Long Beach State University Athletics
Rivalry Renewed For Nonconference Series At Fullerton
3/20/2014 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 20, 2014
Game 1: Friday, Mar. 21
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Fullerton, Calif.
Stadium: Goodwin Field
Listen Online | Watch ESPN3
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Fullerton, Calif.
Stadium: Goodwin Field
Listen Online | Watch ESPN3
Game 3: Sunday, Mar. 23
Time: 1 p.m.
Location: Fullerton, Calif.
Stadium: Goodwin Field
Listen Online | Watch ESPN 3
RIVALRY RENEWED FOR NONCONFERENCE SERIES AT FULLERTON
Long Beach State will make the short trip to No. 9 Cal State Fullerton this weekend for a nonconference three-game series. The host Titans are 11-7 while the Beach comes in with a record of 10-9. All three games will broadcast on ESPN3 - ESPN's web and mobile platform. The three-game series will mark the first half of the rivalry series this year with the Titans coming to Blair Field later in the season for the conference series.
NEXT FOUR DIRTBAG GAMES TO BE BROADCAST
Fans can catch the next four Dirtbag games online and on TV thanks to ESPN3 and the Pac-12 Network. All three games of the Dirtbags series with Cal State Fullerton will be broadcast live on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app for your mobile devices. Trent Schlom and Jose Tolentino will call the game on Friday while Sam Farber will join Tolentino in the box on Saturday and Sunday. Next Tuesday's game at UCLA will air live on the Pac-12 Network. The Big West Conference also released its ESPN3 schedule for the remainder of the season with the Dirtbags appearing two more times on the web-based broadcast - Saturday, May 17 and Sunday, May 18 at UC Riverside.
DIRTBAGS HEAD INTO ROAD-HEAVY PORTION OF SCHEDULE
Long Beach State wrapped up its six-game homestand with a couple of dramatic victories last weekend. The Dirtbags will look to carry that momentum away from the confines of Blair Field over the next few weeks as they hit the road-heavy section of the schedule. Tuesday's game at LMU was the first of nine consecutive away games and started a stretch of the schedule that features 13 of the next 16 games on the road.
LIMIT ONE PER CUSTOMER
Long Beach State pitchers surrendered 20 hits over last weekend's three-game set with Indiana, which is below its average of just under nine hits per game. However the Hoosiers found a way to get a hit, every one of those 20 hits looked the same in the box score. They were all singles. Not one hit from the Hoosiers trickled down the line or found a gap for extra bases. With Dirtbag pitchers allowing just one-base hits, the Hoosiers were unable to spark a rally that resulted in multiple runs. That proved to make a huge difference in a series that featured a trio of one-run games.
THREE TIMES THE QUALITY BUT BLANKED ON DECISIONS
All three LBSU pitchers turned in quality starts in the Dirtbags series win over Indiana last weekend. However, none of the three starters came away from their quality starts with a decision. Nick Sabo started the trend on Friday with 6.2 quality innings. He left the game in the seventh with a 3-2 lead but had already allowed that eventual third run on base. Andrew Rohrbach was lights out on Saturday, throwing nine innings and allowing just an unearned run. However, the Dirtbags were only able to score an unearned run on the offensive end as Rohrbach left the game after nine with the game tied 1-1. Jason Alexander posted his first quality start of the season with 7.1 innings and surrendered just one run as well. He left in the eighth with the game tied 1-1.
LIMITING EXTRA BASES FROM BEHIND THE PLATE
The pitchers did their part in limiting extra bases so the catchers thought they would pitch in as well. Three different players went behind the dish this weekend but Indiana had a tough time moving up on the basepaths against any of them. Eric Hutting set the tone on Friday night when he threw out 2-of-3 runners trying to swipe second and Nick Sabo picked off another. No one even tried to run on Alex Bishop on Saturday. Freshman Daniel Jackson held his own Sunday throwing out the only two Hoosiers to reach base through the first five innings when both tried to swipe second. Opponents are successful only about half the time (11-of-23) when trying to steal against the Dirtbags this year with Hutting throwing out six of the nine base runners who have tried to run against him.
AS CLOSE AS IT GETS
Last weekend's series against Indiana was not for the faint of heart and Tuesday's game at LMU was no different. LMU went up 4-3 in the third and wiggled out of multiple bases loaded jams to preserve that one run lead and turn it into a victory. All three games over the weekend were tied heading into the ninth and all three were ultimately decided by one run. The Dirtbags came away with two walkoff wins in the bottom of the ninth while Indiana salvaged the trip with an extra innings win on Saturday. The last time the Dirtbags played three consecutive one run games was in 2012 when they head three such stretches. Only one of those three-game stretches came in a single series and the results were not as positive. The Dirtbags lost three times to Oregon in 2012 by one run - 5-4, 3-2 and 8-7. To make last weekend's series even more dramatic, the teams combined for just 13 runs all weekend long. The Dirtbags took the 7-6 advantage with the pair of wins.
PATRON ON A ROLL
Freshman Garrett Hampson saw his 10-game hit streak come to an abrupt end as he drew a walk in the eighth inning of Sunday's game, finishing 0-for-3 for the day. His streak is the longest by any Dirtbag so far this year and is second only to Ino Patron over the past two years. Patron had an 11-game hit streak in 2013 and has put together a nice stretch of hitting this season after starting 0-for-9. Patron did not record a hit against Vanderbilt but has at least one hit in 13 of the 15 games since then, including the last six consecutively. His six-game hit streak is the longest active streak for the Dirtbags and included a three-game stretch of multi-hit games. In fact, if you throw out the Vanderbilt series, Patron is hitting .344 with 17 RBI and a .557 slugging percentage. Both he and Richard Prigatano have reached base safely in each of the last 11 games while Hampson has done so in 12 straight.
YES, WE'RE REALLY CALLED THAT
The OFFICIAL nickname of the Long Beach State baseball program is the Dirtbags.
