After getting knocked around in his last start April 15 against Cal State Northridge, senior Dave Smith rebounded versus UC Irvine on Sunday during the No. 12 Long Beach State Dirtbags’ 5-2 series-sweeping victory at Anteater Stadium.
“I thought it was a really good character day for [Smith],” head coach Troy Buckley said. “He came back and was able to get back on the path he was on.”
Smith went from allowing three earned runs on nine hits in last weekend’s start to holding UCI (14-23, 2-7 BIg West) to two runs over 7 1/3 innings, striking out three. After taking care of games one and two, LBSU (25-13, 10-2 Big West) finished off its fourth series sweep of 2017.
“The defense played great as usual and I was able to do a much better job competing and staying within myself,” Smith said. “It’s crucial to bounce back after getting knocked down and take things one week at a time.”
LBSU scored the first three runs of the game in the top of the third inning. Sophomore second baseman Jarren Duran hit a lazy line drive into left center field and was able to leg out an extra base for a one-out double. After getting himself in scoring position, Duran crossed home plate with two outs on junior Ramsey Romano’s two-out single.
That was the first of three two-out RBI singles by the Dirtbags in the inning, as Daniel Jackson and Luke Rasmussen each followed with one of their own. By the end of the third inning, LBSU jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Smith (4-1) got better as the game went on, showing very good command of his fastball to get the UCI hitters out early on in the count.
“He pitched down [in the strike zone] more and commanded his breaking ball a lot better today against a right handed hitting lineup,” Buckley said.
Smith was removed from the game with one out in the bottom of the eighth and gave way to senior Josh Advocate who was able to maintain the 5-2 lead.
Junior Chris Rivera entered the game with a man on first base and no outs in the bottom of the ninth and was able to shut the door on UCI and earned his fifth save of the season.
On Friday night, junior ace Darren McCaughan (5-2, 2.53 ERA) threw a complete game shutout against UCI that paved the way to a 4-0 victory. The Dirtbags answered with a 8-2 win in game two on Saturday after Duran had four RBIs in a 2 for 5 day at the plate.
UCI’s top hitter, junior designated hitter Keston Hiura, was stifled by the Dirtbags’ pitching all weekend, finishing the series 0 for 7.
Duran spearheaded the Dirtbags offensively, going 6 for 13 with five RBI’s over the weekend. The sophomore has put a midseason slump behind him and now has a batting average of .270 and leads LBSU in runs scored (28) and stolen bases (12).
The Dirtbags surpassed their 2016 total number of series sweeps (3) with their fourth.
“Sweeping anybody is hard,” Buckley said. “When you take care of Friday and Saturday then you have to take advantage of that like we’ve been able to do so far. You have to hand it to the older guys and the mentality they’ve had.”
The Dirtbags are back in action on Tuesday when they welcome UCLA (18-18) to Blair Field. Junior AJ Jones will be the LBSU probable starter in a rematch of their loss to the Bruins on April 18.