Long Beach State University Athletics
Dirtbags Entertain San Diego State For Tuesday Clash
4/26/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Tuesday, Apr. 26
Long Beach State vs. San Diego State
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Long Beach, Calif. (Blair Field)
Listen | | Tickets
LAST TIME OUT
• The Dirtbags suffered a disappointing series loss at UC Riverside, dropping the first two games to the Highlanders on walk-off singles in the ninth inning. It's just the second series loss for LBSU this season, and sent the Dirtbags on a season-long four-game losing streak.
• Long Beach State did salvage the final game of the series on Sunday thanks to an eight-run fourth inning, which included a pair of doubles from Luke Rasmussen. The sophomore DH had a career high four hits in the game including three doubles, leading the Beach to a 10-7 win.
• For the first time in over three years, the Dirtbags scored double-digit runs in consecutive games. The 13 runs scored in Saturday's defeat are the most scored by a Dirtbags team in a loss since 2010, and the most overall since 2013. The 23 runs is the largest two-game total for LBSU since 2011.
• Saturday's game saw a total of 12 runs scored in the final two innings, with the Dirtbags and Highlanders each scoring four runs in the eighth. Daniel Jackson put the Dirtbags ahead 10-9 in the eight inning, capping off a stretch of six unanswered runs for LBSU with a two-run homer.
SCOUTING THE AZTECS
• San Diego State will look to take both games of the season series with the Dirtbags after winning the first meeting on Apr. 5 in San Diego. That matchup lasted 12 innings, with the Aztecs taking a 6-5 walk-off win on a single by Andrew Brown.
• SDSU is coming off a series loss at New Mexico, where the Aztecs lost the first two games of a high scoring series. The Aztecs were able to salvage the finale with a 10-9 win on Sunday to improve their road record to 4-10 this season.
• SS Alan Trejo is the catalyst for the SDSU offense. The sophomore is hitting a team-best .344 on the season with 23 RBIs. Tyler Adkison leads the Aztecs in extra-base hits with 16, including four home runs, and he leads the squad with a .484 slugging percentage.
K's FOR DAYS
• Junior RHP Austin McGeorge has been a strikeout machine out of the Dirtbags bullpen, striking out 56 batters in 33.0 innings of work. That's a rate of 15.3 strikeouts per nine innings and McGeorge has struck out 45.9% of the batters he's faced this season.
• The Anaheim, Calif. native is tied for first in the Big West in appearances, appearing in 21 games this season out of the bullpen. He has compiled an ERA of 0.82 with a save, allowing just a single run in three of his 21 trips to the mound.
FRESH LINEUP
• After starting junior SS Garrett Hampson in the leadoff spot for 36 straight games, the Dirtbags made a change in the second game of the UC Riverside series, moving freshman Jarren Duran to the leadoff spot for the first time in his career with senior Zack Domingues hitting second and Hampson in the No. 3 spot.
• The change yielded 23 runs over two games against the Highlanders, with all three players recording two hits and three runs scored in the first game with the new batting order. In the two games combined, the trio combined to hit .320 with 12 runs, eight RBIs and six walks.
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 he 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 is now second on the team with four home runs and 16 RBIs in 72 at bats, slugging .569 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 .368 with a 1.058 OPS through 26 games this year, making 19 starts behind home plate. He also recorded his first career home run vs. Columbia and now has three dingers, ranking fourth on the team in RBIs with 15.
• Banuelos also has six multi-hit games on the year and five multi-RBI games. In his last 14 starts, he has 18 hits, seven runs, three home runs, 15 RBIs and nine walks. He's reached base safely in 14 straight starts, reaching base multiple times in 12 of those games.
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.
• Marco Estrada (TOR) and Pinder (NYY) brought the 2016 running total of Dirtbags in the MLB to 10, with Jared Hughes (PIT) also set to return to the big league roster soon.
WE ARE THE DIRTBAGS
• The OFFICIAL nickname of the Long Beach State baseball program is the Dirtbags.
