Long Beach State University Athletics
No. 20 Dirtbags Head South to Face San Diego State
4/5/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Tuesday, April 5
No. 20 Long Beach State at San Diego State
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: San Diego, Calif. (Tony Gwynn Stadium)
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LAST TIME OUT
• For the first time all season, LBSU came up on the losing end of a weekend series, dropping two of three against a nationally ranked UC Santa Barbara team to start Big West play.
• The offense sputtered against the Gauchos, producing just 2.0 runs per game, but aside from some untimely wild pitches, the pitching staff performed well against the conference's top lineup.
• Garrett Hampson hit his first home run at Blair Field and just the second of his college career with a leadoff shot to left field in Saturday's game. Unfortunately, that was the end of LBSU's offense in game two.
• Senior SP Tanner Brown stole the show on Sunday throwing eight shutout innings while only allowing two hits to UCSB. He faced just two batters over the minimum, striking out five in a 2-0 Dirtbags win. Brown was then named Big West Pitcher of the Week the next day, the first weekly honor for LBSU this season and the second of his career.
SCOUTING THE AZTECS
• San Diego State has struggled this season, coming out of the gates with a 1-10 start. They suffered a home sweep against No. 14 Oregon on opening weekend and have yet to get things on track, going just 4-13 at home this season.
• The Aztecs did earn a marquee win on Mar. 28, going on the road to knock off No. 6 Oregon State, 6-5, in a Monday game. They followed that up with a three-game losing streak, which is how they enter Tuesday's meeting with the Dirtbags.
• The offense is led by Alan Trejo, who is hitting .340 and shares the team lead with 17 RBIs. As a team, the Aztecs aren't very patient at the plate, ranking 283 out of 295 teams with just 65 walks.
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. Now 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.
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 for a .571 batting average. He has started eight games at first base and even recorded a pinch-hit single on Mar. 25 at Fullerton.
RIVERAS ARE CLOSERS
• No pitcher in the nation has more saves than freshman RHP Chris Rivera, who is tied with VCU's Sam Donko for the Division I lead with 11 on the year.
• Aside from his blown save at Oklahoma, Rivera has not allowed a run in his 12 other outings. He has allowed just eight hits and two walks in 13.1 innings and has a 2.92 ERA. He has worked seven perfect innings in his 13 appearances and has successfully protected a one-run lead four times.
PITCHING FACTS
• Sophomore Darren McCaughan has been fantastic this year, finishing one out shy of making quality starts in all seven of his trips to the mound this season. He boasts an ERA of 1.77 and opposing batters are hitting just .175 against him.
• Austin McGeorge struck out seven consecutive batters against Nebraska, throwing five scoreless innings from the 8th-12th, to finish with a career-high nine Ks. McGeorge has been a reliable late game set-up man for head coach Troy Buckley, making a team-high 13 appearances, producing a 0.84 ERA in 21.1 innings with a remarkable 36 strikeouts.
• The LBSU bullpen has been solid this season, throwing 23.1 innings before allowing its first earned run. Relievers have thrown 88.2 innings with a 1.93 ERA, surrendering 67 hits and 29 walks while recording 12 saves and 95 strikeouts.
LEFT SIDE, STRONG SIDE
• The left side of the Dirtbags infield (senior 3B Zack Domingues and junior SS Garrett Hampson) has gotten off to a terrific start. They are the top hitters in the lineup, with Hampson hitting at a .346 clip while starting all 27 games in the leadoff spot. Domingues leads the Dirtbags with a .357 average on the year plus a team-best .471 OBP.
• Hampson leads the team in hits (37), runs (24), walks (15), and stolen bases (12).
• Domingues has been a pleasant surprise offensively after hitting .183 a season ago, and has adjusted to his new position shifting from second base to third base, primarily. Meanwhile, Hampson has been great at shortstop once again with a .991 fielding percentage.
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.
