Long Beach State University Athletics
LBSU Resumes Big West Action with Weekend Series at CSUN
4/7/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Friday, Apr. 8
No. 20 Long Beach State at CSUN
Time: 3 p.m.
Location: Northridge, Calif. (Matador Field)
Listen | | Watch (BigWest.TV)
Saturday, Apr. 9
No. 20 Long Beach State at CSUN
Time: 1 p.m.
Location: Northridge, Calif. (Matador Field)
Listen |
Sunday, Apr. 10
No. 20 Long Beach State at CSUN
Time: 1 p.m.
Location: Northridge, Calif. (Matador Field)
Listen |
LAST TIME OUT
• Long Beach State played its longest game of the season, playing 12 innings and nearly five full hours of baseball at San Diego State. Despite taking a few early leads, the Dirtbags offense stalled after the fifth inning, and eventually the bullpen surrendered the walk-off to the Aztecs in a 6-5 defeat. It was the first extra innings loss for the Dirtbags in three tries.
• Daniel Jackson delivered a three-run home run in the fifth inning, which is his second long ball of the season in just 10 games.
• The Dirtbags used a total of 21 players in the midweek marathon, including seven pitchers. None of who worked more than two innings on the mound.
SCOUTING THE MATADORS
• CSUN was the hottest Big West team out of the gates this season, winning 10 games in a row at one point to get off to a 13-4 start. They also have a season sweep of UCLA to their credit after winning 4-1 Tuesday on the road. That victory snapped a four-game skid.
• The Matadors opened Big West play on the road against defending champs Cal State Fullerton, and were swept by the host Titans.
• The right side of the Matadors infield has anchored the lineup, with second baseman Fred Smith (.357) and first baseman Branden Berry (.340) standing out as the leading hitters in the batting order. Berry also leads the team with six home runs and 24 RBIs hitting out of the No. 3 spot in the lineup.
• The rotation hasn't been bad for CSUN either, with Friday starter Kenny Rosenberg winning Big West Pitcher of the Week honors twice this season, and Sunday starter Angel Rodriguez winning once himself.
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.
• The first baseman has stayed hot, hitting .419 in his first 10 games, making nine starts. After a three-run home run at San Diego State, his slugging percentage is up to .677 and he has nine RBIs in just 31 at bats.
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 14 appearances, producing a 0.78 ERA in 23.0 innings with a remarkable 39 strikeouts.
• The LBSU bullpen has been solid this season, throwing 23.1 innings before allowing its first earned run. Relievers have thrown 97.2 innings with a 2.03 ERA, surrendering 73 hits and 36 walks while recording 12 saves and 105 strikeouts.
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.
