By The Long Beach State Dirtbags began a new era of their storied program this weekend under new head coach TJ Bruce and his coaching staff but dropped its opening series to the Northwestern Wildcats.
Friday, Feb. 14, Long Beach State 19 – Northwestern 6
The Dirtbags opened up the 2025 campaign with an offensive explosion, making the pitcher-friendly Bohl Diamond at Blair Field look small. They tallied 19 runs in the first game of the series, the most runs in Opening Day history in the ‘Dirtbags’ era (1989-present), en route to Bruce’s first LBSU win.
The bats got to work immediately as The Dirtbags scored five runs in the first two innings with the top of the order doing damage early on.
In his Long Beach State debut, junior transfer third-baseman Dylan Lina cranked a solo shot to left-center field for the first Dirtbag home run of the year.
In the bottom of the third, The Dirtbags added three more when senior catcher Conner Stewart cleared the bases with a triple. Stewart was thrown out at home after he tried to take advantage of a Northwestern overthrow but Long Beach State still led 8-2.
Dirtbags junior third baseman Dylan Lina singles to right field in the bottom of the seventh inning at Blair Field on Feb. 15. Lina went 1-for-3 with one strikeout on the night as Northwestern beat Long Beach State 2-6. Photo credit: Ethan Cohen
LBSU junior right-hander Kellan Montgomery entered the year ranked 96th on D1Baseball.com’s preseason Top 150 Starting Pitchers and got the starting nod on Opening Day. Montgomery went 4.2 innings, allowing four hits, two runs and walked two while striking out five.
Nine more came across in the home half of the fifth inning, highlighted by junior infielder Armando Briseno’s grand slam giving The Dirtbags a commanding 17-2 lead. Briseno finished the night by going 3-3 with five RBI’s, scoring four runs and a pair of walks.
Saturday, Feb. 15, Northwestern 6 – 2 Long Beach State
Sophomore starting pitcher Josh Donegan returned to the mound after a couple of starts under his belt from last season before sustaining an injury. Donegan dazzled in his five innings of work, allowing three hits, one run and one walk while punching out seven batters.
“I felt like honestly everything was working really good, kind of blacked out,” Donegan said. “Couldn’t really tell you much about the first couple innings, but honestly just felt great.”
A chilled Dirtbags offense managed to muster two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.
With runners on second and third following a perfect sac-bunt by Lina, senior first baseman Nathan Cadena roped a double that one-hoped the wall and scored two, putting LBSU in front 2-1.
With sophomore relief pitcher Nick Williams now in the game for The Dirtbags, a walk, hit-by-pitch and a wild pitch put the Wildcats in position to do damage in the top of the sixth.
Northwestern’s graduate first baseman Tyler Ganus delivered with a base hit up the middle to score two runners and reclaimed the lead 3-2.
With the Wildcats still up by one in the ninth, they threatened with two on base and nobody out.
Junior designated hitter Trent Liolios was up next and delivered the dagger with a towering three-run blast over the Jered Weaver bullpen in right field. Liolios scored his second home run of the game and gave Northwestern a 6-2 lead.
Northwestern designated hitter Trent Liolios throws up a sign as he rounds third after hitting a solo homerun to right field at Blair Field on Feb 15. Liolios went 2-for-4, with two runs scores on Feb. 15 as Long Beach State loses to Northwestern 2-6. Photo credit: Ethan Cohen
“[Donegan] gave us a chance to win, Nick Williams came in at the end and did a nice job, but you had some freebies at the end and they capitalized on it. Offensively we didn’t do a whole lot,” Bruce said.
Sunday, Feb. 16, Northwestern 4 – 3 Long Beach State
Despite a monstrous day from Lina at the plate, who drove in all three Dirtbags runs, it was not enough as Long Beach State fell in the rubber match Sunday afternoon.
Lina’s second homer of the series put The Dirtbags up early, leading 1-0. The Wildcats responded in the top of the fifth with a solo shot of their own to even things at one apiece.
For the third straight game, LBSU received a quality outing from its starting pitcher. Redshirt freshman Jake Fields went five strong innings, only allowing one run and three hits.
Getting to The Dirtbags bullpen was key throughout the weekend for the Wildcats. They plated three runs the very next inning, which wound up being just enough for the victory.
The cleanup hitter Lina drove in two runners in the bottom of the seventh with a single, falling just short in the 4-3 loss.
The Dirtbags begin a five-game road trip in which they’ll play five different teams, beginning Tuesday night at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles as they look to get back on track.
