Reports From LBSU

Autism Awareness Week is this week for Dirtbag Baseball, as the team hosts UC Santa Barbara from April 23-25 after two weekends on the road in Big West play. The Dirtbags start the weekend against the Gauchos on Friday at 6:30 p.m. The team then brings UCSB back for another evening game Saturday at 5:30 p.m. before closing the series on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Singer Stories 
Kirk Singer responded to getting a permanent spot in the starting lineup with a huge week for the Dirtbags. Long Beach State’s backup shortstop, Singer was inserted into the lineup at second base in the team’s final game at UC Davis, and played there for all four games this week. Over those contests, Singer hit .471, going 8-for-17 with two doubles and a home run, his second of the season. Friday against UC Riverside, the sophomore was a perfect 5-for-5, and then capped off the Saturday night win with a tape-measure home run, part of two hits on the day for tthe Los Alamitos native.

Starting Off 
Long Beach State’s starting rotation of Andrew Gagnon, Jake Thompson and Branden Pinder has anchored the weekends since the start of the season and the trio has been solid throughout. All three have averaged over six innings per start, and combined have an ERA under 4.00. Jake Thompson has the highest ERA at 4.76, but also has the best record at 5-1 and a team-high 50 strikeouts, while Piner has only 10 walks on the year with a 3.86 ERA, and Gagnon has 43 strikeouuts and a 3.20 ERA while primarily pitching on Fridays.

Scouting UC Santa Barbara 
UC Santa Barbara had the first weekend of Big West play off, and has played .500 baseall since then, coming into the series with Long Beach State at 3-3 in conference play. Overall, the Gauchos start the week with a 16-14 record, with Matt Valaika leading the regulars with a .327 batting average. The team has also found success despite a few high ERA’s in the rotation. Ace Mario Hollands is third on the team with a 3.12 ERA, but Nick Capito has a 5.40 ERA over eight starts. The Gauchos picked up a series sweep against Long Beach State in the last meeting between the teams, neutral-site play at Fullerton’s Goodwin Field after fires in Santa Barbara forced the series out of the Central Coast last year.