Starting pitcher Manny McElroy left the past in the past on Tuesday night, as he took the Blair Field mound just four days after what was arguably his worst career outing.
McElroy put Saturday’s career-low outing behind him and pitched a redeeming seven shutout innings to help the Dirtbags take Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn’s Aztecs 4-0 on Tuesday night.
“The whole night is about McElroy,” said Long Beach State head coach Mike Weathers. “I told him that it takes a lot of nerve to turn around what happened on Saturday and come back and give that kind of effort today.”
McElroy gave up just two hits, had no earned runs and struck out five in his longest Division I outing. Coming in with a 6.75 ERA, the usual Saturday starter managed to lower it down to 4.81 and picked up his third win of the season.
“It’s very competitive, and he’s a very competitive guy,” Weathers said. “For him to do that is huge for him and huge for us.”
For such a competitive pitcher, McElroy admitted that the drive just wasn’t there on Saturday against UC Davis. If it were ever a question of him losing that drive, McElroy found it on Tuesday.
“Last outing I didn’t go out and compete,” McElroy said. “I just had to go out and compete more and hit my mark.”
In his second start since coming back from a rib injury on Saturday, McElroy lasted only one and 2/3 innings. He gave up four earned runs – two being homeruns – on six hits and struck out none.
Frustrated with his performance, McElroy said he took that frustration on the mound with him on Tuesday and used it to his advantage.
“I kind of had to get a little angry,” McElroy said. “I had to get more of an attitude out there instead of just going through the motions.”
While McElroy shut down the San Diego State offense, the Dirtbags offense backed him up.
The bats were quiet until the bottom of the fifth. In what looked to be a 1-2-3 inning for starting pitcher Charles Nolte, a single to left field by Matt Cline proved otherwise. Shane Peterson then drove him in with a double for a 1-0 lead. The Dirtbags then added runs in the fifth and sixth innings to send SDSU home with a 4-0 loss.
Cline went 3-for-3 and was hit by a pitch against the Aztecs. Peterson, T.J. Mittelstaedt, Steve Tinoco and Taylor Krick all drove in runs.
With Cline’s three hits, he has currently tallied a nine-game hitting streak and leads the team as well as all of the regular starters with a .358 average.
But, as Weathers said, the night was not about Cline, Peterson or anyone else but McElroy.
“This is what he’s capable of,” Weathers said. “If he can do this down the stretch, then that’s a big plus for us.”
With the Dirtbags’ upcoming five-series conference stretch, Weathers said shutout performances like McElroy’s are essential.
As of right now, the No. 21-ranked Dirtbags have a 21-14 non-conference record and a 4-2 conference record, but their .667 winning percentage is good enough to put them in a tie for second place with Cal Poly and UC Riverside.
This weekend, the Dirtbags will travel to Stockton to kick off their conference stretch against last-place Pacific.
Dirtbags Weekend Preview
Who: Long Beach State vs. Pacific
Where: Stockton, CA
When: 2 p.m. (Friday), 1 p.m. (Saturday), 1 p.m. (Sunday)
