The Dirtbags Travel To Cal State Fullerton This Week

WHAT'S COMING UP FOR THE DIRTBAGS
GAME 34
Long Beach State (14-19, 8-10) Big West) at Cal State Fullerton (18-18, 9-6 Big West)
Thursday, Apr. 17 • 6 p.m.
Fullerton, Calif. • Goodwin Field
Live Stats • ESPN+

GAME 35
Long Beach State at Cal State Fullerton
Friday, Apr. 18 • 6 p.m.
Fullerton, Calif. • Goodwin Field
Live Stats • ESPN+

GAME 36
Long Beach State at Cal State Fullerton
Saturday, Apr. 19 • 1 p.m.
Fullerton, Calif. • Goodwin Field
Live Stats • ESPN+

FIRST PITCH
Long Beach State travels to Cal State Fullerton this week. Due to the Easter Sunday holiday, the series will be played Thursday-Saturday at Goodwin Field. Thursday and Friday's games start at 6 p.m., with Saturday's finale starting at 1 p.m. ESPN+ will stream all three games.

SCOUTING THE TITANS
Cal State Fullerton is 18-18 after Tuesday night's 13-3 victory over Pepperdine at home. The Titans are in third place in the Big West with a 9-6 conference record.

For the second straight week, the Titans have Andrew Kirchner as the Big West Field Player of the Week. Kirchner slashed .571/.571/1.429, eight hits, four home runs, eight RBI, and four runs in a three-game series against No. 8 Oregon State last weekend. Kirchner is hitting .331 with 10 home runs, 30 runs scored, and a conference-leading 50 RBI.

Maddox Latta leads the team in hitting at .362 and runs scored (38).

Mikiah Negrete is likely to be the starter for the Titans on Thursday. He is 4-1 with 49 strikeouts in 49 innings this season. Friday's probable starter is Dylan Smith, who is 1-2 with 24 strikeouts in 25.1 innings. Saturday's probable starter is Jason Krakoski, who has gone 0-2 with 10 strikeouts in 11.2 innings.

Cal State Fullerton leads the all-time series 157-107.

MONTGOMERY NAMED BIG WEST PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Long Beach State's Kellan Montgomery was named Big West Pitcher of the Week on Apr. 14.

Montgomery retired the final 19 Cal State Bakersfield batters he faced as he tossed a complete game four-hitter as Long Beach State defeated the Roadrunners 3-2 on Apr. 13. Montgomery threw the first Long Beach State complete game since May 12, 2023, when Nico Zeglin blanked UC Santa Barbara 1-0. He struck out eight and walked two. He got 15 ground ball outs to go along with the strikeouts. Montgomery threw 122 pitches, 82 of which were for strikes, improving to 6-3 on the year (the second most wins in the Big West). The junior righthander has struck out 39 in a team-high 46.2 innings.

Montgomery is 16th in Division I in victories this week. He is 18th in Division I in games started (9) and 28th in complete games.

ROBLEZ'S TOP PERFORMANCES
Albert Roblez has turned in two of the season's top Long Beach State pitching performances over the past two weeks.

Roblez entered the game against Cal State Bakersfield with one out in the top of the third on Apr. 12 and retired all 20 batters he faced. Roblez struck out a season-high 12 against the 'Runners. He threw 84 pitches, 62 for strikes, improving to 3-0 this season.

At Hawai'i on Apr. 5, Roblez picked up his second win of the season with 5.1 innings of relief. Roblez entered in the fourth inning and retired the first 12 batters he faced. He struck out the side in two innings, striking out eight of 10 batters at one point. He walked two and gave up one hit, throwing a season-high 94 pitches, 58 for strikes.

Roblez has moved to third in Division I this week in hits allowed per nine innings (4.67) and eighth in strikeouts per nine innings (14.02). He is 47th in WHIP (1.01), while his 54 strikeouts are 86th in D-1 this week.

He currently leads the Dirtbags in ERA (3.12), saves (3) and strikeouts. At 3-0, he is third on the team in victories. Opponents are hitting .154 against him in 2025.

ASHWORTH ASHWORTH
Kyle Ashworth is one of the Dirtbags' leaders in 2025. The graduate student is leading the team in batting (.328), tied for the team lead in runs scored (27) with Alex Champagne, hits (38), doubles (8), walks (24), and on-base percentage (.466). In league-only play, Ashworth is hitting .394 with 12 RBI and a .524 on-base percentage. Ashworth has played a flawless right field, not committing an error in 73 chances (70 PO-3 A).

GEBB UP TO SIXTH IN APPEARANCES
Sophomore transfer Tyler Gebb has moved to sixth in NCAA Division I this week in pitching appearances. Gebb has seen action in 19 of the 33 Long Beach State games this season. Gebb has struck out 18 in 23 innings with one save. In 2025, opponents are batting .231 against him.

THE LAST TIME OUT
Long Beach State clinched its third consecutive Big West series, defeating Cal State Bakersfield in 2-of-3 games last weekend at Bohl Diamond at Blair Field. Here are the recaps;

~#LongBeachBuilt~

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Players Mentioned

Kyle Ashworth

Alex Champagne

Tyler Gebb

Kellan Montgomery

Albert Roblez

Long Beach State University Athletics