Fresh off being swept at the hands of Hawaii, the Long Beach State baseball team will hit the road to take on the University of Las Vegas on Tuesday at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.
The Dirtbags (23-20, 8-10 Big West) and the Rebels (22-24, 8-16 Mountain West) last met on March 31 when the Dirtbags squeaked out the 5-4 win with a walk-off hit in the ninth inning by junior right-fielder Zack Rivera. He said he is excited about the upcoming matchup.
“I personally love going on the road,” Rivera said. “It’s good to get away from what you see every day.”
Rivera’s batting average has dipped down to .253 over the last few weeks, but he still leads the team with 24 RBI. Shortstop sophomore Garrett Hampson continues to be the team’s most productive source of offense. He is batting .300 and leads the teams in both runs and hits, and ranks third in the conference in stolen bases with 16.
While Hampson and Rivera have been consistent offensively for much of the season, a few of the younger position players have begun to emerge as threats at the plate.
Freshmen Brock Lundquist and Luke Rasmussen have given the offense a little spark. Lundquist is becoming the mainstay as designated hitter and already has the second most doubles on the team despite limited playing time. Rasmussen is getting more playing time in left field lately and is hitting a team high .343.
Head coach Troy Buckley said the matchup would provide a good character opportunity after what he called a disastrous weekend.
“[The team is] a young group, and they’re not real experienced,” Buckley said. “They suffered their first full body blow and now we’ll have a chance to see who they are.”
The Rebels are coming off a strong weekend under fifth year head coach Tim Chambers. They took the series 2-1 from San Diego State and won six of their last seven games. Their pitching has combined to give up the fewest walks and third most strikeouts in the Mountain West Conference.
Senior catcher Erik VanMeetren leads the Rebels on offense. He has a .460 on base percentage, which is fifth best in the Mountain West. The 2015 Johnny Bench Award Watch List named him as one of the top amateur catchers in the nation. Freshman second baseman Payton Squier is also in the midst of a productive year. He leads the team with 57 hits and holds a .307 batting average.
Dirtbags junior righty Ryan Cruz will start Tuesday. He will look to improve upon his last performance against the Rebels when he gave up seven hits in four innings pitched. Cruz is 1-2 on the season with a 4.17 ERA. Batters are only hitting .221 batting against him.
The first pitch is scheduled for 3:05 p.m. Tuesday at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.