Dirtbags lose to Cal State Fullerton, 2-1
Some Long Beach State players hung on the railing, while others simply hung back in the dugout unwilling or unable to watch the celebratory dogpile on their home field.
The Dirtbags could only painfully watch and wonder about the missed opportunities and 11 strikeouts Sunday as Cal State Fullerton reveled in winning the decisive game of the NCAA Super Regional, 2-1, and trip to the College World Series.
“I can’t say it,” said Dirtbags second baseman Jarren Duran about what his thoughts were while watching the Titans party on Blair Field.
Coach Troy Buckley said his team, which had beaten Cal State Fullerton five of six games during the regular season, shouldn’t hang their heads. While this loss will be something the players “chew on a little bit,” Buckley said they could be proud of what they accomplished.
The Dirtbags finished with a 42-20-1 record. They won the Big West Conference title. They played host to a NCAA regional. As the top-seeded team, Long Beach won the regional, having faced three elimination games. The Dirtbags then won the first game of the Super Regional, 3-0.
“We had our opportunities today, but we have to put things into perspective, which we all will,” Buckley said. “We had a fantastic year for what these guys have accomplished. It does take steps to keep building a program.
“We’re all disappointed, but at the same time you got to able to separate and look at what these guys accomplished, the body of work, and not just let this kind of simmer and set,” Buckley added.
For a second consecutive day, the Dirtbags struggled offensively. Titans starter Colton Eastman allowed only one hit in seven innings and Hank LoForte singled in the game-winning run in the fourth inning to lift Fullerton into its second College World Series in the past three seasons. The Titans open against Oregon State, the national No. 1 seed.
Eastman (2-0) took a no-hitter into the sixth inning but saw his bid end when Duran led off with a single to right. Eastman gave up his fourth walk before retiring the next batter and giving the ball to closer Brett Conine in the eighth.
Long Beach had better luck against Conine. The Dirtbags put runners on third in the eighth and ninth innings, but couldn’t push them across. Conine caught Ramsey Romano looking in the eighth and David Banuelos struck out swinging to end the game.
“They deserve a lot of credit for what they came into our park and accomplished,” Buckley said.
Buckley said he has never been a part of such a emotional game with so much at stake.
“We’ve played Fullerton for Big West Conference titles, things like that,” he said. “But on that type of stage, that type of environment, no. It was really cool. This is what you play for.
“Like I told the guys this morning – it’s real simple. Someone is going to win and someone is going to lose today. Either we are going to be good enough or we’re not, and that’s all it comes down to.
Today, we didn’t do the little things in order to give us a chance to win and that made us not good enough and they were good enough today."
Cal State Fullerton beats Dirtbags, 12-0, in Game 2
Cal State Fullerton got what it needed, a Game 3 in the NCAA Super Regional. Long Beach State has what it needs, another shot at getting to the College World Series.
After dropping the opener Friday, the Titans bounced back Saturday and handed Long Beach State 12-0 loss, forcing a decisive game in the best-of-three series at Blair Field. Game 3 begins at noon Sunday with the winner advancing to Omaha.
Coach Troy Buckley said his team must shake off any lingering thoughts of the error-filled lopsided loss and focus on Sunday’s contest. This will be the Dirtbags’ fourth elimination game this postseason.
“Yesterday, people were saying ‘What about next week and this and that,’” Buckley said of the Dirtbags fans following Friday’s 3-0 victory. “Now today, they (Titans fans) are probably going to do the same things over there.
“So (given) the emotions of what happens each day, you have to stay grounded. I think that’s our mission – to compartmentalize and forget today and get ready to compete tomorrow and give ourselves the best chance to win.”
The Dirtbags didn’t help themselves Saturday with four errors and few offensive chances. Only one runner reached second base in the first four innings, and the Dirtbags managed just seven hits off Titans starter John Gavin (8-2), who picked up his first complete game this season.
Meanwhile, Fullerton bombarded Dirtbags starter Dave Smith (9-2), who pitched in Monday’s decisive game of the regionals. He lasted just three innings and gave up nine runs on 11 hits. Smith previously had not given up a run in 13 postseason innings.
Fullerton blew the game open in the third inning, scoring seven runs on eight hits for a 9-0 lead.
“He certainly is out of gas at this particular point and that’s on me for asking him of that,” Buckley said. “Would one extra day (of rest) have helped? I don’t know. I’m not going to prognosticate or have a crystal ball. The bottom line is that guy took the ball. We asked him to take the ball. He wanted the ball. It didn’t go very well and we’re on to the next day.”
Fullerton coach Rick Vanderhook said he was looking forward to Sunday’s game against the Titans’ Big Wests rival.
“It’s tee-it-up time. It’s toe-to-toe. It’s Big West-vs.-Big West. It’s going to be a blast.”
Long Beach State tops Cal State Fullerton, 3-0
It wasn’t a perfect game, but it was a victory and now Long Beach State sits one game away from the College World Series.
The Dirtbags, seeking their first trip to Omaha in 19 years, blanked Cal State Fullerton, 3-0, in Game 1 of the NCAA Super Regional at Blair Field. Game 2 starts at noon Saturday with Game 3, if necessary, at noon Sunday. It was the 12th shutout of the season for Long Beach State.
Long Beach scored all three runs in the first inning off Titans starter Connor Seabold (11-5), and right-hander Darren McCaughan (9-2) threw seven scoreless innings while allowing just two hits to give the Dirtbags the edge in the best-of-three series. Seabold came into the Super Regional having won his past nine starts.
“McCaughan was fantastic,” Coach Troy Buckley said. “It was a competitive game and we took advantage of Seabold at least in the first inning. I thought our bats were much, much better than they had been in the postseason, at least in the last 2-3 games.”
Second baseman Jarren Duran gave the Dirtbags (42-18-1) its first run when he scored on Lucas Tanacas’ one-out single up the middle. Long Beach took a 2-0 lead on Ramsey Romano’s RBI double to left and he later scored on Garrett Nelson’s double down the right field line.
Although the Dirtbags couldn’t score again, their pitching staff kept the Titans (37-22) off-balance. They managed just four hits, the final one coming in a tense ninth inning.
Closer Chris Rivera came on in the ninth and loaded the bases with a hit batter, a single by Timmy Richards and a walk with one out. The sophomore right-hander then the next two batters to end the game.
“Nothing is going to be easy, especially at this time of year, especially going through those guys (Titans),” Buckley said. “They are always going to make a push, they’re always going to make a run and they did in the ninth and Riv (Rivera) found a way to wiggle his way out.
“But it was a highly competitive game in a good atmosphere (but) it’s one game. I told the guys to turn off the phones, don’t talk about anything because we still have work to do. Enjoy this for a second, get back, recharge and get ready for tomorrow.”
DIRTBAGS NAVIGATE BUMPY ROAD TO OMAHA
The road to Omaha isn’t easy. Reaching the College World Series can be a precarious journey for even the best teams in the nation.
Long Beach State entered the 2017 NCAA Regionals as the Big West Conference champion, ranked No. 7 in the country, one of 16 top-seeded teams, with a 19-4 record at Blair Field, and sights set on its first College World Series in nearly two decades.
Then the Dirtbags got a whiff of the other teams in their regional. There would be perennial powerhouse UCLA, always tough San Diego State and six-time national champion Texas. Some quietly called it the “region of death.”
For the Dirtbags, their path out of the regionals and into this weekend’s Super Regionals turned into an emotional long and winding road. After beating San Diego State, 7-4, in their opener Friday, the Dirtbags stumbled against Texas the following day.
Heartbreak in the 12th
The Dirtbags found themselves in a tight game against the Longhorns, who were looking for their 36th trip to Omaha. The teams exchanged leads as the game pushed toward the midnight hour.
After going back-and-forth, Texas’ Travis Jones lined a two-run, two-out single in the 12th inning that held up for a 5-3 victory and dropped Long Beach State into the loser’s bracket of the double-elimination tournament.
The Dirtbags took a 1-0 lead in the first when Daniel Jackson doubled past third base and later scored on a steal of home when Ramsey Romano was caught stealing second. Texas came back the next inning and tied the game. Long Beach regained the lead, 2-1, on Brock Lindquist’s fourth home run of the year.
Again, Texas pulled even with the Dirtbags on its second home run of the game. Again, the Dirtbags bounced back for a 3-2 lead, but they didn’t lead for long. The Longhorns tied the game with a solo home run and had a chance to pile on more runs with runners in scoring position, but freshman left-hander Zak Baayoun came in and recorded a three-pitch strikeout to strand the runners.
A game-saving catch by Texas in the bottom of the ninth sent the game into extra innings. The Dirtbags couldn’t convert on another scoring opportunity in the 11th when Jarren Duran tripled and headed for home for a potential walk-off, inside-the-park home run. Instead, the Longhorns successfully relayed the throw to the plate, where Duran was called out.
Twice the effort
That meant Long Beach State would have to win twice Sunday to have a chance at moving on to the Super Regionals. First up: San Diego State.
In front of another packed Blair Field, the Dirtbags fell behind, 2-0, but scored five consecutive runs to eliminate the Aztecs with a 7-4 victory and stay alive in the regional and set up a rematch against Texas.
The Dirtbags dusted themselves off and took the field two hours later against the Longhorns. Coach Troy Buckley, conference Coach of the Year, sent redshirt sophomore Tyler Radcliff to the mound for his first collegiate start.
Radcliff didn’t flinch. He set career highs in innings pitched (5.0) and strikeouts (7) and walked none. He allowed two runs on five hits, but Duran came up with a pair of RBIs in the clutch which helped propel the Dirtbags to a 4-3 victory and into the decisive Monday night contest.
The victory gave Long Beach State 40 victories in a season for the first time since 2004. But the Dirtbags needed one more to move on to the Super Regionals.
One more
First, they had to beat Texas one more time. Once more against a team that made the College World Series a birthright, having successfully navigated the road to Omaha 35 times.
The Dirtbags, who hadn’t been to the World Series since 1998, didn’t let history get in the way of their future. In front of another sellout crowd, right-hander Dave Smith, the conference ERA leader, threw four solid innings, including three perfect innings, on two days rest to give Long Beach a strong start.
The Dirtbags took a 1-0 lead on Duran’s quick thinking. After reaching first with a single to left center, he went to second on a botched play in center. He advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on an errant throw to home.
Lucas Tancas gave the Dirtbags a 2-0 lead in the third when he sprinted home on a pick off play at first. Texas cut the lead, 2-1, in the fifth on a wild pitch and had a shot at tying the game in the sixth with two runners in scoring position.
Baayoun came on and struck out the next two batters to get out of the jam and preserve the lead. Josh Advocate worked 1.2 innings of relief and Chris Rivera earned the save to give the Dirtbags a 2-1 victory and a spot in the Super Regionals against Cal State Fullerton.
