Long Beach State Dirtbags open NCAA Regional with win

Chris Mathewson picked a great time for his best outing of the season. The Long Beach State sophomore starter has struggled to find the form that won him the 2015 Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year award.

On Friday in the first game of the Coral Gables Regional, Mathewson looked like his old self as he carried a no-hitter into the seventh iing of a 5-1 win over Florida Atlantic.

“I left this season behind and just had fun playing baseball like I’ve done all my life,” Mathewson said. “I didn’t rush, took a good breath and stayed committed to every pitch.”

The Dirtbags (37-20) are the No. 3 seed in the regional hosted by the University of Miami, and will play again at 4 p.m. on Saturday. The No. 2 seeded Owls (38-18) move to the losers’ bracket.

“We’ve been talking about (NCAA postseason) being a clean start and (Mathewson) epitomizes that,” Dirtbags head coach Troy Buckley said. “There’s expectations and he had the offseason surgery, so there’s a lot going on for him. But he was in his best routine today, and he just took care of the things he could control.”

Mathewson (8-5) faced the minimum number of batters through 4 2/3 iings until an error and two walks loaded the bases in the fifth. The right-hander got a sharp ground ball to escape the jam, but gave up a leadoff home run to Florida Atlantic first baseman Esteban Puerta in the seventh to lose the no-hitter and the shutout.

With a ruer on, reliever Kyle Brown walked the only batter he faced, but senior Ty Provencher got a ground out to end the threat. Mathewson pitched 6 2/3 iings and only gave up two hits while striking out four and walking two.

Meanwhile, the Dirtbags offense came out with an aggressive approach against Florida Atlantic starter David McKay (5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 K, 2 BB) and collected five of its 10 hits in the first two iings. All nine spots in the LBSU lineup reached base, five different players drove in runs and five different players scored runs. The Dirtbags also had three stolen bases and a pair of sacrifice bunts which led to runs.

LBSU took a 2-0 lead in the second with classic Dirtbags baseball. Left fielder Brock Lundquist led off with a double, and first baseman Daniel Jackson moved him to third with a single to the opposite field. Right fielder Alex Muzzi attempted a safety squeeze bunt up the first base line, and instead beat the tag for an RBI single. Catcher David Banuelos followed with an RBI ground out to score Jackson.

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Freshman Brooks Stotler manufactured more offense in the fifth when he led off with a walk, took second on a sacrifice bunt, stole third and then scored on shortstop Garrett Hampson’s two-out RBI single. Freshman Jarren Duran also scored from third on a squeeze bunt from senior Zack Domingues after he tripled in the seventh. Designated hitter Luke Rasmussen drove in the fifth and final run for the Dirtbags with a two-out RBI single in the ninth.

“When (Mathewson) goes out and throws up zeros, as an offense we just build off that,” Rasmussen said. “It just gives us energy to go out there and put up runs for Chris because he’s doing a good job out there.”

Mathewson bounced back quickly from giving up the home run in the seventh with a 4-0 lead, and struck out the next batter he faced with his 100th pitch.

“Between iings I was trying not to think too much,” Mathewson said. “You can be your worst enemy.”

Provencher came back out for the eighth to strike out two batters in a scoreless frame. Closer Austin McGeorge pitched around the third error of the day for the Dirtbags in the ninth, and ended the game with his 74th strikeout in 50 2/3 iings pitched this season.

Florida Atlantic star shortstop CJ Chatham struck out in the fourth after an entertaining full-count battle with Mathewson. The shortstop, who was Conference USA MVP, legged out a single in the eighth, but was pulled from the game with an apparent hand injury. Chatham came to the plate with two outs all four times.

— JJ Fiddler