UC Irvine for a Sunday contest.
DIRTBAG DEBUTS
Nine newcomers made their Dirtbag debuts last weekend against Vanderbilt and a tenth made his debut on Tuesday at Pepperdine. 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. Jason Alexander became the second newcomer to start on the mound when the junior transfer started Tuesday's contest at Pepperdine. 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.
LAYING DOWN THE BUNT
The Dirtbags certainly haven't bid timid in squaring up a bunt early this season. Six of the Dirtbag's 21 hits this year have come from a bunt. Freshman Garrett Hampson leads the squad with five hits this year - three of which have come on a bunt. Ino Patron laid down a bunt that was crucial, at the moment, for his first hit of the season. His bunt rolled up the first base side and he beat everyone to the bag as Michael Hill crossed the plate for a 3-2 Dirtbag lead in the eighth at Pepperdine.
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.
MILLISON HOLDS `EM SCORELESS THROUGH FIVE
Senior Ryan Millison has been lights out in his first two appearance, keeping opponents off the scoreboard through his first five innings of work this year. Millison came in to relieve Jason Alexander on Tuesday and tossed four scoreless innings as the Dirtbags had just tied the game and were looking to take the lead. Millison is now tied for the team lead with five strikeouts so far and has not issued a free pass by walk or hit by pitch.
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.
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
YES, WE'RE REALLY CALLED THAT
The OFFICIAL nickname of the Long Beach State baseball program is the Dirtbags.
