Long Beach State University Athletics
Dirtbags Hosting UC Davis This Weekend
4/26/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Friday, April 27
Long Beach State vs. UC Davis
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Bohl Diamond at Blair Field
Live Stream | Listen: 22 West Radio | Live Stats
Saturday, April 28
Long Beach State vs. UC Davis
Time: 2 p.m.
Location: Bohl Diamond at Blair Field
Listen: 22 West Radio | Live Stats
Sunday, April 29
Long Beach State vs. UC Davis
Time: 1 p.m.
Location: Bohl Diamond at Blair Field
Listen: 22 West Radio | Live Stats
LAST TIME OUT
• LBSU won its third straight midweek game this past Tuesday, coming back for an 8-5 win at USC. The Dirtbags scored six runs over the final two innings, getting two in the eighth to tie it and four in the ninth to come out with the win.
• Freshman Leonard Jones had a career-high three hits against the Trojans, including the go-ahead RBI double in the ninth. Redshirt senior Tristan Mercadel started the game on the bench, but came in to deliver three RBIs to match his career high.
• Sophomore Dylan Spacke worked the final three innings while collecting five strikeouts, setting career highs in both categories.
• Prior to the win at USC, Long Beach State lost all three games last weekend at Cal Poly, suffering its second sweep of the season. The Dirtbags scored just eight runs in the three-game series, stranding 24 men on base.
SCOUTING THE AGGIES
• UC Davis has won three of its past four games, including its second series win of the season, taking two of three from Big West foe UC Santa Barbara. The Aggies won the first two games of the series by holding the Gauchos to three runs in each game, edging out wins of 4-3 and 5-3, respectively. UCD earned a midweek win over San Francisco, 9-7, in 12 innings thanks to a walk-off home run by freshman Tanner Murray.
• Junior LF Ryan Anderson leads the Aggies offense with a .356 batting average and 26 runs, to go along with three homers and 27 RBIs. Murray is hitting .345 and Brad Pluschkell is batting .315 with a team-best 13 doubles. Junior 2B Caleb Van Blake leads the Aggies with four home runs and 28 RBIs on the season.
• Opposing teams are batting .314 against Aggies pitchers this season, and all three weekend starters for UC Davis have ERA's over five. Connor Loar and Brett Erwin have been reliable bullpen arms, however, and each have worked 28+ innings with multiple saves.
• Long Beach State swept UC Davis last season in Northern California, outscoring the Aggies by a combined 33-14 in the three-game set.
TWO-WAY CLAYTON
• Junior CF/LHP Clayton Andrews has been a consistent two-way contributor this season, leading LBSU qualifiers in both batting average (.300) and ERA (3.06). Andrews has collected 12 multi-hit games this year, and has four in the last six games.
• Andrews has been named both the Big West Player of the Week (Mar. 26) and Pitcher of the Week (Apr. 9) this season. He is the first player in conference history (going back to 1987) to win both awards in the same season.
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 university in 2017. There were 15 former Dirtbags who played in the majors in 2017, and the all-time total for LBSU 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.
• Long Beach State began the 2018 season with 10 former players on MLB rosters, with a handful of others waiting in the minor leagues. LBSU's list of current big leaguers is: Shane Carle (Atlanta), Matt Duffy (Tampa Bay), Marco Estrada (Toronto), Jared Hughes (Cincinnati), Evan Longoria (San Francisco), Mike Marjama (Seattle), Bryan Shaw (Colorado), Troy Tulowitzki (Toronto), Jason Vargas (New York Mets), and Nick Vincent (Seattle).
