Long Beach State Dirtbags hosting Big West opener

LONG BEACH >> The first Big West Conference series of the season could end up being the most important one for Long Beach State. The Dirtbags (16-7), ranked No. 17 by Baseball America, host No. 18 UC Santa Barbara (18-4) in a three-game series at Blair Field. The conference’s top two ranked teams i begin the series Friday night at 6 and continue at 2 p.m on Saturday before concluding at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

“It’s a great way to get after it and start the second half of the season with a barometer,” Long Beach State coach Troy Buckley said. “We’ll have a better idea of where we are and what we’ve leaed after this weekend.”

UC Santa Barbara has relied on a strong offense and had its nine-game wiing streak snapped by USC last Sunday. The Gauchos lead the conference with 6.8 runs per game, a .395 on-base percentage and a .411 team slugging percentage. Their pitching staff is averaging almost eight strikeouts per game and opposing pitchers have a 5.86 ERA this season.

UCSB sophomore first baseman Austin Bush leads the Gauchos with 21 RBIs and a .329 batting average. Redshirt sophomore Josh Adams has a team-high four home runs and catcher Dempsey Grover has a team-high seven doubles.

“They’ve accomplished a lot as well in the first part of the season,” Buckley said of UCSB. “I think we both have the pieces to keep getting better.”

The Dirtbag offense has been much improved while the pitching staff remains the program strength. LBSU is outscoring its opponents 104-80 this season while racking up an impressive 31 sacrifice hits and 29 stolen bases.

“We’re directing the ball a lot better,” Buckley said. “There’s not as many lazy outs and a lot more productive outs.”

Senior Zack Domingues is a good example of that improvement. He’s flourishing after the move down in the order and over to third base from second. Domingues is hitting a team-best .377 with only five strikeouts in 61 at bats.

Shortstop Garrett Hampson, is also enjoying a move back to the leadoff spot. The junior is hitting .363 with a team-high 21 runs scored and 10 stolen bases. He’s also got a .453 on-base percentage, a .429 slugging percentage and a .990 fielding percentage.

On the mound, the Dirtbags have been as solid as ever under Buckley. Starters Chris Mathewson, Darren McCaughan and Taer Brown have combined for 12 quality starts this season, and the Dirtbags are 11-1 in those games. The Dirtbag relievers have a 1.94 ERA in 83 2/3 iings. They have allowed 63 hits, 24 walks and have 88 strikeouts. It took 23 1/3 iings for an opponent to score an eaed run. Freshman closer Chris Rivera had two saves against Cal State Fullerton last weekend to lead the NCAA with 10 saves.

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Buckley will hand the ball to Mathewson for the opener and then go with McCaughan and Brown. Friday will be just the seventh away game for UCSB, and the 17th home game for LBSU.