Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
Dirtbags Scrimmage
Dirtbags Conclude Leadoff Weekend With 3-1 Win Over Alumni
2/4/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The Long Beach State Dirtbags welcomed back alumni for the annual Leadoff Weekend on Jan. 29-31. From the Leadoff Dinner to the golf tournament to the alumni games, alumni from al generations of Long Beach State baseball helped the Dirtbags kick off the 2015 season.
Alumnus and now World Series champion Mat Duffy returned to the Beach as the keynote speaker at the Leadoff Dinner. A handful of current and former major leaguers were in attendance all weekend, including Duffy. Angels pitcher Adam Wilk threw the first inning of the alumni game, facing the minimum after an inning-ending double play.
In the Alumni Game, the Dirtbags won 3-1 over the alumni in a planned 10-inning game. Jared James drove in the first run with a grounder to second in the third inning. Eric Hutting's sacrifice fly scored Garrett Hampson in the fourth and freshman Chris McCready had an inside the park home run in the seventh. Trey Ferketic threw five innings of one-hit ball to hold the alumni off the scoreboard.
Tanner Brown followed up Ferketic with three perfect innings while Keola Paragas struck out the side in the ninth after allowing a leadoff single. The alumni scored in the 10th on a single and a couple of ground balls.
Former major league pitchers Abe Alvarez and Andrew Carpenter each threw an inning for the alumni as did minor league pitchers Josh Frye and Jonathan Maciel. Recent grads Brennen Metzger, TJ Mittelstaedt, Devin Lohman, Richard Prigatano, Michael Hiil, Mike Marjama, Zach Miller, Juan Avila, Ino Patron, Colby Brenner and Colton Vaughn took their turns at the plate and in the field for the alums.
The Dirtbags open the 2015 season on Feb. 13 with the first game of a weekend series with Michigan. First pitch will be at 6 p.m. at Blair Field.
