Friday, May 5
Long Beach, Calif.
6 p.m.
Long Beach State University
vs
Cal State Bakersfield
Photo by: Mikaella Salazar
Dirtbags Return Home to Blair with Four Games in Four Days
5/4/2023 11:59:00 AM | Baseball
Long Beach State is back at their friendly confines with three games against CSU Bakersfield and one against Loyola Marymount.
LONG BEACH, Calif. – The Dirtbags return home after an eight-game stretch of travel and will play four games in four days at Bohl Diamond at Blair Field. The weekend will consist of a three-game set with CSU Bakersfield followed by a Monday night matchup with Loyola Marymount.
Long Beach State (24-17, 9-9 Big West) vs. CSU Bakersfield (14-25, 5-16 Big West)
Friday, May 5 at 6 p.m.
Pitching Matchup: RHP Nico Zeglin (LBSU) vs. RHP Ryan Verdugo (CSUB)
Saturday, May 6 at 6 p.m.
Pitching Matchup: LHP Graham Osman (LBSU) vs. LHP Matt Comnos (CSUB)
Sunday, May 7 at 1 p.m.
Pitching Matchup: TBA vs. RHP Jacob Gutierrez (CSUB)
Live Stats | Watch Series on ESPN+
Long Beach State (24-1) vs. Loyola Marymount (22-20)
Monday, May 8 at 6 p.m.
Live Stats | Watch on ESPN+
ABOUT THE 'BAGS
• The Dirtbags enter the week with a 25-17 overall record coming off a special victory over USC in a game at Angel Stadium.
• The offense owns a .272/.355/.432 slash line with 280 runs scored in their 42 games. Of their 389 hits, 135 have gone for extra bases. Their 43 home runs ranks second in the conference while their 85 doubles are third.
• The pitching staff now owns a 4.60 team ERA with a 1.41 WHIP. In 375 innings of work, they have racked up 414 strikeouts compared to just 143 walks.
• The Dirtbags continue a stretch that has them playing nine games in 11 days as they host CSU Bakersfield at home for a three-game set this weekend. The series will be immediately followed by a Monday night matchup with Loyola Marymount.
FLAIR FOR THE DRAMATIC
• The Dirtbags have played 10 games this season where the outcome was decided in the final at-bat of the game. They own a 6-4 record in those games. Of the six, four have led to walkoff victories including three walkoff home runs.
• Since hitting coach Bryan Peters came over with Coach Valenzuela prior to the 2020 season, Long Beach State has launched six walkoff home runs at Blair. The first of the trio this season came on opening weekend from Rocco Peppi. The other two came two weeks ago from Jonathon Long.
STRIKEOUT MACHINE
• Since Coach Valenzuela took over the program, the pitching staff has been striking people out at record pace posting the highest K/9 in 2021 (9.48) and second highest in 2022 (9.40).
• In 375 innings this year, they have 414 strikeouts which is good for a 9.9 K/9 second in the conference and 37th in the nation. The staff is punching people out at that pace while also limiting walks, owning the tenth-best strikeout/walk ratio at 2.89 and the 17th best walks per nine in the country at 3.41.
BATTLE AT THE BIG A
• In what could turn into annual tradition, the Dirtbags squared off with USC at Angel Stadium this past Tuesday in front of a crowd of nearly 3,500 people.
• On the backs of Jake Rons and Jashia Morrissey-Jakel, Long Beach came out on top, 8-4. Rons turned in the best outing of his career with six innings of one-run ball while striking out a career-high nine. Morrissey-Jakel got the scoring started with a grand slam in the second inning and finished the day 2-for-5 with a double, home run, and four RBI.
OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION
• The weekend in Reno saw the bats thrive as the Dirtbags totaled 41 runs in four games at the University of Nevada. They had 36 innings of offense and scored at least one run in 24 of them with two-or more runs in eight.
• They also totaled 56 hits on the weekend with 22 of them going for extra bases.
SCOUTING THE 'RUNNERS
• CSU Bakersfield enters the weekend with a 14-25 overall record and losers of seven consecutive games. They currently sit in 10th place (of 11) in the Big West standings with a 5-16 mark in conference play.
• The offense owns a .272/.366/.364 slash line with 207 runs scored in their 39 games played. Of their 351 hits, 86 have gone for extra bases.
• As a staff, the pitching owns a 6.05 ERA and a 1.77 WHIP. In 333 innings of work, they own 273 strikeouts compared to 192 walks. Opponents are hitting .293 against them.
SCOUTING THE LIONS
• Loyola Marymount owns a 22-20 overall record and have lost four of their last five. The Lions won the first matchup with the Dirtbags this season on a walkoff home run at LMU.
• Entering Friday, the offense owns a .262 average and a .736 OPS while the pitching staff has a 5.76 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP.
AGAINST THE OPPONENTS
• Long Beach State and CSU Bakersfield have just eight games in their history with the Dirtbags owning the all-time series, 5-2. Last year's series went two games to one in favor of LBSU.
• Against LMU, the Dirtbags are 88-54-1 all-time with a 43-26-1 mark when playing at Blair. Long Beach has won four of the last six matchups.
Long Beach State (24-17, 9-9 Big West) vs. CSU Bakersfield (14-25, 5-16 Big West)
Friday, May 5 at 6 p.m.
Pitching Matchup: RHP Nico Zeglin (LBSU) vs. RHP Ryan Verdugo (CSUB)
Saturday, May 6 at 6 p.m.
Pitching Matchup: LHP Graham Osman (LBSU) vs. LHP Matt Comnos (CSUB)
Sunday, May 7 at 1 p.m.
Pitching Matchup: TBA vs. RHP Jacob Gutierrez (CSUB)
Live Stats | Watch Series on ESPN+
Long Beach State (24-1) vs. Loyola Marymount (22-20)
Monday, May 8 at 6 p.m.
Live Stats | Watch on ESPN+
ABOUT THE 'BAGS
• The Dirtbags enter the week with a 25-17 overall record coming off a special victory over USC in a game at Angel Stadium.
• The offense owns a .272/.355/.432 slash line with 280 runs scored in their 42 games. Of their 389 hits, 135 have gone for extra bases. Their 43 home runs ranks second in the conference while their 85 doubles are third.
• The pitching staff now owns a 4.60 team ERA with a 1.41 WHIP. In 375 innings of work, they have racked up 414 strikeouts compared to just 143 walks.
• The Dirtbags continue a stretch that has them playing nine games in 11 days as they host CSU Bakersfield at home for a three-game set this weekend. The series will be immediately followed by a Monday night matchup with Loyola Marymount.
FLAIR FOR THE DRAMATIC
• The Dirtbags have played 10 games this season where the outcome was decided in the final at-bat of the game. They own a 6-4 record in those games. Of the six, four have led to walkoff victories including three walkoff home runs.
• Since hitting coach Bryan Peters came over with Coach Valenzuela prior to the 2020 season, Long Beach State has launched six walkoff home runs at Blair. The first of the trio this season came on opening weekend from Rocco Peppi. The other two came two weeks ago from Jonathon Long.
STRIKEOUT MACHINE
• Since Coach Valenzuela took over the program, the pitching staff has been striking people out at record pace posting the highest K/9 in 2021 (9.48) and second highest in 2022 (9.40).
• In 375 innings this year, they have 414 strikeouts which is good for a 9.9 K/9 second in the conference and 37th in the nation. The staff is punching people out at that pace while also limiting walks, owning the tenth-best strikeout/walk ratio at 2.89 and the 17th best walks per nine in the country at 3.41.
BATTLE AT THE BIG A
• In what could turn into annual tradition, the Dirtbags squared off with USC at Angel Stadium this past Tuesday in front of a crowd of nearly 3,500 people.
• On the backs of Jake Rons and Jashia Morrissey-Jakel, Long Beach came out on top, 8-4. Rons turned in the best outing of his career with six innings of one-run ball while striking out a career-high nine. Morrissey-Jakel got the scoring started with a grand slam in the second inning and finished the day 2-for-5 with a double, home run, and four RBI.
OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION
• The weekend in Reno saw the bats thrive as the Dirtbags totaled 41 runs in four games at the University of Nevada. They had 36 innings of offense and scored at least one run in 24 of them with two-or more runs in eight.
• They also totaled 56 hits on the weekend with 22 of them going for extra bases.
SCOUTING THE 'RUNNERS
• CSU Bakersfield enters the weekend with a 14-25 overall record and losers of seven consecutive games. They currently sit in 10th place (of 11) in the Big West standings with a 5-16 mark in conference play.
• The offense owns a .272/.366/.364 slash line with 207 runs scored in their 39 games played. Of their 351 hits, 86 have gone for extra bases.
• As a staff, the pitching owns a 6.05 ERA and a 1.77 WHIP. In 333 innings of work, they own 273 strikeouts compared to 192 walks. Opponents are hitting .293 against them.
SCOUTING THE LIONS
• Loyola Marymount owns a 22-20 overall record and have lost four of their last five. The Lions won the first matchup with the Dirtbags this season on a walkoff home run at LMU.
• Entering Friday, the offense owns a .262 average and a .736 OPS while the pitching staff has a 5.76 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP.
AGAINST THE OPPONENTS
• Long Beach State and CSU Bakersfield have just eight games in their history with the Dirtbags owning the all-time series, 5-2. Last year's series went two games to one in favor of LBSU.
• Against LMU, the Dirtbags are 88-54-1 all-time with a 43-26-1 mark when playing at Blair. Long Beach has won four of the last six matchups.
Players Mentioned
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