By To open the 70th season of the Dirtbags, the team came out and showed its recognizable identity and brand of baseball coming back immediately as they generated a 10-5 victory over the University of Washington, Friday night at Bohl Diamond on Blair Field.
“I’ve never not felt great after a win. I’ve never not felt miserable after a loss. But this one feels good,” interim head coach Bryan Peters said after collecting his first win in his head coaching debut. “Is it different? No wins are wins. And I’m most proud of the boys.”
Sophomore transfer pitcher CJ Hood got off to a good start striking out the first two batters he faced in his Dirtbags debut; but showed signs of the rust having not pitched in a collegiate game since 2022, throwing 12 straight balls to the next three batters to load the bases.
The lapse of control allowed the Huskies to jump out to a 2-0 lead after the sixth hitter of the inning senior infielder Michael Brown plated two runs on a single. A third strikeout would allow Hood to escape without further damage.
Even with the losses of three of the team’s top four run producers from 2023, the Dirtbags proved they can score runs in a hurry as well. Plating three of their own in the first inning after a throwing error gave the team their first run of 2024.
Senior catcher John Newman Jr. flashed his bat-to-ball skills, ripping an RBI single up the middle, before being the decoy in a stolen base attempt that allowed junior designated hitter Cole Santander to score on the throw to second.
Long Beach State Dirtbags junior catcher Cole Santander swings the bat on a pitch against the University of Washington at Blair Field. Santander went 2-5 from the plate and scored one run as the Dirtbags beat the Huskies 10-5 in the home-opener. Photo credit: Naoki Gima
Hood would walk two more in the second but escape damage, before seeing his command continue to wane in the third where he hit a batter, walked the bases loaded for a second time and then hit another batter scoring the Huskies a fourth run.
Back-to-back strikeouts got him out of the inning bringing his total to eight on the night, but after a demanding 84 pitches across three innings, Peters had to go to his bullpen and bring in freshman Josh Donegan.
“There’s more in the tank for him. He had. You know it wasn’t his best outing, but he had a lot of strikeouts,” Peters said about Hood’s debut.
The move to the bullpen settled the game for the Dirtbags and allowed their offense to once again become the focus, as they would score in the third and fourth to make it 5-2 Dirtbags after four innings.
Donegan’s line was practically scot-free after three innings in relief, striking out three batters on 30 pitches. In his collegiate debut, the righty earned his first career win and the game ball.
“It felt amazing. I mean, you know when you go out there especially it being my college debut and stuff you kind of like blackout,” Donegan said. “There was about a 50/50 shot that I’d pitch at least an inning because I’m supposed to start on Tuesday. But I mean no I definitely could not have seen it going that way.”
The Long Beach State Dirtbags celebrate their home-opening win over the University of Washington at Blair Field. The Dirtbags would score 10 innings to start off their season and their series against the Huskies. Photo credit: Naoki Gima
Five runs came across in the seventh inning with freshman Adrian Lopez’s first collegiate hit, a two-RBI single up the middle starting the scoring. Followed by senior Nick Marinconz’s second RBI of the game, and a double by junior infielder Alex Champagne that plated the final two Dirtbag runs to push the score to 10-3.
“Overall good team win, Donegan came out and shoved for us which was huge,” Marinconz said. “Our offense just saw the ball well and hit the ball well.”
Marinconz would lead the team in hits with his 3-4 performance while also being one of three Dirtbags to record two RBIs alongside the aforementioned Lopez and Champagne.
The Huskies scored a consolation run in both the eighth and ninth innings off of junior righty Grant Cherry before he shut the door on any comeback, cementing an opening night victory for the Dirtbags.
Two more games over the weekend will complete the opening home series against the Huskies with Saturday seeing sophomore southpaw Myles Patton pitch at 6:00 p.m. and sophomore right-handed pitcher Kellan Montgomery starting Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
This story was updated on Feb. 19, 2024 for accuracy.
