Long Beach State University Athletics
Dirtbags Release 2016 Baseball Schedule
10/20/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
2016 Baseball Schedule
Long Beach, Calif. - Dirtbags fans will get plenty of chances to see their team this season as Long Beach State head coach Troy Buckley releases a schedule heavy on home-field action. Of the 56 games on the 2016 schedule, 33 will be played at the friendly confines of Blair Field. The Dirtbags open the season against Holy Cross on Friday, Feb. 19, and will play 11 of their first 12 games at home.
Seven teams on the upcoming schedule played postseason baseball in 2015, led by College World Series participant and Big West rival Cal State Fullerton. Once again, the Dirtbags and Titans will play a pair of three-game sets this season, with CSUF visiting Blair Field on the final weekend of the regular season in an important conference clash.
"We are excited about this year's schedule," said Buckley, now entering his sixth season. "It is highly competitive as we are playing numerous postseason teams. The balance of Pac-12, Big 10 and Big 12 teams will be great tests and will be exciting for our fans."
After an opening weekend series with Holy Cross (Feb. 19-21), Long Beach State's first road game is in Los Angeles to face UCLA on Feb. 23. The Bruins are one of three Pac-12 schools on the schedule, joining USC and Arizona State. The Sun Devils visit Blair Field for the second weekend of the season (Feb. 26-28) followed by Nebraska (Mar. 4-7).
Aside from a conference series in Hawaii (May 6-8), the Dirtbags make just one trip outside the state of California, heading to Oklahoma for a three-game set with the Sooners, Mar. 11-13. That series kicks off a busy stretch of eight games in 10 days as the Dirtbags return home to host LMU on Tuesday, then begin a four-game weekend series with Columbia on Thursday, Mar. 17.
With limited travel, there are plenty of in-state contests to look forward to in 2016; LBSU has home-and-home agreements for weekday games with UCLA, USC, Fresno State, LMU and San Diego State, plus a mid-conference home series against San Jose State, May 13-15.
Big West play starts on April Fool's Day at Blair Field against UC Santa Barbara. The Dirtbags also host UC Irvine (Apr. 15-17), Cal Poly (Apr. 29-May 1) and Cal State Fullerton (May 26-28).
After getting off to an 8-1 start in 2015, the Dirtbags finished with a 28-26 overall record and an 11-13 mark in Big West play. LBSU returns four All-Big West selections from that team, including Freshman Pitcher of the Year Chris Mathewson, junior shortstop Garrett Hampson, sophomore outfielder Brock Lundquist and sophomore first baseman Luke Rasmussen.
