Long Beach State Dirtbags hosting Cal State Fullerton in Big West title tilt

LONG BEACH >> The impromptu joyous chant of “Slider! Slider!” that rang out from the Blair Field clubhouse after practice on Tuesday afteoon meant two things. The first is that the No. 22-ranked Long Beach State Dirtbags are clearly loose before hosting No. 23 Cal State Fullerton in a Big West Conference championship series this weekend. The second is that the Dirtbags love dominant junior reliever Austin McGeorge and his signature pitch.

“If we need him in a big spot, he’ll be ready,” LBSU catcher David Banuelos said. “He’s different than other pitchers. The hitters know (the slider) is coming, but they can’t adjust.”

McGeorge has used his slider and improved fastball to rack up an impressive 71 strikeouts in only 29 appearances and 46 iings pitched this season. That’s an average of 13.89 strikeouts per nine iings. He’s struck out nearly 40 percent of the batters he’s faced. The righty also carries a 0.98 ERA and has four saves since Big West play began.

“He’s got video-game numbers,” LBSU coach Troy Buckley said. “He’s matured emotionally and physically. We don’t talk about strikeouts. It’s a byproduct of getting into quality counts and finishing it off.”

“When I’m ahead in the count, it’s over,” McGeorge said. “But it’s all about strike one and using my fastball. You work up to it.”

McGeorge, an Anaheim Hills native, had to work himself into being a college pitcher and as fate would have it, his baseball life started at Cal State Fullerton.

“I leaed to play baseball there,” McGeorge said of attending Titans youth baseball camps as an 8-year old. “My dad went to Cal State Fullerton and I watched so many games growing up.”

McGeorge’s father, Darren, let his son play every sport from water polo to hockey, but knew that he had a mind for the game of baseball.

“He’s smart and can watch something on TV and lea from it,” Darren said of Austin. “He’s also very calm, which is good for baseball. I’m not like that. I’m always nervous when I watch him play, until he’s got two strikes on a hitter.”

“I’ve always loved the game of baseball,” McGeorge said. “It’s different from other sports in terms of culture and teamwork.”

McGeorge played the coer infield spots growing up and didn’t really want to primarily be a pitcher. But he was asked to pitch the summer before his senior year at Canyon High. He did so and had some success, then one day he tried to throw a cut fastball in practice, something happened.

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“It’s hard to describe, but it felt awesome,” McGeorge remembers about accidentally throwing his first slider. “It’s something you hold onto with muscle memory. (The slider) just clicked for me.”

Since he was little-known on the mound, McGeorge didn’t receive any interest from college coaches during his senior season despite leading Canyon to a league championship with a 1.20 ERA and .325 batting average. Buckley just so happened to be at McGeorge’s final start of his senior season.

“(LBSU) called me and I told them if they wanted me I’d be here tomorrow,” McGeorge said of eaing the final walk-on spot that summer. “My first thought was that I would get to play in the league I grew up watching.”

McGeorge struggled early as a freshman and was relegated to the bench, but there he leaned from watching. He worked hard on his slider that summer and came back a different, stronger pitcher his sophomore season. Last year, he made a team-high 31 appearances and gave up only seven eaed runs in 29 1/3 iings with 33 strikeouts.

“I wanted him to be ready (as a freshman) and he wasn’t,” Buckley said. “But now he is.”

McGeorge has given up only one triple and no home runs in his 76 iings as a Dirtbag and if LBSU is in trouble against Cal State Fullerton this weekend, they’ll tu to McGeorge first. He and the LBSU bullpen helped the Dirtbags win a non-conference series in Fullerton in late March.

The conference title will be decided with three games at Blair Field, The series will starting at 6 p.m. Thursday with games at 6 p.m. on Friday and at 1 p.m. on Saturday. LBSU hasn’t won the Big West since 2008. CSUF has been to the College World Series seven times since 2001, and won the NCAA Championship in 2004.

The Titans (33-19, 15-6) dropped their first series last weekend to visiting Hawaii. The Dirtbags (35-18, 14-7) are a game back thanks to their sweep at UC Davis, including a season-high ninth consecutive win.

“It’s going to be a real cool atmosphere,” Buckley says. “I’m really proud of this team. They put themselves in this position and they deserve to enjoy it.”

CSUF leads the nation with a 2.28 team ERA and LBSU is 22nd with a 3.19 ERA. Both teams are also in the Top 25 in fielding percentage and the Dirtbags lead the Big West at .978.

Like LBSU, the Titans have won three Big West Pitcher of the Week awards. Sophomore Coer Seabold will get the ball on Friday night with his 2.35 ERA and 90 strikeouts. Freshman Colton Eastman, who has a 2.21 ERA, won his first four starts for CSUF, but has had no-decisions in his last two Sunday starts. Long Beach Wilson High alum Timmy Richards is a standout shortstop for CSUF. The junior is hitting .297 with a team-high nine home runs and .510 slugging percentage. He has 31 RBIs, 10 stolen bases and 12 doubles. He has a .965 fielding percentage and has helped tu 31 double plays.

CSUF is 10-10 on the road this season and will play four of its last six games on the road.