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The Long Beach State Dirtbags made history during a successful opening weekend against Washington on Bohl Diamond at Blair Field and they did it the Dirtbag way.
Grinding out rallies at the plate, being aggressive on the mound and playing solid defense led to a pair of wins on Friday and Saturday before a rare 3-3 tie on Sunday. The game was called with one out in the bottom of the 17th inning because Washington had to catch its plane home.
It is the first tie for the Dirtbags since 2017 when they played San Diego to a 9-9 tie in 10 innings. That game was called due to curfew restrictions. The 17 innings is the longest Dirtbags game since 1973.
Sunday’s game was extended by the Dirtbags twice in extra innings when they matched a Washington run in the bottom of the frame. That was a theme of the weekend after a two-out five-run rally led to a win on Friday, and an eighth-inning rally clinched the series on Saturday night.
“That tenacious and relentless style of offense is really big for us,” said Dirtbags coach Brian Peters. “We’re embodying our brand and our style of play.”
Sophomore starter Kellan Montgomery continued a strong weekend for the Dirtbags pitching staff. He went five innings and gave up two hits and one run while striking out five. The Dirtbags racked up 40 strikeouts on the weekend after seven arms came out of the bullpen on Sunday. The defense behind those pitches only had two errors all weekend.
Designated hitter Cole Santander, left fielder Connor Charpiot, catcher John Newman Jr. and pinch hitter Nolan funke each had two hits on Sunday. Santander led the Dirtbags with five hits, five RBI, a double and a home run over the weekend.
Weather permitting, the Dirtbags are scheduled to host North Dakota State on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
