Long Beach State University Athletics
No. 9 Long Beach State at UC Davis This Weekend
4/27/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Friday, April 28
No. 9 Long Beach State at UC Davis
Time: 2:30 p.m.
Location: Davis, Calif. (Dobbins Stadium)
Listen: KBeach Radio | Live Stats
Saturday, April 29
No. 9 Long Beach State at UC Davis
Time: 1 p.m.
Location: Davis, Calif. (Dobbins Stadium)
Listen: KBeach Radio | Live Stats
Sunday, April 30
No. 9 Long Beach State at UC Davis
Time: 1 p.m.
Location: Davis, Calif. (Dobbins Stadium)
Listen: KBeach Radio | Live Stats
LAST TIME OUT
• The Dirtbags played their final Tuesday home game of the season against UCLA, suffering a 5-1 loss. LBSU took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, but lost starting pitcher AJ Jones to injury in the second inning and the Bruins scored five unanswered runs for the win.
• Senior 1B Daniel Jackson hit his second home run of the season to put the Dirtbags in front in the first. After leading LBSU in home runs with six last season, Jackson's power swing was somewhat late arriving, but he has now hit two home runs in his last four games.
SCOUTING THE AGGIES
• UC Davis has exceeded expectations in Big West play so far, going 5-7 and coming off a series victory at Hawai'i. The Aggies were picked to finish last in the conference in the preseason coaches poll, but have already won as many conference games as they did last season.
• The Aggies have a balanced offensive attack with six players who have played in 30+ games and have a batting average of .287 or better. Junior RF Ryan Hooper leads the team with a .305 average and is hitting .381 during Big West play. Senior 1B Cameron Olson has a team-best five home runs, sophomore OF Ryan Anderson leads the team with 20 RBIs and junior OF Alex Aguilar is UCD's best speed threat with eight stolen bases in 10 attempts.
• Junior LHP Orlando Razo has been the ace of the UC Davis staff this season, twice winning Big West Pitcher of the Week. His second honor came on Apr. 17, following his complete game shutout of Cal Poly, in which he allowed just two hits and struck out 10 Mustangs. Razo has five of his team's 12 victories this season, boasting a 5-2 record in nine starts with a 3.59 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 57.2 innings.
• This is the second straight season that Long Beach State will play a weekend series in Davis. The Dirtbags swept the Aggies in 2016 by a combined margin of 31-5, running LBSU's winning streak up to nine games at the time.
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, shortstop 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.
• Starting out the 2017 season, Long Beach State had 10 former players on Opening Day MLB rosters, tying with Arizona State for the most of any college or university. The former Dirtbags who started the season on big league rosters is: Bryan Shaw (Cleveland), Jason Vargas (Kansas City), Danny Espinosa (Los Angeles (AL)), Jared Hughes (Milwaukee), Jered Weaver (San Diego), Nick Vincent (Seattle), Matt Duffy (Tampa Bay), Evan Longoria (Tampa Bay), Troy Tulowitzki (Toronto), and Marco Estrada (Toronto).
• On Apr. 14, former Dirtbags pitcher Shane Carle was called up to the Colorado Rockies, making his MLB debut the same day in San Francisco. Carle became the 47th former LBSU player to reach the big leagues. Interestingly, Shane Peterson was called up to the Tampa Bay Rays earlier in the day and hit a two-run home run in his first at bat.
WE ARE THE DIRTBAGS
• The OFFICIAL nickname of the Long Beach State baseball program is the Dirtbags.
