It was the middle of April and the Long Beach State baseball team had just lost another series, losing two out of three on the road against conference opponent UC Davis. The Dirtbags had fallen to a 16-18 record on their way to concluding yet another mediocre season, something that’s become the norm over the last several years.
At that point, the best thing going for the team was that there was still a lot of baseball to be played, and the Dirtbags weren’t without talent. Instead of staying down, the Dirtbags fought back, and it turned out they were more resilient than they thought.
It started with a home series against UC Santa Barbara that followed a series loss to UC Davis. Already a month into conference play, the Dirtbags were just 4-5 in the Big West as they prepared to face the Gauchos at Blair Field.
The Dirtbags won two out of three against UC Santa Barbara, and they wouldn’t look back from there. They continued their excellent conference play with series wins against Cal Poly, Cal State Fullerton, Hawaii and UC Riverside. A sweep of UC Irvine at home helped clinch the program’s first postseason birth in six seasons.
The Dirtbags’ postseason ride ended in the NCAA Regionals, but not before they made some noise. Having to travel cross-country for the Gainsville Regionals, the Dirtbags defeated North Carolina 6-1. Right-hander Andrew Rohrbach was outstanding, tossing 8.1 shutout innings while only allowing one run. The Dirtbags would defeat the Tar Heels a second time before being eliminated by College of Charleston on Monday.
The early postseason exit by no means took away from what the Dirtbags accomplished this year. They finished 34-26 overall and 17-7 in conference, finishing second in the Big West Conference. The 34 wins were the most since 2008, when the team finished 38-21.
For their terrific season, several Dirtbags received much-deserved individual honors. Shortstop Garrett Hampson, outfielder Richard Prigatano and pitcher Josh Frye were selected to the All-Big West First Team. Frye was also selected to the Collegiate Baseball’s Louisville Slugger All-American Second Team.
First baseman Ino Patron and pitcher Ty Provencher earned second team honors, while Andrew Rohrbach was an honorable mention.
In addition to being selected to the All-Big West First Team, Hampson was also named the 2014 Big West Freshman Field Player of the Year. According to LBSU’s athletics website, Hampson is only the second Freshman of the Year at LBSU, joining current Major Leaguer and Washington Nationals infielder Danny Espinosa.
The honors didn’t stop there for Hampson, who was named to the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper’s Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American team. The only other freshman in school history to be recognized with the national award are Espinosa and Troy Tulowitzki.
Like most college baseball programs, the Dirtbags will lose several key contributors as some graduate or are drafted by the MLB. It will be up to head coach Troy Buckley’s excellent recruiting and coaching in order for the team to have continued success. If this season was any indication for success, the Dirtbags’ return to college baseball’s elite should be a lengthy one.