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Big 3 game series this weekend. Shox go into the weekend with a rpi of #35 while Long Beach is #88 with a record of 6-13. But as usual the Dirt Bags have played a very tough schedule. According to Boyd's world their SOS is #3 right now. After taking last season off, WSU and Long Beach resume a series that has been played almost annually since 1994.
The Shockers lead the overall series 23-20, but Long Beach won the series last time we played in 2010. It appears that Long Beach has pretty good pitching. They have a team era of .299, holding opponents to 55 earned runs and they held #8 Fullerton to 2 runs in each of the 3 games they played last weekend.
They appear to have a lot of pitching depth as well. They return 8 pitchers that pitched at least 15 innings last season and 12 of the 13 pitchers on the roster have seen time on the mound even though their starters have gone 5 or more innings in all but 2 games this season.
The 3 starters that are expected to throw for Long Beach against WSU have a combined record of 4-1.
Long Beach usually plays small ball and it sounds like this year will be no exception. They usually find ways to scratch out runs. They lead the nation in sacrifices with 33, averaging just under 2 per game. Senior centerfielder Brennen Metzger has been HBP 45 times in his career (2nd most in team history- this is a team that historically tended to get a lot of HBPs). Hitting is definitely their weakness. They only have 2 hitters with an aveage over .300 right now: OF Brennan Fulkerson .333 and 3B Juan Avila .304.
The Shockers lead the overall series 23-20, but Long Beach won the series last time we played in 2010. It appears that Long Beach has pretty good pitching. They have a team era of .299, holding opponents to 55 earned runs and they held #8 Fullerton to 2 runs in each of the 3 games they played last weekend.
They appear to have a lot of pitching depth as well. They return 8 pitchers that pitched at least 15 innings last season and 12 of the 13 pitchers on the roster have seen time on the mound even though their starters have gone 5 or more innings in all but 2 games this season.
The 3 starters that are expected to throw for Long Beach against WSU have a combined record of 4-1.
Long Beach usually plays small ball and it sounds like this year will be no exception. They usually find ways to scratch out runs. They lead the nation in sacrifices with 33, averaging just under 2 per game. Senior centerfielder Brennen Metzger has been HBP 45 times in his career (2nd most in team history- this is a team that historically tended to get a lot of HBPs). Hitting is definitely their weakness. They only have 2 hitters with an aveage over .300 right now: OF Brennan Fulkerson .333 and 3B Juan Avila .304.
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