A cold wind blew in Oxford Miss this weekend, as the Dirtbags’ (0-10) woes continued in the form of a three-game sweep (7-2, 7-6, 5-3) at the hands of No. 10 Ole Miss (8-2).
The last time Long Beach State lost 10 straight games was in 1986, three years before the Dirtbags name was coined. It is entirely possible that the majority of Long Beach State students had not been born the last time the school’s baseball program was as poor as it is this year.
That being said, the Dirtbags did demonstrate small improvements Friday night and during the Saturday doubleheader. Their offense was better across the board and two members of the pitching staff had encouraging outings.
In game two Long Beach scored six runs, as many as they had all season coming into the series. Junior outfielder Aiden Malm hit two RBI singles that game, but was injured sliding into third base and did not play the rest of the series. The Dirtbags lost 7-6 on a walk-off home run.
Redshirt junior catcher Cole Joy and redshirt junior outfielder Jake Vander Wal both hit their first home runs of the year in game three. The latter hit tied the game 3-3 in the sixth. Long Beach state lost that game 5-3.
Sophomore LHP Adam Seminaris turned in the best starting pitching performance the Dirtbags have seen this season in game two. He went 6.1 innings, allowing just two runs on six hits with five strikeouts. Freshman LHP Alfredo Ruiz also turned in his best outing this year with his 5.1 innings of one-run relief in game three.
“[He threw] more changeups from the outset,” head coach Troy Buckley said. “So at least we were able to speed them up and slow them down a little more.”
Still, the Dirtbags had their share of problems. The bullpen ruined Seminaris’ great start in game two by allowing five runs in just 3.2 innings.
Sophomore RHP Matt Fields started the series finale but went only two innings. After Vander Wal hit his game tying home-run in the sixth inning, the Dirtbags allowed runners on the corners giving the momentum right back to Ole Miss. RHP John Sheaks took the mound in his second appearance since returning from Tommy John Surgery with the game tied in the bottom of the eighth. The 6-foot-5 redshirt senior struggled to find the zone and allowed a two-run double, sealing the loss.
The Dirtbags return home to play 6 p.m. Tuesday against Michigan.