The Long Beach State Dirtbags received a No. 8 ranking from Baseball America after they swept UC Davis behind a relentless offensive performance last weekend.
After scoring a combined 34 runs, it would be safe to say that the lineup will be able to stay hot heading into tonight’s game against University of San Diego, right? Not so fast.
LBSU (28-14, 13-2 Big West) has struggled at the plate in mid-week games all season. The Dirtbags lost back to back Tuesday games to UCLA, the first a 2-1 extra inning loss at Jackie Robinson Stadium April 18 and then a 5-1 beating at home April 25.
LBSU rebounded from both loses, turning in weekend series sweeps April 21-23 against UC Irvine and April 28-30 against UC Davis. Both were highlighted by great hitting and helped keep the team in good standing with college baseball rankings.
The Dirtbags will be traveling to San Diego for Tuesday’s game at Fowler Park and have one more chance to improve their 4-6 mid-week record.
Junior starting pitcher AJ Jones (1-2, 2.36 ERA) left his last start April 25 early with a recurring injury to his throwing shoulder. He was a good fit in the mid-week role when he returned to the team after missing the first 14 games, but is now out for the foreseeable future.
The injury comes at a bad time for LBSU, who has the look of a regional tournament host come June. With the weekend rotation at full strength, the Dirtbags were in a great position to go four quality starters deep heading into the end of the season and the NCAA playoffs. After the team’s loss to Miami in the Coral Gables regional last year, LBSU learned how important it is to have a reliable four pitcher rotation.
Without Jones, the probable starter Tuesday night is freshman John Castro (0-3, 6.18 ERA), who hasn’t seen much success in his last five appearances. The hard-throwing right hander has seen his performance decline after a dominating start on Feb. 21 against USC when he threw seven scoreless innings and struck out six.
On a positive note, senior first baseman Daniel Jackson could very well be finding his groove at just the right time. The veteran has hit three home runs and driven in nine in his last seven games and will be a welcomed sight after being the Dirtbags’ leader in all major offensive stats.
The Dirtbags face a USD (28-14, 14-7 West Coast) team that was 1-3 last week after losing a game to UCI on April 25 and a WCC series against Loyola Marymount last weekend.
First pitch of tonight’s game is scheduled for 6 p.m. and can be heard on KBeach.org.