The past 15 years of the rivalry between Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton have been filled with excitement. One thing that hasn’t happened since 2002 is the Dirtbags’ sweeping the Titans.
That all changed on Sunday thanks to a 1-0 win on a pinch-hit, walk-off single from sophomore utility player Domenic Colacchio. His number was called by head coach Troy Buckley with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning after junior shortstop Laine Huffman singled and was bunted to second base.
“I knew I just had to get up there and do my job — try to get a pitch to hit,” Colacchio said. “There’s always a little bit of nerves but it’s my job to come off the bench and get the big hit.”
Colacchio was inserted in the No. 2 spot in the lineup for junior Joey Sanchez. Both Sanchez and Colacchio are right handed hitters and with sophomore right hander Blake Workman on the mound for the Titans (13-9), it was a straight up gut decision by Buckley.
“Playing in a game like this, you want guys in there that want to make plays,” Buckley said. “Colacchio is a guy who isn’t afraid. He likes these moments and was able to put together a good at-bat and come up with the big hit.”
After a 6-4 win on Friday and a 8-5 win on Saturday, the anticipation for game three was built.
Blair Field was at near capacity with 2,640 fans gathered to see if the Dirtbags (13-9) could complete the sweep and they did not leave disappointed.
Senior righthander Dave Smith got a text late last night that said he would be the Dirtbags’ starter for the series finale. Just a few weeks ago, Smith dropped a 45-pound plate on his toe in the weight room and had to try to stay in pitching form while wearing a boot.
The four-year veteran arguably had his best pitching performance of his career taking the mound for the first time since the injury. Smith threw 7 1/3 scoreless innings, scattered six hits and struck out five.
“I was excited and ready to get out there once I got the word last night,” Smith said. “It means a lot that I was able to contribute but today was a team win. You saw the way that we grinded for that one run and it was just special to see our team come together like that.”
His counterpart in game three, junior lefthander John Gavin, was also masterful in his 7 innings of scoreless baseball.
Fullerton threatened to score several times throughout the game, including the top of the eighth inning when the Titans got a one out double from Hunter Cullen and a walk was issued by the Dirtbags’ freshman relief pitcher Connor Riley. Senior relief pitcher Josh Advocate made his second appearance of the weekend after earning a save in game one, and pitched his way through a bases loaded jam with one out.
“We really got preached to work pitch-by-pitch and it ended up working out for us today,” Advocate said. “David [Smith] really set the tone throwing up all those zeros and It’s really a great feeling to accomplish this.”
The pitching duel was a change of pace from the first two games that featured six home runs and a combined 23 runs. Nonetheless, fans were treated to the same excitement when Huffman slid into home as the game-winning run that completed the sweep.
On a lower note, the Dirtbags have likely lost their starting second baseman Jarren Duran for the time being. The team’s leadoff hitter was hit in the face by a fastball from Gavin in the bottom of the third inning. Duran was taken to the hospital immediately after being hit but there’s no further information at this time.
For LBSU, the successful weekend won’t count toward their conference record, but will surely give the team all the confidence they need to start conference play against UC Santa Barbara March 31-April 2.
“It’s awesome for confidence and for the fans, but the road still goes through [Cal State] Fullerton later this year,” Buckley said. “They’re the defending Big West [Conference] champions. I hope our guys have the maturity to enjoy this yet understand that we have other things to do.”
LBSU travels to northern California for a game against Cal on Monday at 7:05 p.m. and then Stanford on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m.
Luke,
Thanks for the succinct story to the game today. Your unbiased and informative article on the Dirtbags win today was quite refreshing and fun to read. I could sense the excitement of their accomplishment this weekend emphasized by the walk-off win and I’m not a Dirtbags fan. Can’t wait for their next meeting as it could mean a lot more than a weekend series sweep.