Dirtbags Back At Home To Host CSUN

April 1, 2015

Long Beach State Game Notes

Thursday, April 2
CSUN at Long Beach State

Time:6 p.m.
Location:Blair Field
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Friday, April 3
CSUN at Long Beach State

Time:6 p.m.
Location:Blair Field
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Saturday, April 4
CSUN at Long Beach State

Time: 2p.m.
Location:Blair Field
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THE MATCHUP

Long Beach State stays at home this weekend to host CSUN in a three-game Big West series.
The Dirtbags are 73-60 all-time against the Matadors and took two of three from CSUN last in Northridge.
The Dirtbags have not lost a series to CSUN during head coach Troy Buckley's tenure, winning all four previous series 2-1.
The last CSUN series win came in 2010 when the Matadors swept the Beach at Matador Field. The last time the Matadors took a series at Blair Field was 2001.
CSUN had one of the best starts in the Big West and currently stand at 20-8 after a series loss to Cal State Fullerton in its first Big West series. With a 2.31 team ERA, the Matadors have the second lowest ERA in the conference to go along with the third-highest batting average (.276).

SHIFTING UP A DAY

The Dirtbags/CSUN series will begin on Thursday due to the Easter holiday on Sunday. First pitch on Thursday will be at 6 p.m., followed by a 6 p.m. first pitch on Friday. The series wraps up on Saturday at 2 p.m.

FRIEDRICHS CLAIMS ANOTHER WEEKLY AWARD

Kyle Friedrichs had the most dominant performance of his career to earn the Big West Pitcher of the Week honor for the second time this year. He is the first repeat winner of the season.
Friedrichs' 13-strikeout, two-hit, complete game shutout win made him the first Dirtbag to win two Pitcher of the Week awards in a single season since Andrew Gagnon won it twice in 2011.

MIDWEEK WALKOFF

The Dirtbags had their second walkoff win of the season on Tuesday when Zack Rivera drove in Joey Sanchez to defeat UNLV in the ninth inning.
Chris Mathewson delivered the first walkoff of the season with a pinch hit single in the 12th against Cal State Fullerton on Mar. 20.
Both walkoffs scored the winning run from second. Mathewson's came with one out and Rivera's came with two outs in the ninth.

POWER PITCHING

Kyle Friedrichs' 13-strikeout performance again emphasized that the Dirtbags are one of the nation's top teams in sitting down opposing batters. Friedrichs is the prime example as he has racked up 61 strikeouts, which ranks sixth in the country.
As a team, the Dirtbags fan batters at a rate of 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings -- the sixth highest average in the nation.
Their strikeout to walk ratio is also off the charts, led by Friedrichs 61 Ks to just five walks in 45-plus innings this year. As a team, the Dirtbags own the nation's 12th best strikeout to walk ratio.
Dirtbags starting pitchers have tallied 148 strikeouts this year for a rate of 9.4 per nine innings. The starters total number of strikeouts in 141 and two-thirds innings is only 15 Ks less than all of UC Irvine's pitching staff, which ranks last in the Big West with 163 strikeouts 221 innings pitched.

STINGY ON THE MOUND

Stingy may be the best word to describe the Long Beach State pitching staff this season. The Dirtbags lead the nation in hits allowed per nine innings (6.54), and have put together a 2.75 team ERA, which ranks 26th in the nation.
Opponents are hitting just .203 against the Dirtbags pitchers.
The UCSB Gauchos came into last weekend's series hitting .307 as a team but saw their team batting average drop nine points as they managed only 18 hits in the three-game series.
In 24 games this season, the Dirtbags have held their opponents to three runs or less 16 times, including four shutouts. Opposing lineups have tallied more than five runs only five times this year.
The starting pitchers for Long Beach State are even stingier, allowing only 6.4 hits per nine innings and holding the opposition to a .201 batting average.

RIVERA AWAKENS

The Dirtbags RBI-leader Zack Rivera ended a seven-game drought with a pair of RBI this weekend and now has four over the last three games.
Prior to singling in Garrett Hampson in the first inning of last Saturday's game, Rivera had gone seven games without driving in a run but still led the team with 12 coming into the weekend.
Rivera drove in another run on Sunday, two more on Tuesday, and now leads the squad with 16 RBI. His final RBI was Tuesday's game-winner in the bottom of the ninth.
He also went 3-for-3 on Saturday to help raise his batting average to .287. He leads the Dirtbags with six doubles, two homers and nine extra base hits. He is also second on the squad with 12 runs scored.

SANCHEZ'S BREAKOUT GAME

Freshman Joey Sanchez reached safely three out of four times on Tuesday, scored three runs and drove in the other two in the Dirtbags win over UNLV on Tuesday.
Sanchez was hit by a pitch to start the game-winning rally in the bottom of the ninth and scored from second on Rivera's single with two outs.
The freshman hit his second double of the season as to tie up the game in the fourth. He found the left center gap to score two runs and make the score 3-3.

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