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The roster may be full of new faces, but it looked like classic Long Beach State Dirtbags on Friday night at Bohl Diamond at Blair Field.
Graham Osman pitched a seven-inning gem and the Dirtbags took an early lead on their way to a 2-0 opening night victory over Wichita State in front of a crowd of 2,511.
“It was an awesome and super electric atmosphere,” Osman said. “I was just super happy to be out there and be the one to kick us off for the season. I think we did a really good job of setting the tone.”
Osman, a redshirt junior transfer from Arizona State, struck out eight while allowing just three baserunners on one hit and a walk.
“Osman was really really good,” Dirtbags coach Eric Valenzuela said. “I’m proud of him for doing that on his first night in a Dirtbags uniform. For him to come out and do that to a very offensive club is great to see.”
The game took only two hours and eight minutes because of quick work from Osman and Wichita State starter Clark Candiltti.
“I like to work fast,” Osman said. “I think that’s where I’m most comfortable. I just tried to keep that up the entire time and it worked to my favor.”
Osman only needed 75 pitches to get through seven innings and 53 of those were strikes.
“I started with my fastball in the first two innings, then we decided to start flipping some sliders in there and it was working so we stuck with that,” Osman said of keeping it simple on the mound.
“I could’ve sent him back out (for the eighth inning) but we’ve got a whole bullpen and you’ve got to trust these guys, and we have to see what we’ve got,” Valenzuela said of pulling Osman.
Ethan Clough and Josh Haley came out of the LBSU bullpen to finish the shutout. Haley struck out one and picked up the save.
The Dirtbags took a lead with two outs in the bottom of the first inning when left fielder Rocco Peppi doubled off the third baseman’s glove.
“I was just looking for a pitch to drive, I got to two strikes and he flipped me one and I got a good piece of it down the line and I got a double and I was fired up,” Peppi said.
Peppi screamed back at the Dirtbags dugout in celebration, and the crowd responded in kind.
“He’s our energy and our fire,” Valenzuela said of Peppi. “He’s had a lot of experience and we’re counting on those guys heavily.”
Jonathon Long came up next and also delivered a two-strike, two-out hit to left field to drive in Peppi.
In the fifth inning, Dirtbags newcomers Jashia Morrissey-Jakel and Alex Champagne led off with back-to-back singles into center field. Nick Marinconz was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Peppi drove home a run with a sacrifice fly.
Long and Champagne each had a pair of hits, and the transfer second baseman Champagne reached base three times from the leadoff spot.
Valenzuela thinks the hot start last year, and disappointing finish, is a good lesson for this new team.
“(Last year) when you go to Mississippi State, the defending National Champions, and you beat them two out of three that can be poison to you just focusing on results and winning,” Valenzuela said. “That can’t be the focus in baseball. These guys have done a much better job of talking about good baseball. We’re just not focused on the results and that’s what it comes down to. The enemy is the scoreboard. If we play good baseball we’re going to win a lot of games.”
The series continues Saturday. First pitch is 6 p.m.
