Long Beach State - UNC Series Notes

[JohnGwaltney]

BY UNC ATHLETIC COMMUNICATION

CHAPEL HILL --- No. 7 North Carolina starts its final non-conference weekend series of the year Friday at 3 p.m. when the Tar Heels welcome Long Beach State for the first of three at Boshamer Stadium. Carolina is 8-1 after splitting a pair of midweek games with Winthrop and No. 16 St. John’s. LBSU is 4-4 following a 6-2 loss to San Diego State on Tuesday.

Friday RHP J.B. Bukauskas (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Darren McCaughan (1-1, 4.50 ERA)
Saturday RHP Luca Dalatri (2-0, 3.60 ERA) vs. TBA
Sunday RHP Jason Morgan (2-0, 2.38 ERA) vs. TBA

AT A GLANCE
Records: North Carolina 8-0, Long Beach State 4-4
Rankings: North Carolina is ranked in all of the national polls, with a high of No. 7 in the Collegiate Baseball poll. LBSU is unranked.
Video: Friday | Sunday
On The Web: GoHeels.com • Twitter: @DiamondHeels

NORTH CAROLINA-LONG BEACH STATE SERIES HISTORY
• Carolina is 1-2 all-time against Long Beach State, and this weekend will mark the first regular season games in the series since 1992.
• LBSU beat Carolina twice in the 2014 NCAA Gainesville Regional to eliminate the Tar Heels.
• The Dirtbags’ only previous visit to Chapel Hill came in 1992. Carolina scored a 7-6 win over LBSU at Boshamer Stadium.

MIDWEEK NOTES
• Tyler Baum impressed in his first career outing as the freshman right-hander allowed just two hits in 5.2 scoreless innings against Winthrop. A native of Ocoee, Florida, Baum struck out six and issued just one walk to earn the win.
• Taylor Sugg and Bo Weiss also made their 2017 debuts against the Eagles on Tuesday. Sugg struck out two in a scoreless eighth before Weiss worked a scoreless ninth to seal the victory.
• Logan Warmoth matched his career high with four RBIs against Winthrop. The junior shortstop hit his first home run of the year and added a three-run double later in the game.
• Josh Ladowski made his first career start on Wednesday and delivered a pair of hits and an RBI. The sophomore from Mooresville, North Carolina, was limited to seven games due to injury in 2016.

TAR HEELS STRIKING EARLY
• Through nine games, the 2017 Tar Heels are 8-1 and have outscored opponents by 34 runs (58-24).
• Carolina has been especially potent early in games, outscoring foes 28-9 in the first three innings and scoring first in seven of nine contests.

Complete Series Notes (PDF)

 

[JohnGwaltney]

BY LBSU Athletics Communication

LAST TIME OUT
• Long Beach State lost a pair of midweek games, first a 6-2 setback to San Diego State on Tuesday, then an 8-4 loss in an exhibition game vs. KT Wiz. Against the Aztecs, LBSU got two-hit games from David Banuelos and Jarren Duran, who has been red-hot at the plate over the last week.
• A handful of players got their first (unofficial) starts of the season against KT Wiz, a professional Korean team. Laine Huffman led the offense with three hits, including a double, and Tyler Lawson provided four scoreless innings of relief with four strikeouts.

SCOUTING THE TAR HEELS
• UNC started the season 8-0 before dropping a 5-4 decision to No. 16 St. John's on Wednesday. The Tar Heels have played all of their games at home so far this season, and won't play away from Chapel Hill until Mar. 17, after playing their first 17 games at home.
• North Carolina is currently the top defensive team in the nation, having committed just two errors on the season. UNC has a team fielding percentage of .994.
• UNC has also been one of the best pitching teams in the nation, led by Friday starter J.B. Bukauskas. One of the top draft prospects in college baseball, Bukauskas has started the year in great form, allowing just six hits in his 13.0 innings of work with 21 strikeouts.
• Offensively, the Tar Heels have been paced by junior shortstop Logan Warmoth, who is hitting .429 with a pair of home runs and 10 RBIs. He is slugging .714 and is 6-for-6 in stolen base attempts. Sophomore 3B Kyle Datres leads the team with 11 RBIs.

FRESHMEN ON THE HILL
• Freshmen pitchers have been asked to make an immediate impact in the starting rotation, and they've delivered. John Castro and Matt Fields each delivered quality starts in their first career starts for the Dirtbags, and they each boast ERA's of 2.00 or better.
• Castro threw seven shutout innings at USC to make an instant splash for the Beach, taking a no decision on the road in an extra-innings loss. Against San Diego State, Castro suffered the loss, but still has a 1.50 ERA and has yet to walk a batter in 12.0 innings.
• Fields is 2-0 with a 2.00 ERA for the Dirtbags, winning in relief at Oklahoma and then finishing off a sweep of Fordham with a win in his first career start on Feb. 26.

HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF
• Sophomore second baseman Jarren Duran has been red-hot at the plate over his last five games, and currently leads the team with a .375 batting average and .531 slugging percentage.
• In the last five games, Duran is 10-for-19 (.526) with eight runs scored, four RBIs, a .600 on-base percentage and three stolen bases. During that stretch he has set or matched his career highs in hits (3), runs (4) and RBIs (4) in a game.

BLAIR FIELD RENOVATIONS
• The ongoing improvements at Blair Field took a major step forward during the offseason with the construction of the Troy & Danyll Tulowitzki Batting Facility along the right field side of Blair Field.
• Also constructed during the offseason was the Jered Weaver Bullpen beyond the fence in right field. There was also an update to the Dirtbags locker room which includes new lockers, general maintenance and repairs and new designs and graphics on the interior walls to honor the history of Long Beach State Baseball.
• The renovation efforts began prior to last season with the installation of a new outfield fence. The old dimensions of 348-387-400-387-348 were reduced to a slightly more hitter-friendly 335-380-393-380-330 moving from left to right field. The result was an increase in home runs hit at Blair Field from four in 2015 to 23 last season.

USA BASEBALL
• LBSU head coach Troy Buckley was announced as a pitching coach for the 2017 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team this summer. This will be Coach Buckley's first coaching stint with Team USA, becoming the third straight Dirtbags head coach to work with the Collegiate National Team.
• Buckley will join former Dirtbags head coach and LBSU Hall of Famer Dave Snow as a pitching coach with the Collegiate National Team. Coach Snow worked as a pitching coach last season, and 2017 will be his fifth time coaching with the CNT in his career.
• The Dirtbags have also had a player on each of the past two Collegiate National Teams. In 2015, shorstop Garrett Hampson was selected and last summer Darren McCaughan was a pitcher for Team USA. LBSU has had 12 players selected to the Collegiate National Team in its history.

LB IN MLB
• For the seventh straight year, Long Beach State had more players in the major leagues than any other college or university. There were 13 former Dirtbags who played in the Major Leagues in 2016 and the all-time total for Long Beach State is 46 big league representatives.
• When the Chicago Cubs won the World Series, first base coach Brandon Hyde became the third former Dirtbags player in as many seasons to win a ring. Matt Duffy and the San Francisco Giants won the World Series in 2014 and Jason Vargas and the Kansas City Royals were World Champions in 2015.
• It was a very productive year for former Dirtbags in the big leagues, led by Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Marco Estrada, who was named to his first All-Star Game last season.

WE ARE THE DIRTBAGS
• The OFFICIAL nickname of the Long Beach State baseball program is the Dirtbags.

Complete Series Notes (PDF)