Long Beach State University Athletics
Dirtbags Open Rivalry Series vs. Fullerton on Thursday
5/23/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Thursday, May 24
Long Beach State vs. Cal State Fullerton
Time: 5 p.m. (ESPNU)
Location: Bohl Diamond at Blair Field
WatchESPN | Listen: 22 West Radio | Live Stats
Friday, May 25
Long Beach State vs. Cal State Fullerton
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Bohl Diamond at Blair Field
Live Stream | Listen: 22 West Radio | Live Stats
Saturday, May 26
Long Beach State vs. Cal State Fullerton
Time: 2 p.m. (Fox Sports West)
Location: Bohl Diamond at Blair Field
FoxSportsGo | Listen: 22 West Radio | Live Stats
LAST TIME OUT
• The Dirtbags won their final road series of the year by winning the first two games at Hawai'i by a combined margin of 15-2. That ran LBSU's road winning streak to seven games and, despite dropping the finale in Honolulu, Long Beach State has won eight of its 10 contests in the month of May.
• Junior Clayton Andrews impressed yet again, throwing six no-hit innings on Saturday before allowing a single in the seventh. He allowed just four baserunners, none of which reached second base, and struck out seven in seven scoreless frames. He was rewarded with his third consecutive Big West Pitcher of the Week honor, becoming the first Dirtbags pitcher ever to accomplish that feat and the first man to do it since 2000.
• Junior Brooks Stotler made a bit of history on Saturday, hitting a three-run inside-the-park home run to dead center. He became the first Dirtbags player to hit an inside-the-park home run since Jeff Yamaguchi did it at Pacific on Apr. 7, 2013.
SCOUTING THE TITANS
• Cal State Fullerton clinched the Big West title with an 11-4 win last Sunday over CSUN. The Titans then followed that up with a 4-3 win at USC on Tuesday. CSF has won 11 of its last 13 games and are on a seven-game road winning streak.
• Junior 2B Hank LoForte leads the Titans with a .330 batting average this season. Junior OF Ruben Cardenas has a team-best 12 stolen bases with a .303 average and sophomore C Daniel Cope leads the Titans with five home runs and 38 RBIs.
• Cal State Fullerton leads the conference in team ERA at 3.49. Thursday starter Colton Eastman has led the way with a 2.37 ERA, striking out 102 batters in 98.2 innings. Juniors Brett Conine (3.63 ERA, 10 saves) and Blake Workman (2.92 ERA, 58K in 49.1 IP) lead the back end of the Fullerton bullpen. • These teams met for a non-conference series Mar. 23-25 in Fullerton, with the Dirtbags winning two out of three contests. LBSU also swept the Titans in last year's regular-season meeting at Blair Field.
TWO-WAY CLAYTON
• Junior CF/LHP Clayton Andrews has been a consistent two-way contributor this season, among LBSU's leaders in both batting average (.300) and ERA (2.18).
• Andrews has been named both the Big West Player of the Week (Mar. 26) and Pitcher of the Week (Apr. 9, May 7, May 14, May 21) 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).
