Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State Hosts Fordham in Home Opening Series
2/24/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Friday, February 24
Long Beach State vs. Fordham
Time: 6 p.m. (PT)
Location: Long Beach, Calif. (Blair Field)
Listen: KBeach Radio | Live Stats | Tickets
Saturday, February 25
Long Beach State vs. Fordham
Time: 2 p.m. (PT)
Location: Long Beach, Calif. (Blair Field)
Listen: KBeach Radio | Live Stats | Tickets
Sunday, February 26
Long Beach State vs. Fordham
Time: 1 p.m. (PT)
Location: Long Beach, Calif. (Blair Field)
Listen: KBeach Radio | Live Stats | Tickets
LAST TIME OUT
• Long Beach State let one slip away on Tuesday night at USC. The Dirtbags led 2-0 in the eighth and 3-2 in the ninth, but couldn't hold on for the win as the Trojans won with an 11th inning walk-off single.
• Freshman RHP John Castro delivered a terrific debut start for the Dirtbags, working seven scoreless innings allowing six hits and no walks with six strikeouts.
• Junior Luke Rasmussen continued his RBI streak by driving in a run in his fourth straight game to start the season. His ninth inning sacrifice fly gave LBSU a 3-2 lead.
SCOUTING THE RAMS
• Fordham dropped two of three contests against Houston Baptist on opening weekend. The Rams won their opener, but dropped the final two games of the series. The Rams were an even 29-29 in 2016, and have 22 letterwinners back this season.
• Senior SS Luke Stampfl went 9-for-13 in Fordham's opening series to bring a .692 batting average into the weekend. Sophomore first baseman Brian Goulard had a home run and four RBIs and freshman Alvin Melendez added a home run as well.
• The Rams used 13 different pitchers in their opening series, with no one making multiple appearances. This weekend's Saturday starter, Reiss Knehr, threw 3.2 scoreless innings of relief to close out game one of the season and pick up a win.
• This will be the first meeting all-time between Long Beach State and Fordham, a school that formed its baseball program back in 1860.
LOOK WHO'S BACK
• Several position players return in 2017, giving the Dirtbags one of their deepest, most versatile lineups in recent memory. Starters return at seven spots across the diamond, with just the left side of the infield (SS Garrett Hampson and 3B Zack Domingues) needing to be replaced from last year's squad.
• LBSU had eight All-Big West selections last season and five of them return: junior C David Banuelos, senior 1B Daniel Jackson, junior OF Brock Lundquist, junior DH Luke Rasmussen and junior SP Darren McCaughan, who was the Big West Pitcher of the Year in 2016.
• With so many hitters returning, the biggest question marks are with the pitching staff, under the direction of new pitching coach Dan Ricabal who came to the Beach from LMU. McCaughan will anchor the rotation, but senior Dave Smith is the only other pitcher with Division 1 starting experience.
• Sophomore closer Chris Rivera was a Freshman All-American last season, leading the Big West with 13 saves a season ago. He and senior Josh Advocate will be key arms at the back end of the Dirtbags bullpen, which was a strength last season.
WELCOME TO THE BEACH
• Incoming pitchers will necessarily need to make a major impact this season, and a handful will be competing for weekend starting spots. Transfers AJ Jones and John Sheaks bring experience and will be in the mix to start games, as will highly touted LHP Ryan Mauch, who will miss the first few weeks of the season recovering from injury.
• SS Markus Montelongo has big shoes to fill at shortstop, replacing Big West Defensive Player of the Year Garrett Hampson, who was a third round pick in last year's MLB Draft. INF Laine Huffman and Ramsey Romano will vie for playing time at third base.
BLAIR FIELD RENOVATIONS
• The ongoing improvements at Blair Field took a major step forward during the offseason with the construction of the Troy & Danyll Tulowitzki Batting Facility along the right field side of Blair Field.
• Also constructed during the offseason was the Jered Weaver Bullpen beyond the fence in right field. There was also an update to the Dirtbags locker room which includes new lockers, general maintenance and repairs and new designs and graphics on the interior walls to honor the history of Long Beach State Baseball.
• The renovation efforts began prior to last season with the installation of a new outfield fence. The old dimensions of 348-387-400-387-348 were reduced to a slightly more hitter-friendly 335-380-393-380-330 moving from left to right field. The result was an increase in home runs hit at Blair Field from four in 2015 to 23 last season.
USA BASEBALL
• LBSU head coach Troy Buckley was announced as a pitching coach for the 2017 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team this summer. This will be Coach Buckley's first coaching stint with Team USA, becoming the third straight Dirtbags head coach to work with the Collegiate National Team.
• Buckley will join former Dirtbags head coach and LBSU Hall of Famer Dave Snow as a pitching coach with the Collegiate National Team. Coach Snow worked as a pitching coach last season, and 2017 will be his fifth time coaching with the CNT in his career.
• The Dirtbags have also had a player on each of the past two Collegiate National Teams. In 2015, shorstop Garrett Hampson was selected and last summer Darren McCaughan was a pitcher for Team USA. LBSU has had 12 players selected to the Collegiate National Team in its history.
LB IN MLB
• For the seventh straight year, Long Beach State had more players in the major leagues than any other college or university. There were 13 former Dirtbags who played in the Major Leagues in 2016 and the all-time total for Long Beach State is 46 big league representatives.
• When the Chicago Cubs won the World Series, first base coach Brandon Hyde became the third former Dirtbags player in as many seasons to win a ring. Matt Duffy and the San Francisco Giants won the World Series in 2014 and Jason Vargas and the Kansas City Royals were World Champions in 2015.
• It was a very productive year for former Dirtbags in the big leagues, led by Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Marco Estrada, who was named to his first All-Star Game last season.
WE ARE THE DIRTBAGS
• The OFFICIAL nickname of the Long Beach State baseball program is the Dirtbags.
