The Dirtbags Travel To Cal State Bakersfield This Week

WHAT'S COMING UP FOR THE DIRTBAGS
GAME 23
Long Beach State (13-8-1, 3-3 Big West) at Cal State Bakersfield (5-19, 1-5 Big West)
Thursday, Mar. 28 • 6 p.m.
Bakersfield, Calif. • Hardt Field
Probable Starting Pitchers • Myles Patton (LBSU), 2-2 vs. Ryan Vergugo (CSUB), 0-3
Live Stats // ESPN+

GAME 24
Long Beach State at Cal State Bakersfield
Friday, Mar. 29 • 6 p.m.
Bakersfield, Calif. • Hardt Field
Probable Starting Pitchers • Kellen Montgomery (LBSU), 2-1 vs. Jacob Gutierrez (CSUB), 0-2
Live Stats // ESPN+

GAME 25
Long Beach State at Cal State Bakersfield
Saturday, Mar. 30 • 1 p.m.
Bakersfield, Calif. • Hardt Field
Probable Starting Pitchers • CJ Hood (LBSU), 1-1 vs. Kellen O'Connor (CSUB), 1-1
Live Stats // ESPN+

BASEBALL NOTEBOOK

FIRST PITCH
Long Beach State hits the road this week as the Dirtbags head to Cal State Bakersfield.

Due to Sunday's Easter holiday, the Big West series will be played Thursday through Saturday. The opening two games are set for 6 p.m., with Saturday's finale starting at 1 p.m.

ESPN+ streams the game. BeachLiveStats.com will have coverage as well.

SCOUTING THE ROADRUNNERS
Cal State Bakersfield is 5-19 after defeating Pepperdine 10-5 on Tuesday night.

Jonah Shields is the 'Runners' top hitter at a .362 clip. Matthew Kurata has hit a team-best two home runs Zavien Watson is the club leader in RBI (11).

Thursday's probable starter is Ryan Verdugo. Verdugo is 0-3 with a 4.50 ERA in six starts. Verdugo has struck out 37 in 32 innings.

The Roadrunners are scheduled to throw Jacob Gutierrez on Friday. Gutierrez is 0-2 with a 7.54 ERA, starting five of six appearances. He has struck out 26 in 22.2 innings.

Saturday's probable starter is Kellen O'Connor. O'Connor is 1-1 with a 2.06 ERA in a team-high 39.1 innings pitches. He has struck out 39 and walked 11.

AGAINST THE OPPONENT
Long Beach State and CSUB are playing for the 11th, 12th, and 13th times since the Roadrunners joined the Big West in 2021. The Dirtbags lead the series 6-4.

RECORD BREAKING SERIES
Long Beach State broke the school record for most fans attending a regular season three-game series on March 22-24 against Cal State Fullerton, as 8,948 attended the action. The old mark of 8,035, which was set Apr. 26-28, 1996, against Cal State Fullerton.

LBSU has played on and off at Bohl Diamond at Blair Field since the program's inception (1954), moving into the historical facility full-time in 1993.

The Dirtbags and Cal State Fullerton played in front of a crowd of 2,922 on Mar. 22. The crowd was the largest for the Dirtbags since Feb. 25, 2002, when 3,013 saw Long Beach State face Sacramento State. The crowd is the 14th largest in school history.

Saturday saw 2,780 come through the gates. LBSU and Cal State Fullerton played in front of 3,246 fans on Sunday. The crowd was the second largest in school history at Blair Field for the Dirtbags. The school record is 3,342, which was set on Feb. 21, 2009, against USC.

The Dirtbags have been fortunate to play in front of great crowds at Bohl Diamond at Blair Field throughout the season. 2,376 came through the turnstiles on opening night against Washington, followed by 2,030 in game two against the Huskies. The weekend was capped off by 2,075 who attended the 17-inning series finale versus UW. The three-day total of 6,481 was less than 400 away from breaking into the all-time top 10 for series attendance at Blair Field. 2,066 saw the Dirtbags defeat UCLA on Mar. 5. Including the game on Mar. 24, 110 times a crowd of 2,000 or more have attended games at Bohl Diamond at Blair Field.

Through 15 of 30 scheduled home games, the Dirtbags have welcomed 30,173 fans through the turnstiles for an average of 2,011 per game.

PATTON NAMED PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Myles Patton was named Big West Pitcher of the Week on Mar. 25.

Patton led the Dirtbags to a 5-2 victory on Mar. 22. The 6-3 sophomore lefty shut out the Titans over t seven innings, limiting Cal State Fullerton to five hits. Patton struck out seven and did not walk a batter. He threw 99 pitches, 71 for strikes.

ASHWORTH'S HOT BIG WEST START
Kyle Ashworth is off to a hot Big West start. The junior right fielder is 13 for his first 24 at the plate in league play for a .542 average. Ashworth hit .500 from Mar. 19-24, raising his

THE LAST TIME OUT
Long Beach State swept Cal State Fullerton for the first time since 2017 last weekend. Here are the recaps;
Game 1
Game 2
Game 3

~#skoBags~

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Players Mentioned

Kyle Ashworth

CJ Hood

Myles Patton

Long Beach State University Athletics