The best pitching performance of the year by a Long Beach State baseball a starter led the Dirtbags to a series sweep on Saturday over Cal State Northridge at Blair Field.
The first career complete game by freshman right-hander Chris Mathewson fueled the Dirtbags (17-10, 4-2 Big West) to an 8-1 win over the Matadors (20-11, 1-5). He struck out six and retired 10 consecutive batters from the second to fifth inning.
The Dirtbags hung on to a 2-1 lead through the first five innings before their offense came alive in the sixth. Freshman designated hitter Brock Lundquist scored after he singled and stole second base. 10 batters went to the plate in the inning, and the Dirtbags poured on six more runs.
“I knew we were going to have to score at least eight in one game to compete for the Big West,” Buckley said.
Junior righty Tanner Brown pitched a complete game shut-out in Friday night’s 1-0 Dirtbag victory over the Matadors. He got off to a shaky start by hitting a batter in the first inning, but dominated the game from that point on.
After only giving up a couple of hits through the fourth inning, Brown retired 14 straight batters. In the ninth inning, he issued his first and only walk of the game.
A sacrifice bunt advanced the runner to second. Brown struck out the next batter, and closed out the game with a gutsy no look throw to second base to pick off the runner.
“It was Buckley who made the call,” Brown said. “I knew it was going to work because every time I looked at the guy he was way off.”
On Thursday night, the Dirtbags edged out a 3-2 victory. Senior righty Kyle Friedrichs (5-1) got the start on the mound and entered the matchup a week removed from earning his second Big West Pitcher of the Week on the season.
Friedrichs followed up his complete game shutout with another solid outing. He limited the Matadors to one earned run through six and a third innings. Friedrichs said he was a little tired entering the game coming off a short week.
“I didn’t let [fatigue] affect me,” Friedrichs said. “I still competed and made pitches when I needed to.”
The Dirtbags took advantage of multiple CSUN errors and wild pitches. The Matadors had better luck hitting when Friedrichs exited the game in the seventh. They managed to score a run off junior right-hander Logan Lombana to make it 3-2 in the eighth and threatened to take the lead with bases loaded.
Junior righty Ty Provencher came in and struck out CSUN freshman outfielder Albee Weiss to end the rally. He closed out the game in the ninth and collected his fifth save of the season.
“I love having to come in the situation with runners on,” Provencher said. “The table is set but you still got to eat.”
The Dirtbags will travel to San Diego State for a Monday night 6 p.m. game.