By The No.8 Long Beach State Dirtbags maintained their place at the top of the Big West Conference after winning two out of three games against second place Cal Poly May 5 to 7.
This weekend, they travel to Minneapolis for a three-game series against the Gophers and a chance to show their national prowess with some road wins.
The 27th ranked team in RPI has been inconsistent on road trips in 2017, faring best in a series sweep at UC Davis (15-25, 7-11 Big West) April 28-30 and worst when they were swept by ASU (21-24) in Phoenix March 10 to 12.
“We struggled that weekend because we were still trying to figure out who we were as a team,” junior pitcher John Sheaks said. “Now we have a better understanding of that and a much stronger identity.”
LBSU (30-15-1, 15-3 Big West) has been much better separated from Blair Field as of late, outscoring Big West opponents 66-26 in away games since conference play started. A big part of that has come from junior shortstop, Laine Huffman.
“For me, it’s always exciting to travel,” Huffman said. “At the same time, we have to respect [the other players]. They’re in the top of their conference so we have to come at them with the same intent we’ve had the last few weeks.”
The Gophers (29-15, 12-6 Big Ten) are tied for second place in the Big Ten Conference and have been playing strong baseball recently. After sweeping Penn State (15-33) last weekend, Minnesota won’t be an easy series for LBSU.
“We’re going to be staying with the same approach that has gotten us to this point,” Sheaks said. “Not much changes and we certainly aren’t going to overlook them.”
The Dirtbags make the three-and-a-half hour flight to Minnesota on Thursday morning and will have a light practice that night.
“We get a chance to get used to what it’s like over there and have practice,” Huffman said. “I think those practices really help especially when guys are feeling jet lagged from the travel.”
Sheaks will be looking to win his eighth game of the season as the Saturday starter with a combined record of 19-4. Junior Darren McCaughan won his sixth game on May 7 against Cal Poly in shutout fashion and struck out 11 batters. For Sheaks, one challenge he’s faced in 2017 has been following up solid performances from McCaughan, the reigning Big West Pitcher of the year.
“It’s a tough act to follow,” Sheaks said. “But at the same time, Darren is the best guy to learn from. Not just stuff he tells you but what you can learn about the way he attacks the lineup you’re going to be facing the next day.”
While LBSU hasn’t had a lot of trouble scoring runs lately, the team has made it a point to start implementing more of a “small ball” mentality to its offense.
“We’ve been focusing a lot more on putting more “hit and runs” into the games,” Huffman said. “It’s important not to forget about that part of the game and make sure to fine tune those details.”
The Dirtbags have six games left to pad their lead in conference in the form of a home series against Hawai’i (25-17, 7-8 Big West) May 19 to 21 and the Big West Conference finale at No. 16 Cal State Fullerton (29-16, 10-5 Big West) May 25 to 27.
Before LBSU can get back to their main focus on winning their first conference championship since 2008, they have to focus on taking some wins out of the series against Minnesota.
