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.
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