Long Beach State University Athletics
Darren McCaughan Wins Big West Pitcher of the Week
4/24/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
LONG BEACH, Calif. - Junior RHP Darren McCaughan was named Big West Pitcher of the Week on Monday, recognizing his complete game shutout of UC Irvine last Friday. The Downey native has now thrown consecutive complete games, and his shutout of UCI was the second of his career. This is the first weekly award for McCaughan this season after winning twice as a sophomore.
The reigning Big West Pitcher of the Year has really hit his stride over his last three starts, going at least 8.0 innings in all three outings with 24 combined strikeouts and no walks. He is 3-0 in his last three trips to the rubber, shaving almost a full point off his ERA from 3.51 to 2.53. It's been over 36 innings since McCaughan last walked a batter, and he's racked up 32 strikeouts during that time.
In Friday's 4-0 shutout at UC Irvine, McCaughan allowed just three hits while striking out five. Only one UCI batter reached scoring position in the game as he guided LBSU to the first of three wins last weekend. McCaughan didn't have much cushion, either; it was a 1-0 game for most of the night until LBSU put up three insurance runs in the ninth inning.
His shutout of UC Irvine was the first for Long Beach State since May 14, 2016, when McCaughan shut out San Jose State at Blair Field. The Dirtbags pitching staff now has eight total shutouts on the season, which puts Long Beach State in a tie for the nation's lead along with Clemson, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisville, and Oregon State.
McCaughan has thrown at least 6.0 innings in all 10 of his outings this year, registering eight quality starts. He currently ranks first in the Big West in opponent's batting average (.186), second in innings pitched (74.2) and wins (5), and third in ERA (2.53) and strikeouts (66).
