Dirtbags Host No. 17 Wake Forest This Weekend

Friday, February 21
Long Beach State vs. No. 17 Wake Forest
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Bohl Diamond at Blair Field
Watch: Beach Vision | Listen: 22 West Radio | Live Stats

Saturday, February 22
Long Beach State vs. No. 17 Wake Forest
Time: 3 p.m.
Location: Bohl Diamond at Blair Field
Watch: Beach Vision | Listen: 22 West Radio | Live Stats

Sunday, February 23
Long Beach State vs. No. 17 Wake Forest
Time: 1 p.m.
Location: Bohl Diamond at Blair Field
Watch: Beach Vision | Listen: 22 West Radio | Live Stats

LAST TIME OUT
•   The Dirtbags got off to a solid start to the 2020 season with a pair of impressive wins over Cal. The win in the series opener was of the comeback, walk-off variety with two runs in the 13th inning. Game two's win featured a dominant pitching performance, leading to a 4-0 shutout victory.
•   LBSU was down to its final out in the season opener, but scored the tying run on an RBI double by Calvin Estrada. He then scored the winning run on a walk-off single by Jacob Hughey.
•   After starting 2-0, the Dirtbags lost consecutive games against Cal and Washington. LBSU stranded 14 runners on base in Sunday's 7-5 loss, allowing three runs in the eighth inning to lose a late lead. The in Tuesday's loss, the Dirtbags mustered just three hits in a 4-1 loss. Riki DeSa provided the offense with a second-inning home run.

PITCHIN' ALFREDO
•   Sophomore Alfredo Ruiz made some history in his first start of 2020. The lefthander set new career highs with 7.0 IP and 10 strikeouts against Cal, allowing just two infield singles in his start while leading the Dirtbags to a 4-0 shutout.
•   Following his performance, Ruiz was named Big West Pitcher of the Week. But more notably, he picked up National Pitcher of the Week honors from the NCBWA. Ruiz is the first Dirtbags pitcher to earn that national honor since Shane Carle earned the award on May 21, 2013.

SCOUTING THE DEMON DEACONS
•   Wake Forest enters the weekend ranked in every national poll. The Demon Deacons went 31-26 a season ago and are off to a 3-1 start in 2020 against three different teams. This series in Long Beach represents the only away games on Wake Forest's schedule before the start of ACC play.
•   The offense has scored 34 runs in four games so far. Senior C William Simoneit leads the attack with a .545 batting average so far. Sophomore SS Michael Turconi has a team-high seven RBIs and junior 3B/OF Chris Lanzilli already has three home runs on the season.
•   WF's pitching staff has an impressive 52 strikeouts in 36 innings, led by 12 from Saturday starter Jared Shuster. Senior LHP Tyler Witt has been a solid reliever with no earned runs allowed in 4.1 innings of relief and righthanded closer Shane Smith has a save in two perfect innings this season.
•   Long Beach State and Wake Forest have only played once in baseball. The Demon Deacons won that game, 5-2, at the Carolina Invite in Chapel Hill, N.C. during the 1992 season.

THE VALENZUELA ERA
•   Eric Valenzuela was hired in June of 2019 to become the eighth head coach in program history. He was previously the head coach at Saint Mary's College, where he posted a 180-156 record in six seasons with the Gaels. He also retained his coaching staff from Moraga: Associate Head Coach Bryan Peters and Assistant Coach Daniel Costanza.
•   Valenzuela is a Southern California native, playing at Bishop Amat High School before playing college baseball at Arizona State and Pepperdine. He has previous Division I coaching stops at Saint Mary's San Diego, and San Diego State.

LB IN MLB
•   Long Beach State had more former players in the big leagues than any other college or university from 2010-17, with 12 MLB representatives in 2019, again placing the Dirtbags among the nation's leaders.
•   Jeff McNeil was named a 2019 NL All-Star, representing the New York Mets in the Midsummer Classic. His All-Star Game debut was the 20th All-Star appearance by a former Dirtbag, and the fourth in the last five seasons by four different players. There has been at least one former Dirtbag in 11 of the last 12 All-Star Games, with a combined 14 ASG selections since 2008.

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Players Mentioned

Riki DeSa

Calvin Estrada

Jacob Hughey

Alfredo Ruiz

Long Beach State University Athletics