Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
CSUN
Dirtbags Open Road Series At CSUN Before Hosting Cal Baptist
4/1/2026 4:10:00 PM | Baseball
Long Beach State heads on the road against CSUN Thursday before hosting Cal Baptist Monday.
LONG BEACH, Calif. — Long Beach State returns to Big West action Thursday with the start of a three-game road series against Cal State Northridge before returning home Monday night to host Cal Baptist University at Bohl Diamond at Blair Field. Thursday's opener is scheduled for 5 p.m. on ESPN+, followed by Friday at 2 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m., with Monday's non-conference matchup set for 6:05 p.m.
LEADING OFF
• The 72nd season of Long Beach State baseball continues this week with the Dirtbags opening a three-game Big West road series at Cal State Northridge before returning home to Bohl Diamond at Blair Field Monday night against California Baptist University. Thursday's opener is set for 5 p.m. on ESPN+, followed by Friday at 2 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m.
• Monday's non-conference game against California Baptist is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.
• Long Beach State enters the week looking to respond after dropping three of its last four games, including a weekend series against UC Irvine.
STARTING PITCHERS
Graduate right-hander Caleb Anderson draws Thursday's start after appearing in 13 games and striking out 28 across 27.1 innings. Anderson owns a 5.27 ERA and picked up his first win of the season in the series opener against UC Irvine.
Freshman right-hander Luke Howe takes the mound Friday after working seven starts this season. Howe is 3-1 with a 5.48 ERA and has recorded 32 strikeouts over 42.2 innings.
Freshman right-hander Jason Gerfers will start Saturday after continuing to emerge as one of the conference's most effective young arms. Gerfers enters with a 3.76 ERA, two complete games, 37 strikeouts and a .213 opponent batting average through eight appearances.
THIS AND THAT
• Trevor Goldenetz continues to lead the Big West in batting average (.394) and on-base percentage (.512), while ranking second in hits (39), third in stolen bases (9) and among conference leaders with 19 walks.
• Jake Evans ranks ninth in the conference with a .346 batting average and remains among the Big West leaders with eight doubles.
• Dylan Lina leads the Big West with 31 RBI and continues to anchor the middle of the lineup after homering twice during last weekend's UC Irvine series.
• Trotter Enright ranks ninth in the conference with 24 RBI and remains in the top 10 with eight doubles.
• Matt Toomey leads the Big West in sacrifice flies.
• Gerfers also ranks among conference leaders in opponent batting average (.213), innings pitched (40.2) and strikeouts (37).
FRESHMEN WEEKEND IMPACT
Long Beach State remains one of the few Big West programs relying heavily on freshmen during conference weekends, with Howe and Gerfers continuing to hold two rotation spots entering another road series.
Howe has already collected three wins this season, while Gerfers has delivered two complete games and remains one of the conference leaders in strikeouts among freshman pitchers. Gerfers was named back-to-back Big West player of the week and also gained national recognition earning a spot on the Baseball America Week 6 Team of the Week, last week.
LAST TIME OUT
Long Beach State dropped a midweek matchup at Fresno State, 1-8, despite six hits and a run scored by Lina.
The Dirtbags opened last weekend's series with a 10-2 win over UC Irvine behind Anderson and a season high seven-run fifth inning.
Long Beach State then dropped a 9-12 extra-inning game Saturday after building an early lead, before falling 1-7 in Sunday's finale despite Lina's seventh home run of the season and second in the series.
SCOUTING THE MATADORS
Cal State Northridge enters after losing two of three against Cal State Bakersfield before closing out the series with a 9-5 win, before falling in a midweek game at Pepperdine University 5-6.
The Matadors are batting .285 as a team and have produced 45 home runs through 27 games, led by Matthew Thomas (.330, nine home runs, 23 RBI), Kyle Panganiban (.324, eight home runs, 28 RBI) and Matthew Pena (.318, 10 home runs, 28 RBI). CSUN also enters the weekend with 10 triples and 50 doubles.
SCOUTING THE LANCERS
Cal Baptist University arrives after sweeping St. John's University on the road, winning all three games while allowing only seven total runs in the series.
Cal Baptist enters the week batting .321 as a team with 331 hits, 222 runs and 36 home runs through 29 games, while also pairing that offense with a 3.06 staff ERA and opponents' batting just .218 against its pitching staff. Cole Hansen leads the lineup at .439, while Bryce McFeely has driven in a team-best 35 runs and Zachary Yates anchors the bullpen with a 0.84 ERA and three saves.
PLAYER NOTES
• Goldenetz has reached base consistently at the top of the lineup and remains one of the Big West's most productive table setters, batting .394 with a conference-leading 39 hits, a .512 on-base percentage, 19 walks and nine stolen bases through 27 starts.
• Evans continues to provide steady extra-base production near the top of the order with eight doubles and a .346 average.
• Lina has driven in at least one run in three of the last four games and leads the conference in RBI with 31, adding seven home runs, 20 hits and a .489 slugging percentage through 26 appearances.
• Enright remains second on the team in RBI with 24 and is tied for the team lead with eight doubles, while adding 26 hits and 15 walks across 27 appearances.
• Smith Chandler continues to provide offensive depth with expanded opportunities in left field, batting .276 with 16 hits, 10 RBI, 10 walks and a .408 on-base percentage in 19 appearances.
• Toomey continues to contribute in key situational spots, recording five doubles, nine RBI, 13 hit-by-pitches and a conference-leading four sacrifice flies while adding five stolen bases.
• Aaron Perez has started 20 games behind the plate, collecting 13 hits, five RBI and two doubles
• Kaiden Smaka has reached base at a .392 clip in limited opportunities, totaling 10 hits and 10 walks across 14 appearances.
• Reid Montgomery continues to provide timely production off the bench and in spot starts, recording seven RBI and 10 hits in 20 appearances.
