Long Beach State Baseball Visits San Diego on Tuesday

Tuesday, April 9
Long Beach State at San Diego
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: San Diego, Calif. (Fowler Park)
Listen: 22 West Radio | Live Stats

Probable Pitching Matchup:
LBSU – LHP Alfredo Ruiz (0-3, 5.06 ERA)
vs.
USD – RHP Louie Crow (1-0, 8.59 ERA)

LAST TIME OUT
•   The Dirtbags lost all three games of their opening Big West series at No. 19 UC Irvine. LBSU struggled to get the offense going against a tough UC Irvine pitching staff, scoring just five runs combined in the three-game series.
•   Junior Calvin Estrada did hit his first career home run in the second inning of the Saturday game to give LBSU an early lead, but UCI was able to come back for a 4-1 win and the Anteaters held the Dirtbags scoreless over the final 16 innings of the series with a pair of complete games to close it out.
•   LBSU got back-to-back quality starts from juniors Nick Avila and Zak Baayoun, but just couldn't give them enough run support. Avila pitched a career-high 7.0 innings, allowing just one run on three hits with four strikeouts. Baayoun matched his season high with 6.0 innings pitched, allowing just two unearned runs on two hits.

SCOUTING THE TOREROS
•   San Diego is 14-7 at home this season and sports an even 6-6 record in West Coast Conference games. The Toreros are coming off a nice series win over the weekend against BYU, winning the first two games before dropping the finale, 17-4. USD also boasts wins over ranked teams like No. 16 Coastal Carolina and No. 21 TCU last month.
•   The USD offense has seven batters hitting above .300 this year and eight players with 18 or more RBIs. The team has 17 home runs but no player has more than three, and 11 players have scored double-digit runs on the year. Senior RF Chris McCready is batting a team-best .415 and has a solid .679 slugging percentage as well.
•   USD's pitching staff hasn't had as much success as its offense so far this season, and the Toreros will likely use a number of arms against the Dirtbags on Tuesday night. Probable starter Louie Crow will be making his 10^th appearance and fourth start, but he's worked just 14.2 innings with an 8.59 ERA, walking nine and striking out 11 batters.
•   San Diego won the first meeting between these teams 4-0 on Feb. 19 to spoil Long Beach State's home opener. The Toreros scored four unearned runs as LBSU committed three errors in the loss. LBSU leads the all-time series 40-36-1, and on its last visit to Fowler Park, the Dirtbags played to a 9-9 tie in 10 innings.

LB IN MLB
•   Long Beach State had more former players in the big leagues than any other college or university from 2010-17, with 13 MLB representatives in 2018, again placing the Dirtbags among the nation's leaders.
• Three Dirtbags made their MLB debuts last season, all in the span of two weeks. RHP Drew Gagnon debuted for the Mets on July 10, followed by infielder Garrett Hampson's debut on July 21 for the Rockies and INF Jeff McNeil on July 24 for the Mets.
•   The 2019 MLB season got underway with 10 former Dirtbags featured on Opening Day rosters to start the year: Troy Tulowitzki (Yankees), Evan Longoria (Giants), Jason Vargas (Mets), Bryan Shaw (Rockies), Nick Vincent (Giants), Marco Estrada (A's), Jared Hughes (Reds), Matt Duffy (Rays), Shane Carle (Braves), Garrett Hampson (Rockies), and Jeff McNeil (Mets).
•   Long Beach State also has representation among the coaching ranks as former players Brandon Hyde and Jeremy Reed are in their first years serving key roles in their respective dugouts. Hyde is the manager of the Baltimore Orioles and Reed is the hitting coach for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

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Players Mentioned

Nick Avila

Zak Baayoun

Calvin Estrada

Alfredo Ruiz

Long Beach State University Athletics