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.