Baseball, Men's Basketball, Men's Sports, Men's Volleyball, Softball, Sports, Women's Basketball, Women's Sports, Women's Water Polo

Weekend preview

Men’s basketball

Who: Cal State Fullerton (9-16, 2-10)

When: Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Where: Walter Pyramid

TV: Fox Sports Prime Ticket

Need to know: When Long Beach State (14-12, 8-3) hosts Cal State Fullerton on Saturday night, the 49ers will be seeking their sixth straight victory. The 49ers own the all-time series with a 64-44 record and have won the last three meetings against the Titans.

The Titans will enter Saturday night’s contest on a three-game road losing streak. Currently in last place, CSUF has the conference’s third-leading scorer. Junior guard Tre’ Coogins is averaging 16.5 points per game behind UC Santa Barbara’s Michael Bryson (19.2 ppg) and LBSU’s Nick Faust (17.2 ppg).

Women’s basketball

Who: UC Riverside (17-7, 10-0)

When: Thursday at 5 p.m.

Where: SRC Arena, Riverside

Need to know: The Highlanders are the top team in the Big West with a perfect 10-0 record and are on an 11-game winning streak.

Long Beach State (18-6, 7-3) leads the all-time series 8-6, but lost the last meeting against UC Riverside on Jan. 13. Since then, the 49ers have won six of their last seven games.

UCR has three of the top five leading scorers in the conference. Senior guard Brittany Crain leads with 21.0 points per game, junior forward Rejane Verin is second averaging 17.4 ppg and freshman guard Annalise Ito is fourth with 13.9 ppg.

Who: UC Santa Barbara (9-16, 6-5)

When: Saturday at 2 p.m.

Where: The Thunderdome, Santa Barbara

Need to know: The Gauchos lead the all-time series 14-6, but the 49ers defeated UCSB in their first meeting this season on Saturday, 60-52.

UCSB’s top scorer is sophomore guard Makala Roper. She is averaging 12.4 points per game and dropped 16 points in the first meeting against LBSU. The 49ers have to also be weary of junior guard Onome Jemerigbe, whose 4.0 assists per game rank fifth in the Big West.

Men’s volleyball

Who: No. 11 UC Irvine (4-9, 3-8)

When: Friday at 7 p.m.

Where: Walter Pyramid

Need to know: Long Beach State (12-2, 9-2) owns the all-time series against UCI, 40-24, but has lost the last three meetings against the Anteaters. Nonetheless, the No. 1-ranked team in the nation will be looking to put an end to that skid.

The No. 11 Anteaters won their first road game this season against No. 3 UCLA, upsetting the Bruins in five sets 3-2 last Thursday.  However, LBSU has a 5-1 record at home this season and will look to extend its winning streak to seven.

Baseball

Who: Holy Cross

When: Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.

Where: Blair Field

Need to know: Long Beach State will open up its season with a first-ever meeting with Holy Cross. The Crusaders are members of the Patriot League. The 2016 Preseason Patriot League coaches’ poll picked Holy Cross to finish in second place behind Navy.

The Crusaders return junior first baseman Anthony Critelli, who hit .307 and led the team with 40 RBIs in 2015, and junior right-hander Brendan King, who had a team-best 2.16 ERA last season.

Softball

Who: Stanford (3-2)

When: Saturday 12:30 p.m.  

Where: Boyd and Jill Smith Family Stadium, Palo Alto, California

Need to Know: The Cardinal leads the all-time series 12-9-1 against Long Beach State (2-3) and won last season’s meeting 11-5 in eight innings.

Sophomore Haylee Snyder is the ace on the Cardinal pitching staff. She recorded 38 strikeouts in 112.2 innings last season before going down with an injury.

Who: North Dakota State (2-3)

When: Saturday 3 p.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m.  

Where:  Boyd and Jill Smith Family Stadium, Palo Alto, California

Need to Know: The Bison won two of the three all-time meetings against the 49ers. North Dakota State shutout LBSU 8-0 the last time these two faced each other on Feb. 15, 2012.

A player to watch is senior second baseman Cheyenne Garcia, who has 42 career doubles and 25 home runs.

Who: Saint Mary’s College (2-3)

When: Sunday at 11:30 a.m.  

Where:  Boyd and Jill Smith Family Stadium, Palo Alto, California

Need to Know: LBSU leads the all-time series against the Gaels, 6-1. In the last meeting, the 49ers blanked Saint Mary’s 9-0 in five innings on March 8, 2011.

A key player for the Gaels is junior pitcher Katie Moss, who has recorded 15 strikeouts and a 2.16 era in 16.1 innings pitched this season.

Women’s water polo

Who: Azusa Pacific (2-6)

When: Saturday at 10 a.m.

Where: Thompson Aquatic Center, Redlands

Need to know: Long Beach State (3-6) defeated Azusa Pacific in both of their previous match-ups, leading the all-time record 2-0.

The Cougars are coming off of an idle week, but before that they earned their first two victories of the season in back-to-back wins against Pomona-Pitzer and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

The Cougars’ goalie, sophomore Erica Marquez, made 19 saves against Pomona and 13 against Claremont, earning Golden Coast Conference weekly honors.

Who: Redlands (0-2)

When: Saturday at noon

Where: Thompson Aquatic Center, Redlands

Need to know: The 49ers will play Redlands University immediately following their match with Azusa. The 49ers’ all-time record against the Bulldogs is 5-2.

Redlands lost to Loyola Marymount and Cal Baptist two weeks ago at the Cal Baptist Lancer Mini-Tournament. The 49ers defeated the Bulldogs last season 20-6 on March 7 and 16-2 on March 21, 2015.

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