Long Beach State men's volleyball to host postseason opener

LONG BEACH >> It’s officially the postseason and the 49ers, ranked No. 4 in this week’s AVCA poll, are hosting Pepperdine in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation quarterfinal match mat 7 on Saturday night.

Long Beach State (23-6) defeated No. 7 Pepperdine (13-10) twice this season with a sweep in the Walter Pyramid back in early February, and a five-set thriller, 23-25, 25-21, 21-25, 25-18, 24-22 in Malibu late last month. LBSU Freshmen Kyle Ensing and TJ DeFalco combined for 53 kills in that match.

Baseball

The Dirtbags, who are ranked No. 18 by Baseball America, are back at Blair Field for a three-game Big West series against UC Irvine, which took this series at home last season. The series is the sixth at Blair Field this season for Long Beach State (19-12, 3-3 Big West) and the Dirtbags are 12-7 at home.

It looks like UC Irvine (18-10, 3-3) has the best hitter in the conference. Sophomore Keston Hiura leads the team offensively and is hitting at team-best .396 with seven home runs, a .678 slugging percentage and a .489 on-base percentage. The series continues on Saturday at 2 p.m. and concludes at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Women’s Teis

First place in the Big West is on the line Friday at 2 p.m. at Rhodes Teis Center as the 49ers (15-4, 7-0 Big West) host rival Cal State Fullerton (17-4, 6-1). The Titans are one game back in the standings. Cal State Fullerton has only taken three points off of LBSU in the last eight regular season conference matches. The 49ers will also host No. 41 Oregon at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

Softball

LBSU hosts Cal Poly in a Big West doubleheader at 1 p.m. on Saturday at the LBSU Softball Complex. It’s the first true home game for the 49ers (24-13, 4-2 Big West) since last season. The Mustangs (16-17, 0-6) have lost 11 straight games and are still looking for their first Big West win after a relatively successful non-conference schedule. This series concludes at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Track & Field

The 49ers hosted the Pacific Coast Invitational on Thursday and will be back on campus today for the two-day aual Beach Invitational. The meets are being held at the newly renovated Jack Rose Track, marking the first time in 11 years LBSU will host a meet on campus.

Men’s Basketball

Senior Nick Faust has received an invitation to play in the aual Portsmouth, Va. Invitational Touament, one of the top pre-draft showcases in the country. It is limited to the top 64 college seniors and takes place today through Saturday. The Invitational features eight teams of eight players and serves as a showcase for NBA and European scouts.

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Faust is the only player in the Big West to be invited, and one of only four players chosen from a mid-major conference. He is the first to represent Long Beach at Portsmouth since James Eis was invited for the 2013 touament. Eis was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in the second round of the NBA draft and has played for three NBA teams, including finishing this season with the New Orleans Pelicans.

- JJ Fiddler contributed to this report