Long Beach State University Athletics
Dirtbags Make First Road Trip To No. 4 UCLA
2/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Long Beach State Game Notes 
THE MATCHUP
· Long Beach State heads to Jackie Robinson Stadium for the first of two midweek matchups with UCLA this season. Last year, the two teams split four games with UCLA taking the midweek game in LA and Long Beach taking a weekend split series 2-1.
· The Dirtbags are 42-61 against the Bruins all-time but lead the series 29-27 since 1989.
· Both teams send newcomers to the mound with JC transfer Ryan Cruz taking the ball for the Beach and freshman Griffin Canning starting for the Bruins.
CRUZ-ING INTO TUESDAY NIGHT
· Ryan Cruz is coming off of a solid Tuesday night start against Pepperdine last week. He threw five shutout innings and allowed just one hit and a walk while striking out nine. Both the hit and walk came in the second inning. Otherwise, Cruz threw four 1-2-3 innings.
· Cruz also pitched three innings out of the bullpen during opening weekend but surrendered a run to Michigan.
FRIEDRICHS IS BIG WEST PITCHER OF THE WEEK
· Senior Kyle Friedrichs earned his first career Big West Pitcher of the Week honors after a dominant Friday night performance last week.
· Friedrichs struck out 12 without issuing a walk in a career-best night on the mound.
· He surrendered two runs in the first but retired 10 batters in a row from the second to the fifth with eight going down on a strikeout.
· Friedrichs is the first Dirtbags to post back-to-back double digit strikeout starts since Andrew Liebel did it in the first two weekends of the 2008 season.
SPEAKING OF STRIKEOUTS
· Long Beach State pitchers have racked up the strikeout numbers early this season. Through the first four games, the Dirtbags had 51 strikeouts in 37 innings, which equated to the third-highest average of strikeouts per nine innings in the nation.
· Friedrichs leads the Dirtbags with 22 strikeouts in 13 innings. He had just 24 Ks in 26.1 innings last year out of the bullpen.
· Tanner Brown has 14 strikeouts in his first two starts and Ryan Cruz fanned 12 over his first eight innings of work to start the season.
2 RUNS OR LESS
· Long Beach State pitchers gave up 2 runs or less in 28 contests last year with the Dirtbags posting a 26-2 record in those game. This year, the Dirtbags look to be on pace to similar numbers as they have allowed just two runs in five of the seven games this year.
· LBSU is 5-0 when limiting its opponents to two runs this year.
PRACTICING PATIENCE
· The Dirtbags are showing a patient approach at the plate to the tune of a .385 team on base percentage. That ranks second in the Big West despite having the eighth-best team batting average.
· Seven of the nine regular starters this season get on base over one third of the time with over a .350 OBP. Five starters are over .400 and Rivera leads the way with a .533 OBP.
· In the first seven games, the Dirtbags have already drawn double digit walks in two contests - 11 against Michigan on Feb. 13 and 12 against Utah Valley on Feb. 22.
RIVERA ON FIRE
· Junior Zack Rivera had a breakout week last week, hitting .455 and slugging .818. He narrowly missed two home runs in over the deep Blair Field fences but instead ended up with a double and a triple.
· Rivera ran his RBI total up to seven thanks to a career-best four RBI day on Friday against Utah Valley. With two doubles and a triple in the series he is now slugging .652 for the season and has three stolen bases.
· Rivera's season-opening six-game hit streak was snapped on Sunday as Utah Valley began to pitch around him. Rivera was walked in five of his last seven at-bats this weekend.
HAMPSON ON THE MOVE
· Sophomore Garrett Hampson was just 9-for-15 in stolen base attempts last year but has been on the move early and often this season. He is 6-for-6 this year.
· Hampson swiped five bags last week with both him and Zack Domingues getting a pair of stolen bases in Friday's comeback win.
· Hampson also has a six-game hit streak, the longest on the team and has pushed his batting average up to .304.
DIRTBAGS IN SPRING TRAINING
· Once again, Long Beach State led all of college baseball with 14 alumni in the Major Leagues in 2014.
· This year, 16 Dirtbags will start the MLB Spring Training either on a 40-man roster or as a non-roster invitee to the big league camp.
· Adam Wilk signed a minor league contract with the Angels over the winter with an invitation to camp. He joins Jered Weaver and Cesar Ramos in the Angels camp.
· Branden Pinder was added to the Yankees 40-man roster just before the Rule 5 Draft and will open the season there. Shane Peterson also remains on a 40-man roster. He was claimed off waiver but the Cubs over the winter. Chicago placed him back on waiver just days later when he was picked up by the Brewers. He will start the season on the Brewers 40-man and will compete for an outfield spot.
· Another Dirtbag on the move was Marco Estrada, who was traded by the Brewers to the Toronto Blue Jays this offseason.
· Major League mainstay Jason Giambi recently announced his retirement from playing baseball after a 19-year career in the MLB. He is the longest tenured Dirtbag in the MLB, topping the 16-year careers of both Steve Traschel and Chris Gomez.
WE ARE THE DIRTBAGS
· The OFFICIAL nickname of the Long Beach State baseball program is the Dirtbags.
