By The Long Beach State Dirtbags returned home to Bohl Diamond at Blair Field this weekend as they welcomed the Big Ten’s Michigan Wolverines for a big-time series.
Over 7,000 fans attended the three-game set with Michigan topping the LBSU two games to one to drop them to 5-6.
Friday, Feb. 28, Long Beach State 6 – Michigan 3
A four-run second inning for the Dirtbags set the tone offensively, sending eight batters to the plate. Junior third baseman Dylan Lina led off the inning by being hit by a pitch, and senior first baseman Connor Charpiot followed with a double down the left field line.
With two runners now in scoring position, back-to-back base hits put the Dirtbags in front 2-0. The next two batters, each with productive outs, including a perfectly laid sacrifice bunt by graduate right fielder Kyle Ashworth, opened up a 4-0 advantage.
The Wolverines brought across one run in response in the top of the third courtesy of junior infielder Mitch Voit’s RBI double to get them on the board trailing 4-1.
Michigan struck again in the top of the fourth with a groundout to drive in a run, cutting the deficit to 4-2.
A Charpiot sac-fly and a runner coming in to score on a wild pitch in the home half of the fifth put the Dirtbags up by four once again.
Wolverines catcher Matt Spear dives back to first as senior Dirtbags first baseman Connor Charpiot catches a pickoff attempt at Blair Field on Friday, Feb. 28. The Dirtbags beat the University of Michigan 6-3. Photo credit: Ethan Cohen
Michigan put one more on the board, but sophomore relief pitcher Owen Geiss closed things out in the ninth, notching his first save of the season.
Junior starting pitcher Kellan Montgomery improved to 3-0, going 5.1 innings, striking out seven and allowing one earned run.
Saturday, Mar. 1, Michigan 10 – Long Beach State 6
With two outs in the bottom of the first, the team’s leader in batting average, senior center fielder Alex Champagne, got a rally started with an opposite-field single. Three straight walks ensued to get the Dirtbags on the board, 1-0.
LBSU’s offense was forced to play catch-up from the fourth inning on as Michigan’s bats got going and opened up a 7-1 lead, delighting the sizable crowd donning “maize and blue.”
Wolverines’ first baseman Jeter Ybarra led the way going 3-5 with three RBI and a run.
At the plate, the Dirtbags had no problem getting runners on base; however, driving them in was the challenge as 14 baserunners were left stranded.
Two Dirtbag seniors did the bulk of the damage at the plate with Champagne reaching base four times and tallying an RBI and two stolen bases.
Charpiot added two of the hardest hit balls of the night with a pair of doubles scorched into left field, finishing with four RBI.
“I’m just trying to be a guy that everyone can look up to,” Charpiot said. “I’ve been around the block, as much as I hate saying that, I feel like a lot of the younger guys look up to me, setting an example for the younger generation of what this program has been built on.
Sunday, Mar. 2, Michigan 7 – Long Beach State 6
The rubber match was a pitcher’s duel early on, with both sides blanked through five innings. Redshirt freshman starting pitcher Jake Fields was fantastic in his 5.1 innings of work, allowing just two hits and one run while striking out six Wolverines.
Wolverines shortstop Benny Casillas tosses the ball to second baseman Mitch Voit in an attempt to turn a double play against the Dirtbags on Friday, Feb. 28, at Blair Field. Photo credit: Ethan Cohen
Home runs by Michigan’s graduate catcher Matt Spear in back-to-back innings broke things open, putting the Wolverines up 5-1. An insurance homer in the top of the ninth by Voit expanded the lead to 6-1.
Some late inning magic transpired in the home half of the ninth to reignite the Blair Field crowd. Charpiot led things off with a base hit and scored as freshman designated hitter Luke Taylor blasted his first collegiate home run to bring the Dirtbags within three at 7-4.
A base hit by freshman left fielder Matt Toomey and a pinch-hit double by junior outfielder Justin Roulston put two runners in scoring position with just one away. An infield single by Ashworth plated Toomey to make it 7-5, and then back-to-back walks scored Roulston to make it a one-run game.
The comeback fell short as the next two batters popped up to the Michigan middle infielders to close things out despite the frantic comeback, epitomizing: too little, too late.
“I think if you’re sitting in the stands, and you’re in the community, I think you are proud of this team,” Dirtbags head coach TJ Bruce said. “They’re fighting, and if you can’t see that, I question what you are watching.”
