Long Beach State University Athletics
Big West Champion Dirtbags Conclude Regular Season at Fullerton
5/24/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Thursday, May 25
No. 7 Long Beach State at No. 14 Cal State Fullerton
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Fullerton, Calif. (Goodwin Field)
WatchESPN | Listen: KBeach Radio | Live Stats
Friday, May 26
No. 7 Long Beach State at No. 14 Cal State Fullerton
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Fullerton, Calif. (Goodwin Field)
WatchESPN | Listen: KBeach Radio | Live Stats
Saturday, May 27
No. 7 Long Beach State at No. 14 Cal State Fullerton
Time: 7 p.m. (Fox Sports Prime Ticket)
Location: Fullerton, Calif. (Goodwin Field)
Listen: KBeach Radio | Live Stats
LAST TIME OUT
• Long Beach State clinched a Big West Conference championship with a sweep of Hawai'i last weekend. It's the first conference title for the Dirtbags since 2008 and the first outright championship since 2003.
• The Dirtbags won a pair of 2-1 games to start and end the series, getting strong starts from Darren McCaughan and Dave Smith, respectively. Both starters went 8.0 innings, setting a new career high for Smith, and allowed just one run combined as they each picked up their eighth win of the season.
• Smith was named Big West Pitcher of the Week on the strength of his performance, picking up the first weekly honor of his career. The senior had a perfect Senior Day at Blair Field as the Dirtbags would later celebrate when Cal State Fullerton lost at CSUN to clinch the conference title for Long Beach State.
SCOUTING THE TITANS
• Cal State Fullerton enters the weekend in second place in the Big West standings, tied with Cal Poly at 14-7 in conference play. While they are out of the title hunt, the Titans will be preparing for an impending at-large selection to the NCAA Regionals next weekend.
• OF Scott Hurst has paced Fullerton offensively this season, leading the team with a .338 batting average, 10 home runs and 36 RBIs. Hurst was the Big West Player of the Week last week, led by his monster game at CSUN last Saturday, when he was 5-for-5 with four home runs and seven runs batted in, helping the Titans score a 16-7 victory.
• Supporting Hurst in the lineup is 2B Sahid Valenzuela, who is hitting .337, and 1B Dillon Persinger who has a team-leading 14 stolen bases.
• Cal State Fullerton once again has a strong pitching staff, led by ace Connor Seabold, who has a 9-4 record with a 2.93 ERA. Seabold has been a workhorse for the Titans this year, tossing 101.1 innings with 97 strikeouts against 19 walks. He has two complete games in his 14 starts, including a shutout. Closer Brett Conine boasts a 1.26 ERA in 26 appearances with 12 saves, striking out 34 batters in 35.2 innings.
• Long Beach State swept Cal State Fullerton when the teams met Mar. 24-26 at Blair Field. When these teams met last season at Goodwin Field, the Dirtbags took two of three from the Titans, winning LBSU's first series at Fullerton since the 2007 season.
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 47 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.
