Saturday, May 5, 2012

Another Close Call: Dirtbags Defeat LMU in Extras

With their backs to the wall in the bottom of the ninth, the Dirtbags, down by two runs extended the game with an RBI single by Johnny Bekakis and a game ending bases loaded walk by Jeff Yamaguchi in the tenth gave Long Beach the victory to the Loyala Marymount Lions 5-4 Saturday evening.

Patient, quality at-bats were the key to Long Beach's win, but that wasn't the scenario in the early innings of the game.  Long Beach grounded into three double plays during the game in key situations with runners on base. 

"We had some really good quality at-bats at the end of the game," Head Coach Troy Buckley stated about his team's performance.  "There was a lot more intent at the end of the game, and I didn't see that intent in the beginning."

The Dirtbags struggled offensively through most of the contest, and were forced to play catch-up for the entire game.  With LMU scoring a run in the second and third inning, the game didn't get interesting until a two RBI single by Brennan Metzger in the sixth inning with the bases loaded tied the game.

LMU answered back the very next frame by scoring two runs from a hit batter by starting pitcher Matt Anderson and a failed attempt at a difficult catch in right field by Richard Prigatano.  "Anderson pitched a quality game and even though I kept him in until the seventh inning he was'nt tired," said coach Buckley in regards to his starting pitcher who only threw 71 pitches on the night.  "He got out of control throughout the inning and he's an emotional and competitve type of guy, he just wasn't where he needed to be in the seventh."

That was the way game stood until the bottom of the ninth.  LMU's Bret Dahlson had trouble commanding his pitches when he beamed Metzger and gave up a walk to Jeff McNeil.  A sacrifice to move the runners over and a walk by Michael Hill loaded the bases with one out.  Senior catcher Kellen Hoime then worked an impressive eight pitch at-bat to hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Metzger.

Johnny Bekakis had four hits and two runs scored Saturday.With the score 4-3 and down to their last out, Long Beach's Johnny Bekakis (pictured right) singled up the middle on a full count to tie the game and send the contest into extra innings.  "I just tried not to get too big," said Bekakis regarding this approach at the plate in the ninth.  "The winning run was on first but I just tried to stay in the middle of the field and play my style.  Luckily I was able to push a single up the middle."

Relief pitcher Kyle Friedrichs shut down the Lions in an easy 1-2-3 fashion in the tenth.  In the bottom half, Ino Patron singled to right field.  After a sacrifice by Juan Avila, and an intentional walk to Metzger, LMU's Ryan Hawthorne couldn't find the strike zone and gave up walks to McNeil and Yamaguchi giving Long Beach the win.

"With our team we just don't give up," said Bekakis regarding his team's late game heroics.  "When one person gets a good at-bat we have a saying called pass the baton, which means one person has a good at-bat and the next guy tries to have a better at-bat.  We just try to feed off each other's good play."

With the victory, Long Beach now posts a 22-21 overall record.  The series continues tomorrow May 6 at LMU's Page stadium, and Long Beach will wrap up the series Monday night at Blair Field starting at 6:30 p.m.




Sunday, April 22, 2012

Dirtbags Send Anteaters Home Starving of Wins

The Dirtbags captured the weekend series winning two of the three games versus conference rival UC Irvine despite being no-hitted by starting pitcher Andrew Thurman Friday night at Blair Field. 

Junior shortstop Matt Duffy drove in the winning run in a 4-3 contest on Saturday, while Senior center fielder Brennan Metzger doubled three times to help his team to a 5-4 victory on Sunday.  Metzger is now tied in fourth place on LBSU's all-time career doubles record.

Irvine's Andrew Thurman's performance on Friday night cannot be over shadowed.  Thurman was impressive, allowing only two walks and no hits while facing a good Long Beach State lineup.  This is the second time in the last year that Long Beach has been no-hit.  Ironically it was Matt Summers of Irvine who accomplished the same feat last year.

Dirtbag's Head Coach, Troy Buckley acknowledged his team's effort over the weekend despite the drought of hits on Friday.  "The team showed a lot of resiliency and focus," said Buckley.  "It's difficult to keep your spirits high and put the past behind you when you failed to get a hit the previous night."

The Dirtbags (18-19) now share the lead with Cal State Fullerton in the Big West Conference standings with a 9-3 record.  If Long Beach can stay on the right track and are able to pile up more weekend series victories than the regular season finale against Fullerton (May 25-27) should determine who wins the Big West.

Long Beach now heads to Los Angeles to play USC on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.  The Dirtbags will then begin a three-game-series against the Matadors of Cal State Northridge beginning Friday at 6:30 p.m.




Sunday, April 15, 2012

Dirtbags Sweep Conference Foes

The Long Beach Dirtbags complete their first series sweep of the season by defeating UC Santa Barbara 4-3 Sunday afternoon.  With the victory, Long Beach improves their winning streak to six games.

The Dirtbags narrowly escaped Sunday with a win thanks to the strong pitching performance by senior starting pitcher Shawn Stuart who threw seven strong innings allowing only one run on four hits while striking out seven Gauchos.

"We've (Long Beach) been in a ton of close games," said Head Coach Troy Buckley.  "The team has shown a lot of composure and have been able to stay in the moment and forget about what happened previously or what might happen next."

It was a pitcher's duel most of the game until Long Beach posted the first two runs of the game in the bottom of the fifth.  A see and eye single from freshman Richard Pritagano brought home Brennan Metzger, followed by a sacrifice fly by Johnny Bekakis to bring in Jeff McNeil giving the Dirtbags the first runs of the game.

Senior Shawn Stuart allowed one run over seven innings with seven strikeouts.Long Beach's Shawn Stuart (pictured right) held hitters at bay once again Sunday.  Santa Barbara was only able to score one run off the senior, which came from a double off the left field wall from the bat of third baseman Ryan Palermo.  "Stewart had another well-pitched performance," Coach Troy Buckley praised about his starter.  "He got us into that seventh inning, and was the difference maker in the game."

Landon Hunt of the Dirtbags threw the eighth inning in relief for Stuart.  Kyle Friedrichs then closed the game out in the ninth but not without some late-game drama. 

With a two run lead going into the ninth inning the Gauchos were able to score a run and put the tying run at third, but Friedrichs proved he was closer material by getting the next two hitters out, earning him his fifth save of the season.

"Kyle didn't have a lot of luck today," said Coach Buckley.  "He gave up a couple infield singles and then a pinch hitter that we didn't know much about stepped in and delivered, but he held his composure and knew what the situation was even when it got a little hairy."

With the three game sweep of Santa Barbara the Dirtbags improve their overall record to 16-17 and more importantly a 7-2 record against Big West opponents.  "When you accomplish a sweep in your conference that's a big deal.  No matter who you play it's hard to beat someone three times, especially in two days,"  Coach Buckley remarked about his team's play.

The Dirtbags will travel to Loyola Marymount on Tuesday, then return to Blair Field to face-off against UC Irvine for the black and blue weekend series beginning at 6:30 p.m. April 20.


Monday, April 9, 2012

Mid-Season Review

The Dirtbags' season is already half-way over but despite thier losing record (12-17) they are beginning to pick up some momentum in the wins column by winning out in three striaght weekend series.

Looking at their upcoming schedule the Dirtbags play six of their next seven games at home after playing 13 of their last 14 games on the road.  During that span, Long Beach posted a respectable 7-7 record with games played against rival Cal State Fullerton, Wichita State, and UCR.

The Dirtbags's current record may not fair in favor of Long Beach, but their play is more impressive than what their record shows.  Ten of the Dirtbag's 17 loses have been decided by only one run with three of the 10 loses decided in extra innings.

Long Beach has a collecively young team and the early struggles could be attributed to their lack of experience playing together as a whole.  The Dirtbags could use more production in clutch hitting situations and the relief pitching needs to improve in the late innings of close games.  But despite the late game collapses, the starting pitching has stepped up in a huge way.

Senior starting pitcher Shaun Stewart has played remarkble so far this season.  Stuart tied Steve Whitaker for the fourth-longest consecutive scoreless innings streak in Long Beach State history on Saturday night, reaching 27.2 innings before allowing a pair of runs in the seventh inning against UCR.

Other notable studs in the Dirtbag lineup include Sophomore Ino Patron (pictured right) who leads the team with a .330 batting average and a team high 33 hits this season.  Junior shortstop Matt Duffy has also played exceptional as of late.  After tripling in Saturday's contest, Duffy has now hit safetly in 12 straight games and looks to continue that streak starting Tuesday night on the road against San Diego State.

The Dirtbags will finally return home this weekend beginning April 13  at 6:30 p.m. to play a three game series against conferance foe UC Santa Barbara, followed by a Tuesday night matchup against Loyola Marymount at 3 p.m. in Los Angeles.








Sunday, March 11, 2012

Dirtbags Even Series Against No. 9 Arizona State

The Dirtbags break their six-game losing streak beating the No. 9 Arizona State Sun Devils 7-3 Saturday at Blair field.  The win was contributed to a quality start by pitcher Matt Anderson and a 3-RBI game by shortstop Matt Duffy.

"It was a good collective win all the way around and in all areas of the game," Long Beach Head Coach, Troy Buckley, said.  "This was a real good character game for the guys."

Long Beach quickly got on the board by building a six run lead, scoring three runs each in the second and third innings of the game.  ASU answered back with three runs in the fifth inning, but that was as close as they got, because Long Beach held them scoreless the rest of the way through.

Dirtbags Center Fielder, Brennan Metzger, lead off the second inning with a single up the middle, followed by a stolen base at second.  Right Fielder Richard Prigatano advanced to first after being beamed by a pitch, and after a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners by first basemen Jeff Yamaguchi, Matt Duffy pelted a line-drive to left center field to bring home Metzger.  The Dirtbags put two more runs on the board after ASU failed to convert two straight double play opportunities.

In the third inning Duffy came through once again for the Dirtbags bringing home third basemen Juan Avila and center fielder  Brennan Metzger on a two out line-drive single to center.  Duffy had been battling a hitting slump as of late and contributed Saturday's success to his coaches.  "Coach just told me to focus on one thing," Duffy commented.  "I just tried to see the ball as big as I could and just simplified my approach at the plate.  I (Duffy) incorporated a high leg kick in my swing over the summer, and today I just axed it.  I just need to focus on seeing the ball without focusing so much on my timing with the kick."
   

Junior starting pitcher Matt Anderson earned the win in a quality start versus a good hitting team in ASU.  Anderson threw for over six innings, allowing eight hits and three runs, while striking out four.  Pitchers Nick Sabo and Kyle Friedrichs threw fantastic in relief holding the Sun Devils scoreless and preserving the much needed win over a ranked opponent.

"Anderson has not had a wheels-fall-off game this year,"  Coach Buckley mentioned.  "He's kept us in every game he has pitched, which is pretty impressive for only pitching one year prior.  His biggest strength is his competitive nature."

The Dirtbags will wrap up the weekend series against ASU Sunday at 1 p.m. at Blair Field.  Long Beach will then play rival Cal State Fullerton at Fullerton for a weekend series against the Titans starting March 16 at 7 p.m. 




Sunday, March 4, 2012

A Week of Woes

Long Beach State gets swept by Oregon over the weekend, making it their fourth defeat in as many games.  Even more disappointing was that each loss to the Oregon Ducks was by only one run. 

The Dirtbags got off to a rocky start on the road in their meeting with the UCLA Bruins on Tuesday Feb. 28, losing by a score of 9-1.  Shortstop Matt Duffy had the only RBI for the Dirtbags, hitting a single in the fourth inning.

No. 12 Oregon hosted the Dirtbags for a three game series starting Friday night.  Each game of the series ended in dramatic walk-off fashion, unfortunately for the Dirtbags, it was the Ducks who were the victors every time.  Even more heartbreaking was losing Saturday's contest in 13 innings, which was the longest game played by Long Beach State since the 2007 season.

The late-game heroics of Oregon certainly makes room for consideration on to whom the Dirtbags can trust to pitch in the late stretch of a game.  "We have six guys in our bullpen that can make a case to be our closer," Dirtbags head coach Troy Buckley said, "We will have to see who can step-up and challenge themselves for that role.  We'll see what happens."

Long Beach State now holds an overall record of 4-7, but despite what their record says, the Dirtbags have showed great resiliency during the weekend series against Oregon.  Right fielder Juan Avila has stepped up in a huge way, giving LBSU some nice offensive production.  Avila is currently hitting for a .357 average, leading the club in slugging percentage at .429 and runs scored 10.  The Dirtbags will need Avila and others in the middle of the lineup to produce in order to pull away in close games, and to ease the pressure off the pitching staff.

The Dirtbags now head back to Blair Field for a home game against San Diego State on Tuesday, March 6 at 6:30 p.m.  Long Beach will continue with a home series against a formidable Pac-12 opponent in Arizona State starting Friday, March 9.  "We have to take care of our mistakes against those guys (ASU)," coach Buckley stated.  "In my opinion their the best ball and dirt team we'll play this year, so its important we stay focused."  Click here for a look at the upcoming schedule for the Long Beach.


Sunday, February 26, 2012

Weekend Recap and a Look Ahead

The Dirtbags held tough to take the weekend series against No. 20 Cal.  Long Beach dropped Saturday's contest 2-1 then got revenge in the day game on Sunday by the same score.

Game two on Saturday was lost in extra innings after junior Matt Anderson pitched a great game.  Anderson allowed no runs with just four hits over six innings.  Despite Anderson's effort Cal snuck out with the win when Vince Bruno broke the 1-1 tie in the tenth inning.   Bruno started the inning with a lead-off triple, and scored on a sacrifice fly.

The rubber match of the series featured two great performances by both starting pitchers.  Dirtbag's pitcher Ryan Strufing held the Bears in check with a stellar pitching performance by going eight innings whiling allowing just one run.  Strufing was effective with his control and has yet to commit a single walk in over 14 innings pitched so far this year.

Sunday's win ends the Dirtbag's opening homestead of the year.  They now hit the road for what will be a four game stretch this week.  Long Beach will face off against No. 22 UCLA, then head north to face yet another difficult Pac-12 opponent in No. 24 Oregon for a three-game series in Eugene, starting on Friday.