Dirtbags Back On The Road To Face LMU

April 20, 2015

Tuesday, April 21
Long Beach State at Loyola Marymount
Time:6 p.m.
Location: Los Angeles, Calif.
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THE MATCHUP

Long Beach State and LMU meet for the second time this season on Tuesday. LMU took the first game 7-6 at Blair Field.
The Dirtbags scored twice in the ninth and had the tying run on second before LMU could close the book on the win. The Lions have won the last three meetings in a row.
Long Beach State leads the all-time series with LMU 85-51-2.
The Lions have won their last three midweek games in a row and have won each by a single run.

BACK TO THE ROAD

The Dirtbags had a short stop at home but are back on the road for four more games, starting on Tuesday at LMU.
The four-game road swing is t on the back end of a road-heavy portion of the schedule with nine out of 13 games away from Blair.
After their midweek at LMU, the Dirtbags travel up to Cal Poly.

SANCHEZ HELPS SOLIDIFY SERIES WIN

Freshman Joey Sanchez had a breakout week with a 7-for-10 performance in two starts against UC Riverside last week.
He absolutely caught fire on Saturday with a double, two singles and two more bunt singles in a 5-for-5 performance. He became the first Dirtbag since current Major Leaguer Matt Duffy had five hits in a game in 2011.
The last of this five hits came in a clutch situation as he led off the 10th inning with a single and later scored the winning run on an error.
He had two more hits on Sunday as his batting average went from .233 before the series to where it currently stands at .350.
Sanchez also made another dazzling play in center as he made a diving catch to end the third inning and rob Robby Witt of an RBI-single.

FRESHMEN CONTINUE TO FUEL OFFENSE

The Dirtbags had 11 hits on Saturday and eight came from the bats of Dirtbags freshmen. Sanchez had five, Luke Rasmussen had two and David Banuelos had a pinch hit single.
With Rasmussen and Sanchez in the starting lineup on Saturday, the two freshmen went a combined 7-for-7 and reached base in all nine combined trips to the plate. Rasmussen also drew two walks.
While Sanchez strung together his 5-for-5 day, Rasmussen got the scoring started with a towering solo home run to left. It was his first home run in a Dirtbags uniform and gave the Beach a 1-0 lead in the second.
Brock Lundquist had a 3-for-8 week at the plate but helped along the 10-1 rout of UCR on Sunday with a 2-for-5 day that included a double, two runs batted in, a run scored and his sixth stolen base on the season.
The three freshmen, who have spent the majority of the year as part-time starters, have a combined .340 batting average. Rasmussen is now batting .400 while Sanchez has skyrocketed his average to .350 and Lundquist sits at .295.

ZEROES OUT OF THE PEN

Long Beach State's bullpen provided some more lock down performances last weekend, allowing only one run in six and two-thirds innings.
Logan Lombana allowed only one hit in two relief appearances that spanned two and two-thirds. He almost preserved a shutout on Sunday when he came in with the bases loaded and produced a ground ball to third that the Dirtbags nearly turned into a triple play.
Austin McGeorge faced only seven batters while recording eight outs over two relief appearances.
In his first appearance, Daniel Jackson scooped up a ball in the dirt and threw a runner out trying to take third. It was the only batter McGeorge would face. However, he tossed two and a third scoreless on Saturday to preserve a 3-3 tie. He faced the minimum and struck out the side in the eighth.
Ty Provencher picked up his third win of the year with a scoreless 10th on Saturday.

MATHEWSON NAMED BIG WEST PITCHER OF THE WEEK...AGAIN

For the second week in a row and third time this season, freshman Chris Mathewson has been selected as the Big West Pitcher of the Week. He struck out 10 over eight scoreless innings without issuing a free pass.
He joined an exclusive club with Jered Weaver, Cesar Ramos, Andrew Carpenter and Marcus Jones as the only Dirtbags to claim the award three times in a single season. He is the only freshman in the club.
With Sunday's eight scoreless innings, his scoreless streak now stands at 23 and on-third scoreless innings.

HAMPSON BACK ON THE STREAK

Sophomore Garrett Hampson had an eight-game hit streak snapped at San Diego State two weeks ago but wasted little time in putting another hit streak together.
He had at least a hit in all four games last week, including a 3-for-5 day in the Sunday finale. He hit over .400 for the week and raised his season batting average to a team-leading .307.
He also scored four times last week to raise his total to 28 for the year.
On his current six-game hit streak, Hampson has multiple hits in four games and is hitting .407.

FRESHMEN COMBINE FOR HISTORIC NO-HITTER

March 1, 2015 will be a date forever remembered in the Dirtbags history book as the first no-hitter in school history. Freshmen Chris Mathewson and Darren McCaughan combined for the historic feat with Mathewson throwing the first seven innings and McCaughan tossing the last two. The Dirtbags defeated Wichita State 4-0 in the Sunday afternoon game at Blair Field.

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