Long Beach State University Athletics
Dirtbags Host No. 9 Ole Miss for Weekend Series
3/1/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Complete LBSU Game Notes 
| Ole Miss Game Notes
Friday, March 2
Long Beach State vs. No. 9 Ole Miss
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Bohl Diamond at Blair Field
Beach Vision Live Stream | Listen: 22 West Radio | Live Stats
Saturday, March 3
Long Beach State vs. No. 9 Ole Miss
Time: 2 p.m.
Location: Bohl Diamond at Blair Field
Beach Vision Live Stream | Listen: 22 West Radio | Live Stats
Sunday, March 4
Long Beach State vs. No. 9 Ole Miss
Time: 11:30 a.m.
Location: Bohl Diamond at Blair Field
Beach Vision Live Stream | Listen: 22 West Radio | Live Stats
LAST TIME OUT
• After dropping two of three at TCU, the Dirtbags split a pair of midweek contests against Arizona State at Blair Field. The games couldn't have been much different for LBSU offensively as the Dirtbags were held scoreless with just four hits on Tuesday before scoring 16 runs on 12 hits on Wednesday night. Highlighting the outburst was a 10-run fifth inning, the first double-digit inning for Long Beach State since 2007.
• Sophomore Zak Baayoun posted another strong start at TCU, striking out seven in 7.1 innings to improve to 2-0 in his first year as a starter.
SCOUTING THE REBELS
• Ole Miss will be Long Beach State's second Top 10 opponent of the 2018 season, and is one of three teams on LBSU's schedule from the Southeastern Conference. Starting this weekend, Long Beach State will play seven straight games against SEC competition.
• The Rebels remain unbeaten and have been dominant on the weekends thanks to a combined starters' ERA of 0.56. Friday starter Ryan Rolison has struck out an impressive 21 batters in just 10.0 innings pitched and opposing batters are hitting just .118 against him. Sophomore SS and leadoff hitter Grae Kessinger leads all regulars with a .452 batting average. Sophomore LF Thomas Dillard is second on the team with his .385 average and he shares the team lead with six RBIs. Ole Miss has three players with two home runs and they've hit nine long balls as a team this season.
PUT TO THE TEST
• Long Beach State is playing one of the most difficult non-conference schedules in the nation this season. The Dirtbags are playing three road series against teams that reached the College World Series in 2017 (TCU, Texas A&M, and Cal State Fullerton) all in the first six weeks of the season.
• The team on LBSU's non-conference schedule with the lowest RPI from last season is USC at No. 144, but the Trojans are off to a 7-1 start to the season and earned a 5-1 win over the Dirtbags in the first midweek game of the season.
ON THE BAAYOUN
• Sophomore LHP Zak Baayoun has made a seamless transition to the role of starting pitcher. In his first career start, the Irvine, Calif. native struck out 12 batters in a 4-1 win over Saint Mary's. That's the most for an LBSU starter in a season opener in at least 30 years.
• He was named Big West Pitcher of the Week for the first time in his career after that performance, and went on to win his first road start against TCU with a strong 7.1 innings of work against the Horned Frogs last Saturday.
BOHL DIAMOND AT BLAIR FIELD
• Long Beach State received a multi-million dollar donation during the offseason from longtime supporter Marilyn Bohl. In recognition of her generous gift, , the Dirtbags' home field has been renamed Bohl Diamond at Blair Field.
• Bohl has been actively involved in supporting the Blair Field renovation project for years, and previously gave a one million dollar gift to help kick off the initial phase of the renovations prior to the 2016 season.
• So far, the renovation efforts have included a new outfield fence, the Troy & Danyll Tulowitzki Batting Facility, the Jered Weaver Bullpen, and improvements to the Dirtbags locker room. Future plans include new stadium lighting, improved field drainage, a new multi-purpose team room along the left field line, plus restroom and seating upgrades.
LB IN MLB
• For the eighth consecutive year, Long Beach State had more players in the major leagues than any other college or university. There were 15 former Dirtbags who played in the major leagues in 2017 and the all-time total for Long Beach State is 48 big league representatives.
• There were two former Dirtbags who made their MLB debuts in 2017. First, it was RHP Shane Carle who appeared for the Colorado Rockies on April 14. Later in the season, C Mike Marjama made his debut with the Seattle Mariners on September 3.
• Kansas City Royals lefthander Jason Vargas made his first All-Star Game appearance during the 2017 season. The Dirtbags will be giving away commemorative Vargas bobbleheads prior at the UC Irvine game on April 7.
