Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State Faces Road Series at Arizona State
3/9/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Friday, March 10
Long Beach State at Arizona State
Time: 5:30 p.m. (PT)
Location: Phoenix, Ariz. (Phoenix Municipal Stadium)
Live Stream | Listen: KBeach Radio | Live Stats
Saturday, March 11
Long Beach State at Arizona State
Time: 2 p.m. (PT)
Location: Phoenix, Ariz. (Phoenix Municipal Stadium)
Live Stream (Pac-12 Networks) | Listen: KBeach Radio | Live Stats
Sunday, March 12
Long Beach State at Arizona State
Time: 2 p.m. (PT)
Location: Phoenix, Ariz. (Phoenix Municipal Stadium)
Live Stream (Pac-12 Networks) | Listen: KBeach Radio | Live Stats
LAST TIME OUT
• The Dirtbags picked up a huge series win on the road at No. 7 North Carolina. Long Beach State won the first two games of the series with a solid pitching effort, allowing just three runs on 10 hits combined in the first two contests.
• In a battle of former USA Collegiate National Team teammates, Darren McCaughan guided LBSU to a win on Friday night over UNC starter J.B. Bukauaskas. McCuaghan allowed a run in each of the first two innings, but settled in and pitched a season-high 7.0 innings to allow the Dirtbags offense to make the comeback. LBSU scored five times over the final four innings, including three runs in the ninth for a 5-2 victory.
• Junior John Sheaks earned his first win in Saturday's matchup, getting help from a clutch Dirtbags bullpen that stranded seven Tar Heels on base in the final four innings to preserve the win.
• Junior 3B Ramsey Romano was moved up to the No. 2 hole for the UNC series and delivered five hits in the series, recording a double and an RBI in all three games.
SCOUTING THE SUN DEVILS
• ASU enters the weekend at 6-7, losers of four games in a row. The Sun Devils dropped the final two games of their series with Loyola Marymount, then dropped a pair of midweek games to No. 7 Cal State Fullerton. A three-game sweep of Northwestern sparked ASU to a 4-1 start to the year, and they're still the only team to beat No. 1 TCU this season, a team Long Beach State will host on Tuesday, Mar. 14.
• The top two arms in the Arizona State rotation have been very good in the early season. LHP Eli Lingos is 3-0 with an 0.89 ERA in his three starts and LHP Spencer Van Scoyoc boasts a 1.35 ERA in 13.1 innings. Lingos, who has a 20:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio this season, was the Saturday starter in last season's series with the Dirtbags in Long Beach. He lasted 1.1 innings, allowing five hits and two runs to suffer the loss.
• Freshman catcher Lyle Lin is pacing the ASU offense, hitting .423 with a team-best 12 RBIs. Gage Canning has 15 hits and leads the team with 11 runs scored.
• Long Beach State won last year's series vs. Arizona State at Blair Field, winning the final two games after dropping the opener.
TABLESETTERS
• Sophomore 2B Jarren Duran (.348) and Junior 3B Ramsey Romano (.371) have been the top two hitters for Long Beach State this season, and hit 1-2 in the lineup every game at North Carolina.
• Duran is on a five-game hitting streak and has at least one hit in nine of his last 10 games. He is also 6/7 in stolen base attempts. During the Fordham series, he either set or matched his career highs in hits (3), runs (4) and RBIs (4) in a game.
• Romano has played his way into the starting gig at third base, and is currently on a six-game hitting streak. he recorded a double and an RBI in all three games at UNC.
FRESHMEN ON THE HILL
• Freshmen pitchers have been asked to make an immediate impact in the starting rotation, and they've delivered. John Castro and Matt Fields each delivered quality starts in their first career starts for the Dirtbags.
• Castro threw seven shutout innings at USC to make an instant splash for the Beach, taking a no decision on the road in an extra-innings loss.
• Fields is 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA for the Dirtbags, winning in relief at Oklahoma and then finishing off a sweep of Fordham with a win in his first career start on Feb. 26.
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.
