For the first time since 2008, the Dirtbags are headed to postseason play.
On Monday morning, the NCAA selection committee announced that Long Beach State was awarded the No. 2 seed in the Gainesville Regional and will open up postseason play against the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Conference play began with Cal State Northridge on March 28. At this point, the Dirtbags were 11-12 and had lost six of their last nine games. They lost a series at UC Davis and returned home for three straight weekend series against nationally ranked Big West teams.
This was when things turned around for the Dirtbags. They took two of three from Santa Barbara, Cal Poly and Cal State Fullerton to put them back in postseason contention. They took care of business against teams they were supposed to beat, sweeping Hawaii and taking two of three from UC Riverside. Then came the final series win against UC Irvine, who went into the series in second place in the Big West.
The Dirtbags handed Irvine a season-ending sweep and leapfrogged them in the Big West standings.
Many pundits figured that with the Dirtbags rough schedule, a winning record would be enough to get them into the postseason. The Dirtbags were not satisfied with that, winning 15 of their last 18 games to give them a 32-24 record, the first 30-win season in head coach Troy Buckley’s tenure as skipper. They had 11 wins against top-25 teams and took four seriesagainst ranked teams.
The Dirtbags got hot at the right time and will head to Gainesville, where they will take on UNC. The Tar Heels finished 34-25, which was good for fourth in the ACC Coastal division. They are led by shortstop Michael Russell, whose .345 batting average was good for third in the ACC. Russell is a finalist for the Brooks Wallace Shortstop of the Year award.
Andrew Rohrbach will most likely get the ball in game one. The righty had thrown four innings in his career before transferring to Long Beach State. He threw 101.1 innings this year in a team-high 15 starts, posting a 6-2 record and 2.13 ERA.
The other half of the Gainesville Regional features a pair of teams that won 40 or more games. College of Charleston won the Colonial Athletic Association tournament, and its reward was a tournament berth and a date with the No. 2 overall seed Florida Gators. The Gators lost in the finals of the SEC tournament, which possibly cost them the top overall seed in the country.
In total, four Big West teams will participate in postseason play. Cal Poly is hosting their regional and opens up against Sacramento State. UC Irvine is the No. 3 seed in the Corvallis Regional and will take on University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and Fullerton is the No. 3 seed in the Stillwater Regional and will play Nebraska.
The Dirtbags-Tar Heels game will be played Friday at 10 a.m. and aired on ESPN3.