Long Beach State University Athletics
No. 17 Long Beach State Visits UC Riverside This Weekend
4/21/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Friday, Apr. 22
No. 17 Long Beach State at UC Riverside
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Riverside, Calif. (Riverside Sports Complex)
Listen | | Watch - ESPN3
Saturday, Apr. 23
No. 17 Long Beach State at UC Riverside
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Riverside, Calif. (Riverside Sports Complex)
Listen | | Watch - ESPN3
Sunday, Apr. 24
No. 17 Long Beach State at UC Riverside
Time: 1 p.m.
Location: Riverside, Calif. (Riverside Sports Complex)
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LAST TIME OUT
• LBSU dropped its third straight Tuesday night game on the road with an 8-3 loss at USC. The Trojans hit five home runs in the game, scoring all but one of their runs via the long ball.
• Senior Ty Provencher got his first start of the season on the mound and just the second of his career. He last started a game during the opening weekend of his sophomore season in 2014 against Vanderbilt.
• Alex Muzzi had a pair of hits including an RBI single to put the Dirtbags in front in the second inning, but the Dirtbags couldn't withstand the barrage of homers from the Trojans.
SCOUTING THE HIGHLANDERS
• UCR is an improved bunch under second year head coach Troy Percival. The Highlanders have already matched their season win total from a year ago, and they are one conference win away from equaling their mark from 2015.
• The Highlanders have played a bunch of close games this year, with 14 of their games being decided by just one run. UCR is 4-10 in those games, winning their most recent one-run contest on Tuesday of last week, 5-4, at San Diego. At one point, UCR played 11 straight games that were decided by three runs or fewer.
• Vince Fernandez is the top bat in the Riverside lineup, batting .351 with 25 RBIs to lead the team in both categories. The center fielder also leads the team in hits (47) and runs scored (24).
DARREN TO BE GREAT
• Sophomore SP Darren McCaughan has been one of Long Beach State's best performers this season. The righthander has started the year 6-1 with a 1.78 ERA, making eight quality starts in nine tries. The Dirtbags are 7-2 in his nine starts this year.
• Transitioning from a reliever to a full-time starter, McCaughan has gone at least 5.2 innings in all of his starts and has not allowed more than three runs in any appearance. On four separate occasions he has pitched seven or more innings while allowing one run or fewer.
• Because of his great start, McCaughan was one of 60 players across the country included on USA Baseball's midseason watch list for the 2016 Golden Spikes Award. The honor is given to the best amateur baseball player in the country, and McCaughan has made it further in the process than any Dirtbag since Andrew Liebel in 2008. Evan Longoria was a finalist for the award in 2006 and Jered Weaver was Long Beach State's lone winner back in 2004.
DAMN, DANIEL
• Junior Daniel Jackson missed the first 18 games of the season recovering from a shoulder injury, but returned with a bang against Columbia on Mar. 19 in his season debut, hitting a go-ahead, two-run single in the victory.
• Jackson followed that up with a two-run home run the next day, part of a three-RBI game vs. the Lions and recorded a hit in each of his first five games this season.
• The first baseman stayed hot, hitting .395 in his first 13 games, making 12 starts. He has three home runs and 11 RBIs in 59 at bats, slugging .525 so far this season.
BANNY BEING BANNY
• Sophomore catcher David Banuelos has really improved his offensive numbers this season. After hitting .118 in 18 games as a freshman in 2015, he is hitting .365 with a .468 OBP through 24 games this year, making 17 starts behind home plate. He also recorded his first career home run vs. Columbia and now has two dingers, ranking third on the team in RBIs with 13.
• Banuelos also has five multi-hit games in his last eight starts, and going back over his last 11 starts, he has 13 RBIs on five extra-base hits, going 15-for-29 at the plate.
• Fueling that production is his ability with runners in scoring position. Banuelos is hitting .500 in those run-producing situations, and is also batting over .500 with runners on base.
RANKINGS UPDATE
• The Dirtbags entered the national Top 25 rankings on Mar. 14 after going 3-1 vs. Fresno State and Oklahoma. Baseball America ranked Long Beach State at No. 24 in the country and D1Baseball.com's poll had LBSU at No. 22 in the nation. Two weeks later, LBSU moved up as high as No. 16 in the D1Baseball poll and No. 17 in the Baseball America rankings.
• It is the first time Baseball America has ranked the Dirtbags in the Top 25 since the final poll of the 2008 season.
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
• Long Beach State was picked to finish third in the Big West by the conference's coaches, anticipating a healthy jump from last season's sixth-place finish. Interestingly, the Dirtbags were also given three first-place votes, just one fewer than preseason favorite, and defending champion, Cal State Fullerton.
• The Dirtbags had two players--junior shortstop Garrett Hampson and sophomore starting pitcher Chris Mathewson--earn Preseason All-American accolades going into the 2016 campaign. It's the first time a Beach player has earned that distinction since Danny Espinosa in 2008.
A NEW BLAIR FIELD
• The 2016 season will be the first played at a modified Blair Field. The multi-phase renovation project began in January of this year with the construction of a new outfield fence that is closer to the batter's box. The old dimensions of 348-387-400-387-348 have been reduced to a slightly more hitter-friendly 335-380-393-380-330 moving from left to right field.
• The new fence is part of the initial phase of the renovations, which will also include a new state-of-the-art batting facility down the right field line, new bullpens behind the outfield walls, a new home clubhouse, grandstand renovations and much more. The estimated total cost of the project is $17 million.
LB IN MLB
• For the sixth straight year, Long Beach State had more players in the major leagues than any other university. The 2015 total for Dirtbags in the bigs was 16, up from 14 players in 2014. • Branden Pinder became the 46th former Dirtbag to get the call, having a productive year in the bullpen for the New York Yankees.
• After the Kansas City Royals claimed the World Series title, Jason Vargas became the second straight Dirtbag to win a world championship ring. Third baseman Matt Duffy won a ring with the San Francisco Giants in 2014.
• Playing his first full season in the majors in 2015, Duffy finished second in National League Rookie of the Year voting, finishing behind Kris Bryant of the Chicago Cubs.
• The 2016 MLB season began with eight former Dirtbags on Opening Day rosters, with plenty more waiting in the wings either on the DL or in Triple-A. Troy Tulowitzki launched the first home run of the 2016 season for Toronto, and Duffy had a homer and 4 RBIs in his Opening Day.
WE ARE THE DIRTBAGS
• The OFFICIAL nickname of the Long Beach State baseball program is the Dirtbags.
