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“Winning isn’t easy,” said Dirtbags head coach TJ Bruce shortly after his Long Beach State (3-5) team did just that on Wednesday night against BYU (4-4).
It certainly is not, but when the opposing team issues 17 free passes, it does make things a little easier.
The Dirtbags used those free opportunities and added 10 hits of their own on Wednesday night, including a big three-run homer from Dylan Lina, on their way to a 10-7 win on Bohl Diamond at Blair Field.
“I felt like we were on the attack the whole time tonight, which is a little bit different from what we’ve been,” said Bruce of his team’s performance. “We’ve kind of been waiting back and hoping and wishing that something would happen. I thought we played offense, both from the pitching side and the offensive side. I thought we went to attack, and that was really good to see. I thought we did a really good job passing the baton.”
BYU’s pitching staff had a tough time finding the strike zone, and an even tougher time avoiding the Dirtbags. Six Cougars pitchers combined to throw 185 pitches over eight innings, landing just 95 of them for strikes. They combined to issue seven walks and hit a whopping 10 Dirtbags batters.
The 10 HBP’s ties a national record, held by five other schools. The most recent occurrence came in 2019 when Elon University had 10 batters hit by a pitch against Wagner.
Though the Long Beach State record book doesn’t keep single-game hit-by-pitch records for the team, but the presumed program record for that stat came against CSUN on Mar. 27, 2021, when eight Dirtbags were hit. Connor Kokx himself was plunked four times in that game to set the individual record at LBSU.
Matt Toomey led the way for Long Beach on Wednesday, getting hit by a pitch three times. Smith Chandler, Connor Stewart, and Lina were each plunked twice, and leadoff man Trevor Goldenetz was hit once.
The leadoff man was a big key for the Dirtbags for most of the night. The first batter reached in each of the first six innings for Long Beach State, and four times he came around to score.
“It helps a lot. I mean, when the leadoff batter gets on, 80 percent of the time they score,” said Lina of how the first guy reaching can spark the offense. “As long as we keep passing the baton, keep playing together as a team, just keep moving the chain, that’s all we have to do. Stay focused and trust one another. That’s all it is at the end of the day.”
Lina was given an off day on Sunday after starting the season in a 2-for-23 (.087) slump, but he was back in the cleanup spot to start things out fresh for this weekend. In addition to wearing a couple pitches, his three-run bomb to left field was part of a six-run fourth inning which gave the Dirtbags some needed breathing room.
“I feel good. I mean, I’m always confident. You’ve always got to be confident in yourself,” Lina said. “The work that we put in here might not always show in the outcome, but we’re always working. So you’ve just gotta keep working, put your head down, tunnel vision, and just keep having fun. That’s the main thing.”
Senior Camden Gasser also had a really productive night out of the No. 9 hole, which has not been his primary lineup spot so far this season. Bruce dropped him down in the order with a lefty on the hill, but Gasser did what he’s been doing all season–get on base.
Gasser, a grad transfer from Purdue, is the nation’s leader in walks with now 17 through eight games. His pair of walks on Wednesday give him five games this season with two or more walks, giving him a sparkling .556 on-base percentage.
“We liked (Gasser’s) run tool being at the top of the lineup, and he gets on base and creates some havoc. But actually, as we were getting down to it, it’s like, how well can we create a balanced lineup?” Bruce explained. “So I think it’s a huge weapon when you can have a nine-hole guy able to turn the lineup over like him.”
Gasser opened the scoring with an RBI single in the second inning, lining the ball the other way past the diving shortstop to score Jake Evans, who walked to start the inning and stole second. Evans was on base three times and stole a pair of bases for the Dirtbags, who swiped five bags as a team.
But it was really a top-to-bottom effort for the Dirtbags, who had eight of their nine starters reach base multiple times, with eight of the nine scoring runs and six different hitters recording at least one RBI.
On the pitching front, freshman Jason Gerfers picked up his first career win after a strong three innings to start. He needed just 33 pitches to get through three frames, allowing just one run on a wild pitch while striking out a pair and allowing only one single. But he was always scheduled to come out after three and will be available later this weekend out of the bullpen.
Bruce said he likes Gerfers’ versatility as a potential starter and high-leverage reliever, but he’s trending toward a spot in the weekend rotation if he can continue to throw strikes and trust his stuff.
Senior Alex Ramos pitched a scoreless sixth inning for the Dirtbags, showing off a nasty curveball that helped him pitch around a pair of walks by striking out the side.
Sophomore Ka’imi Kahalekai shut the door for Long Beach’s first save of the season, pitching around a one-out walk by striking out the last two batters of the night.
The Dirtbags won’t play Thursday but will be back in action on Friday night at 6 p.m. as they host Washington State. LBSU will face BYU again on Saturday at 1 p.m. before closing out the weekend with Wazzu on Sunday at Noon.
