Long Beach State University Athletics
LBSU Hosts Non-Conference Series with San Jose State
5/12/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Friday, May 13
Long Beach State vs. San Jose State
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Long Beach, Calif. (Blair Field)
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Saturday, May 14
Long Beach State vs. San Jose State
Time: 2 p.m.
Location: Long Beach, Calif. (Blair Field)
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Sunday, May 15
Long Beach State vs. San Jose State
Time: 1 p.m.
Location: Long Beach, Calif. (Blair Field)
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LAST TIME OUT
• The Dirtbags snagged a series win in Hawai'i by winning the final two games after dropping the opener. It was a closely contested series, but the Dirtbags offense racked up 41 hits and got some clutch bullpen work from Ty Provencher and Austin McGeorge to get two needed wins.
• A five-run fourth inning proved to be LBSU's downfall in the series opener, and the Beach could never recover from a Hawai'i 5-0 lead. Starter Chris Mathewson allowed career highs in hits (9) and runs (6) in the loss.
• The Dirtbags were one off their season high with 20 hits, but couldn't cash in for many runs until extra innings. LBSU scored seven times in the top of the 12th for the 11-4 victory, capped off by a three-run home run by Garrett Nelson. Provencher worked the final 3.1 innings for the win, stranding the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to keep the game alive.
• LBSU scored a run in the ninth inning of Sunday's finale to pull ahead for a 4-3 win. Zack Domingues' sac fly scored pinch runner Zack Rivera for the winning run. McGeorge worked the final four innings, allowing two hits and a walk but keeping UH off the scoreboard to pick up his first win of the season.
SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
• SJSU currently sits at the bottom of the Mountain West Conference standings, with a league record of 6-21. The Spartans haven't been great on the road this year, dropping three-fourths of their road contests to the tune of a 6-18 away record.
• This will be San Jose State's third series against a Big West foe this season. The Spartans split a four-game set with UC Irvine to open their schedule, then took two of three games at Cal Poly at the beginning of April.
• Offensively, the Spartans are led by 1B Shane Timmons (.335 AVG) and 2B Ozzy Braff, who leads SJSU in several categories. Braff is tops on the team in home runs (6), extra-base hits (21), slugging percentage (.511), walks (18) and stolen bases (7), among other categories.
• Pitching has been the issue for San Jose State, as the team's ERA (6.33) is nearly three runs higher than LBSU's mark of 3.39. Also, every pitcher who has made more than one start for the Spartans has an ERA of over 5.00. Perhaps the most telling stat of their struggles on the mound is that opposing batters are hitting .328 against Spartan pitchers this season.
KEEPIN' IT 200
• With a bunt single in the ninth inning of Sunday's game, Garrett Hampson became the 12th player in Long Beach State history to reach 200 career hits.
• Hampson is tied with former big leaguer Brad Davis at the 200 hit mark, and is within range of other MLB award winners Bobby Crosby and Jason Giambi on the all-time LBSU hits list.
• The junior shortstop has recorded at least 62 hits in all three of his seasons in Long Beach, starting all 160 games since he stepped foot on campus. He has a career batting average of .308 and 41 of his hits are for extra bases: 32 doubles, seven triples and two home runs.
LUKE WARM
• Sophomore DH Luke Rasmussen has been on an absolute tear lately. He's on a 12-game hitting streak and has reached base safely in 18 straight. He has also recorded multiple hits in seven of his last nine contests.
• Over those nine games, he is batting .488 (20-for-41) with 12 RBIs, six runs, five doubles, a stolen base and a slugging percentage of .610. The Dirtbags are 7-2 during that stretch, scoring nearly seven runs per game.
• Rasmussen had the go-ahead RBIs in all three games vs. Cal Poly, and he is the team leader in home runs (5), RBIs (36) and doubles (12) and his RBI mark is good for second in the Big West.
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 has now recorded enough at bats to qualify as the team's leading hitter (.343 AVG) and he's also second on the team in home runs (4) and tied for second in RBIs (22).
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.
• On May 1, Long Beach State held a special groundbreaking ceremony to begin construction on Phase II of the renovations. The second phase is a $2.8 million project to construct a new batting facility along right field and a three-mound bullpen beyond the right field fence.
• The Troy & Danyll Tulowitzki Batting Facility and the Jered Weaver Bullpen are expected to be completed in November of this year.
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.
