Winning Streaks Collide For Baseball Black & Blue Rivalry

April 8, 2015

Friday, April 10
Long Beach State at UC Irvine
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Location: Irvine, Calif. (Anteater Ballpark)
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Saturday, April 11
Long Beach State at UC Irvine
Time: 1 p.m.
Location: Irvine, Calif. (Anteater Ballpark)
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Sunday, April 12
Long Beach State at UC Irvine
Time: 1 p.m.
Location: Irvine, Calif. (Anteater Ballpark)
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THE MATCHUP

Long Beach State remains on the road this weekend for a key three-game series at UC Irvine. The Dirtbags are 53-64-1 all-time against UCI.
Last year, the Dirtbags swept the Anteaters at Blair Field to close out the regular season. Both team ended up in the postseason field of 64 with at-large bids.
Both programs enter the series riding win streak as the Dirtbags are riding a five-game win streak while league-leading UC Irvine owns a 13-game winning streak.
UCI leads the Big West with 48 runs scored in its first six games while the Dirtbags have allowed just 10 runs to score in their first six games, which is the least among teams that have played six Big West games.
The Anteaters have scored in double digits in four of their last five games, scoring 55 runs over that five game span. They are hitting .288 as a team and own a 4.04 team ERA.

BEST START UNDER BUCKLEY

At 18-10 on the season, the Dirtbags are off to their best start under head coach Troy Buckley. Previously, Buckley's best mark at the halfway point of the season was 15-13 in 2011.
The last time the Dirtbags were eight games above .500 at this point of the season was 2008. The '08 Dirtbags were also 18-10 and went on to host an NCAA Regional after clinching the Big West's AQ.

BROWN TAKES TURN AS PITCHER OF THE WEEK

Junior Tanner Brown was selected as the Big West's Pitcher of the Week for his two-hit shutout performance last Friday. He struck out seven and issued only one walk but faced the minimum over the final five innings.
Brown retired 14 batters in a row between the fourth and the ninth. After the Dirtbags scored the game's only run in the fourth inning, he sat down 12 in a row and picked off the only runner to reach base to end the game.
All three weekend starters have now earned Pitcher of the Week honors from the Big West with Kyle Friedrichs winning the award twice. After Brown completed the rotation sweep of the award, the Dirtbags have won it four out of the eight weeks this year.

THREE RUNS ON 13 HITS

Three runs on 13 hits sounds more like a single game line with the pitching staff constantly escaping jams. However, that was the Dirtbags pitching line from last weekend.
Over 27 innings, the Dirtbags held CSUN to just three runs on 13 hits.
It is the second-best series performance of the season for the Dirtbags pitching staff. With the help of a no-hitter and a pair of shutouts, the Dirtbags held Wichita State to two runs on nine hits earlier this season.
The Dirtbags continue to be one of the stingiest pitching staffs in the nation. Their 2.68 team ERA ranks 12th in the country while they continue to lead the nation in allowing only 6.43 hits per nine innings.
The pitching staff also ranks second in the country with a 1.02 WHIP and ranks ninth with an average of 9.2 strikeouts per nine innings.

POWER IN THE SOUTH

The Dirtbags head south for a three-game series with UCI this weekend. The Dirtbags have gone south for four games this year (three at Arizona State and Tuesday at San Diego State).
In those four games, the Dirtbags have found a power stroke as four of their five home runs this year have come in those four games.
Zack Rivera homered in both Phoenix and San Diego. Eric Hutting hit a grand slam in the desert against ASU and Daniel Jackson hit a two-run homer to cap the Dirtbags' four-run first last Tuesday at SDSU. Rivera has also hit a homer at home.

RIVERA'S SURGE

Zack Rivera continued his hot streak with two runs batted in and a solo homer in the 10-5 win at SDSU. Eight of his team-leading 20 RBI have come in the last seven games as he has driven in at least a run in six of those seven.
He is hitting .320 over that stretch with three doubles and a home run.
He leads the team with three home runs this year. No Dirtbags has hit more than three in a season since Joey Terdoslavich hit seven in 2010.

RUN SUPPORT

The Dirtbags have put together an 18-10 record this year mainly behind a strong pitching staff but it has been the offense that has stolen the show in the last two games.
Long Beach State has set season-highs in each of the last two games for runs scored. Saturday's eight-run outburst was the season-high before a couple of homers helped the Dirtbags to 10 runs on Tuesday at SDSU.
Two red hot offenses will face off this weekend as UCI scored 37 runs in its three-game sweep of UC Riverside last weekend.

FROM CESAR RAMOS TO Chris Mathewson

Current Los Angeles Angels pitcher Cesar Ramos and current Dirtbags pitcher Chris Mathewson now share a bond. They are the last two Dirtbags freshmen to go the distance on the mound.
Mathewson went all nine innings of Saturday's 8-1 win, becoming the first freshman to throw a complete since Ramos.
Ramos went all nine innings as a freshman on March 4, 2003. Coincidentally, both pitchers also share the number 27.

LONGEST ROAD TRIP OF THE SEASON CONTINUES

The Dirtbags trip to SDSU on Monday started a five-game road stretch -- the longest of the year for LBSU.
All five games require a quick trip south as the Dirtbags visit UC Irvine this weekend and are back down in San Diego next Tuesday for a midweek matchup with the University of San Diego.
San Diego State was the first unranked team that the Dirtbags have played on the road. With UC Irvine jumping into Collegiate Baseball's top-25 this week, the Dirtbags will have played 10 of their 11 road games against a ranked opponent. Currently, the Dirtbags are 3-5 on the road.

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.

WE ARE THE DIRTBAGS

The OFFICIAL nickname of the Long Beach State baseball program is the Dirtbags.

Calendar

Players Mentioned

Tanner Brown

Kyle Friedrichs

Eric Hutting

Daniel Jackson

Chris Mathewson

Darren McCaughan

Zack Rivera

Long Beach State University Athletics