McCaughan Shuts Down Arizona State, Dirtbags Take Series

Sunday, February 28

Long Beach, Calif.

1:00 PM

Long Beach State University

5-2

Arizona State

5-3

Arizona State

Long Beach State

2/28/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

Feb. 28, 2016

Box Score

Long Beach, Calif. - Sophomore Darren McCaughan had a tough act to follow on Sunday afternoon as he took the ball hoping to replicate the performance of Chris Mathewson from the day before. While McCaughan wasn't as dominant in the strikeout department, the sophomore righthander was actually more effective in mowing through the Arizona State lineup. Making just his fifth career start, McCaughan faced the minimum through 7.1 innings on Sunday, leading Long Beach State (5-2) to a 3-1 win and a series victory over visiting Arizona State (5-3).

"Really good job by McCaughan," said Long Beach State head coach Troy Buckley after the win. "Those two guys the last two games have been really, really good … You can't take pitches off and I think McCaughan was really good. He did a lot of different things just like Mathewson yesterday."

McCaughan (7.1 IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 6K) forced plenty of ground balls from the Sun Devils all afternoon, and was efficient with his pitches. Nine of the first 12 outs he recorded were via the ground ball and he needed just 80 pitches to get through seven full innings. He allowed two players to reach base through seven, but one was eliminated via a 6-4-3 double play, and the other was picked off of first base. McCaughan now sports a team-best 1.26 ERA and opposing batters are hitting just .109 against him.

The Dirtbags infield deserves plenty of credit for another errorless game defensively as 15 of the 27 outs were recorded on ground balls. Zack Domingues at third base was particularly impressive for his work with the glove as he led the team with six assists. Infield mates Garrett Hampson at shortstop and Jarren Duran at second weren't far behind with five apiece.

Hampson got the Dirtbags on the board with tremendous individual effort in the fifth inning. He slapped a one out single to the opposite field, then picked his spot with a perfectly timed delayed steal. Catcher Brian Serven made a throw down to second, but the late-arriving Colby Woodmansee couldn't get to the ball, allowing it to trickle into center field. Hampson would take third on the throwing error and eventually score on a bases loaded sacrifice fly from Brock Lundquist.

Hampson was again involved offensively in the seventh inning as his sacrifice bunt attempt became an infield single thanks to perfect placement down the first base line. That moved Joey Sanchez into scoring position with no outs. After a lineout to left, caught on a great diving play from left fielder Tyler Williams, then a strikeout, it was up to Lundquist for a two-out RBI opportunity.

The power-hitting left fielder, who has struggled so far this season, lined the ball to left, putting it down in front of Williams. With thoughts of another highlight catch, the Sun Devil outfielder was unable to play the ball on a hop as he went to dive for it, allowing it to roll all the way to the fence. Sanchez and Hampson scored easily, and Lundquist was caught trying to stretch his triple into an inside-the-park home run. Still, the damage had been done to give the Dirtbags a 3-0 lead.

Three straight ASU batters reached base with one out in the eighth, chasing McCaughan from the game and cutting the lead to 3-1. Andrew Shaps' RBI single off reliever Austin McGeorge scored Brian Serven, but came at a price as Sebastian Zawada was thrown out trying to go from second to third. That meant McGeorge would only allow one of his two inherited runners to score, preserving the two-run lead for Long Beach State. Freshman Chris Rivera induced three straight groundouts in the ninth to record his third save of the season and second in as many games.

Hampson has now scored eight runs in his last four games for Long Beach State, scoring multiple runs in three of those four contests. Lundquist recorded all three RBIs for the Dirtbags after having just one entering Sunday's game.

LBSU hosts another Pac-12 foe on Tuesday night as USC visits Blair Field. First pitch against the Trojans is scheduled for 6 p.m.

NOTES: The Dirtbags defense has committed just one error through seven games this season, boasting a .996 fielding percentage … By contrast, Long Beach State's opponents have committed 10 errors and are sporting a .961 fielding percentage … Sanchez kept his hitting streak alive with his leadoff single in the seventh. He now has hits in all five of his starts this season and is batting .375, second on the team to Hampson's .407 mark … The Dirtbags bullpen maintained its 0.00 ERA with 1.2 more innings of work on Sunday. LBSU's relievers have now thrown 18.2 innings without allowing an earned run and opponents are hitting just .131 against them.