Long Beach State University Athletics
Tyler Radcliffe Named Big West Pitcher of the Week
3/19/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
LONG BEACH, Calif. - Long Beach State junior righthander Tyler Radcliffe was originally scheduled to start Saturday's game against Tulane. Those plans were scrapped, however, when a line drive entered the Dirtbags dugout during Friday night's win over the Green Wave, hitting Radcliffe in the pitching hand. He was scratched from his start the next afternoon, and was presumed to be unavailable for the weekend. But thanks to diligent treatment on his hand, he felt good enough to give it a go on Sunday instead. Naturally, he turned in his best start as a Dirtbag and was just named Big West Pitcher of the Week for the first time in his career.
"I was going to do whatever I could to get out there," Radcliffe said following Sunday's start. "I knew this was a big game to win our first series of the year. I was just going to do whatever it takes."
A Long Beach native and product of nearby Wilson High School, Radcliffe has consistently dealt with injuries during his time with the Dirtbags, and even missed the start of the 2018 season while recovering from knee surgery. His performance on Sunday earned him just his second collegiate win, and his first as a starter.
Radcliffe allowed a first-inning single to Tulane, but the Green Wave didn't record another hit the rest of the day. His 7.0 innings pitched are a new career high, and his six strikeouts were one shy of his career best, set last year in the Long Beach Regional vs. Texas. Radcliffe was pitching without much wiggle room on Sunday, as Long Beach State won the game 1-0 thanks to a fourth-inning RBI single from Laine Huffman. Tulane's best threat was in the third inning, when they loaded the bases on a walk and two hit batters, but Radcliffe recorded a three-pitch strikeout to strand the bases loaded and keep the game scoreless. Thanks to his 7.0 scoreless innings on Sunday, Radcliffe lowered his season ERA to 2.57, which is the best on the team among pitchers who've thrown at least 10 innings this season.
Hear from today's starting pitcher, Long Beach native Tyler Radcliffe, who had his best start as a Dirtbag (7IP, H, 0R, 6K) less than 2 days after getting hit by a line drive on his pitching hand. #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/fuFRYWP7V4
-- LBSU Dirtbags (@LBDirtbags) March 18, 2018
This is the second Big West Pitcher of the Week award for the Dirtbags in 2018. Sophomore Zak Baayoun also claimed the award exactly one month ago.
