{"id":187605,"date":"2026-02-21T14:38:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T14:38:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/187605\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T14:38:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T14:38:23","slug":"dirtbags-head-to-texas-for-kleberg-bank-classic-facing-pittsburgh-texas-am-cc-and-cal-state-bakersfield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/187605\/","title":{"rendered":"Dirtbags Head to Texas for Kleberg Bank Classic, Facing Pittsburgh, Texas A&M-CC and Cal State Bakersfield"},"content":{"rendered":"

WHAT’S COMING UP FOR THE DIRTBAGS
GAME 5
Long Beach State vs Pittsburgh
Friday, Feb. 20 \u2022 11 a.m.
Corpus Christi, Texas
Probable Starting Pitchers \u2022 TBA (LBSU) vs. TBA (PITT)
Live Stats<\/a> \/\/ Watch $<\/a><\/p>\n

GAME 6
Long Beach State vs Texas A&M- Corpus Christi
Saturday, February 21\u2022 4 p.m.
Corpus Christi, Texas
Probable Starting Pitchers \u2022 TBA (LBSU) vs. TBA (TA&M-CC)
Live Stats<\/a> \/\/ Watch $<\/a><\/p>\n

GAME 7
Long Beach State vs CSU Bakersfield
Sunday, February 22 \u2022 9 a.m.
Corpus Christi, Texas
Probable Starting Pitchers \u2022 TBA (LBSU) vs. TBA (CSUB)
Live Stats<\/a> \/\/ Watch $<\/a><\/p>\n

FIRST PITCH
Long Beach State will head on the road to compete in the Kleberg Bank College Classic in Corpus Christi, Texas hosted by Texas A&M- Corpus Christi. The Dirtbags will face Pittsburgh first on Feb. 20th at 11 a.m (PST).\u00a0 Day two they will face the host Texas A&M-CC Feb. 21 at 4 p.m. (PST) and close the tournament Feb. 22 in a non-conference matchup against Cal State Bakersfield first pitch is set for 9 a.m. (PST).<\/p>\n

SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
The University of Pittsburgh Panthers enters the Kleberg Bank College Classic with a 2-1 record through its opening weekend, hitting .352 as a team with 38 hits and seven home runs in three games. AJ Nessler leads the lineup with a .583 average, one home run and a .706 on-base percentage, while Kai Wagner (.462), Julian Irizarry (.455) and Joey Baran (.400) have all produced early multi-hit efforts. The Panthers have also drawn 28 walks and are 4-for-4 in stolen base attempts.<\/p>\n

On the mound, Pitt owns a 5.88 team ERA over 26 innings with 26 strikeouts. David Leslie allowed one run over four innings in his start, while Drew Lafferty struck out seven across five innings. Defensively, the Panthers hold a .982 fielding percentage with just two errors committed in three games.<\/p>\n

SCOUTING THE ISLANDERS
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders enters the Kleberg Bank College Classic with a 4-1 record and has produced early on both sides of the ball. The Islanders are hitting .323 as a team with 53 hits, 37 RBIs and a .413 on-base percentage, led by Cade Sanchez, who is batting .647 (11-for-17) with five doubles, one home run and eight RBIs. Jackson Smith (.421, 7 runs, 6 RBIs), Max Towchik (five RBIs) and Austin Russell (five RBIs, three stolen bases) have also paced an offense that has scored 48 runs in five games.<\/p>\n

On the mound, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi owns a 4.83 team ERA with 51 strikeouts in 41 innings while limiting opponents to a .208 batting average. Bryson Shea (1-0, 1.80 ERA) and Preston Watkins (4.0 IP, 0 ER, 7 strikeouts) highlight a staff that has featured several effective early outings. Defensively, the Islanders have been solid with a .988 fielding percentage and just two errors committed through five games.<\/p>\n

SCOUTING THE ROADRUNNERS
Cal State Bakersfield enters the weekend at 2-3 overall. The Roadrunners are hitting .245 as a team with 39 hits and 30 RBIs through five games. Elijah Pelayo, Kanoa Morisaki and Elgin Bennett are each batting .444, with Bennett driving in six runs and hitting two home runs. Evan Cloyd has added seven hits and six RBIs, while the team is 13-for-18 in stolen base attempts.<\/p>\n

On the mound, Bakersfield holds an 8.20 team ERA over 45 innings, allowing opponents to hit .309. Ryan King (2.25 ERA, eight strikeouts in four innings) and Alex Navarrete (1-0, 2.84 ERA, seven strikeouts in 6.1 innings) have provided early stability. Defensively, the Roadrunners have posted a .920 fielding percentage with 16 errors in five games.<\/p>\n

AGAINST THE OPPONENTS
Long Beach State Baseball will face Texas A&M-CC and the University of Pittsburgh for the first time in program history this week. The Dirtbags have a competitive history with Cal State Bakersfield, leading the all-time series 9-7. At home, LBSU holds a 6-4 advantage, while on the road the teams are tied 3-3. Recent meetings have included high-scoring and tightly contested games, such as a 16-2 road win in 2022, extra-inning victories and losses in 2021 and 2024, and a pair of home wins in 2025 before falling 12-6 in the series finale.<\/p>\n

EARLY OFFENSIVE LEADERS
Long Beach State’s offense has been led by\u00a0Matt Toomey<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Trevor Goldenetz<\/a>\u00a0through the first four games of the season. Toomey is batting .429 (6-for-14) with two doubles, a triple and a .714 slugging percentage, while Goldenetz is hitting .400 (6-for-15) with a team-high five walks, three runs scored and five stolen bases, posting a .571 on-base percentage.<\/p>\n

Trotter Enright<\/a>\u00a0has added production in the middle of the lineup, batting .313 with a team-best three doubles and two RBIs, while\u00a0Dylan Lina<\/a>\u00a0has driven in a team-high four runs.\u00a0Camden Gasser<\/a>\u00a0has also been a key table-setter with eight walks and three runs scored, helping the Dirtbags generate traffic early in the season.<\/p>\n

FRESHMAN SPOTLIGHT
Freshman left-hander\u00a0Jaxon Baker<\/a>\u00a0turned in a solid outing in his first collegiate start, allowing just one hit over 4.1 scoreless innings against San Diego. He struck out three and worked through three walks while throwing 65 pitches, keeping the Toreros off the board during his time on the mound. Baker became the third freshman to start for the Dirtbags early this season, joining fellow rookies\u00a0Luke Howe<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Jason Gerfers<\/a>\u00a0as Long Beach State continues to rely on its young arms in the rotation.<\/p>\n

IN REVIEW
Long Beach State last competed in a midweek matchup against San Diego, where the Dirtbags played 11 innings before falling 3-6 at Bohl Diamond at Blair Field. Here is the recap:
USD Recap<\/a>
\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WHAT’S COMING UP FOR THE DIRTBAGSGAME 5Long Beach State vs PittsburghFriday, Feb. 20 \u2022 11 a.m.Corpus Christi, TexasProbable…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":187606,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":{"0":"post-187605","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-long-beach","8":"tag-long-beach","9":"tag-long-beach-headlines","10":"tag-long-beach-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}