Graham Osman struck out eight in seven innings Friday night in his debut at Long Beach State to lead the Dartbags to a 2–0 victory over Wichita State in the season opener at Blair Field. (Photo courtesy of Long Beach State Athletics)
LONG BEACH — Newcomer Graham Osman pitched seven innings as the Long Beach State baseball team shut out Wichita State, 2–0, in both teams’ season opener at Blair Field on Friday night. bottom.
The redshirt junior lefty Osman had eight strikeouts while holding the Shockers to one hit and one walk. In his transfer from Arizona State, he needed only 75 pitches to get through 23 hitters.
Long Beach gave the new ace initial support in the first inning. Rocco Peppi hit a two-out double on the third-base line that went past the left side of the infield on Jonathon Long’s RBI single.
Long Beach extended their lead in the fifth inning as Osman choked the visitors. After Jashia Morrissey-Jakel and Alex Champagne led off the inning with back-to-back singles to center field, Nick Marinconz was hit by a full-count pitch, loading the bases with nobody out, and Wichita starter Clark Candiotti made the cut. I chased Peppi then sent the first pitch off reliever Caden Favors to left field, scoring a sacrifice fly and his 2–0 lead.
Osman retired the final 11 batters he faced before Ethan Clough took over in the eighth inning. The right-hander allowed a one-out double and a groundout, putting a runner on third base before Josh Haley came in to quell the threat. Haley retired all four of his batters he faced to close out the win.
Offensively, leadoff man Alex Champagne went 2-for-3 on bases and Long went 2-for-4 in RBI. Peppi drove in one run and scored in the other, going 1-for-3.
The 3-game series continues Saturday at 6pm
outlook for the season
Long Beach finished 29-27 overall and 17-13 in Big West Conference play in the 2022 season, but it had its ups and downs. In the off-season, 26 of his players from that roster are on his MLB Draft, Graduation, or Transfer Portal.
While there are 34 rookies (15 transfers) on a roster that includes just eight players who returned to the field a year ago, coach Eric Valenzuela’s recruiting class is among the best in the mid-major program. Considered one of the best in the country. bottom.
Despite the sales figures, optimism abounds. Long Beach State added some notable Division 1 transfers to its roster, including Friday’s starter Graham Osman (Arizona State) and expected Saturday arm Nico Zeglin (Gonzaga). bottom.
Playing for the Santa Barbara Foresters of the University of California League last summer, Osman won the ERA title (0.25) after allowing just one earned run and taking 37 in 35-2/3 innings (7 starts). bottom.
In addition to the new weekend starter, sophomore Grant Cherry (TN) has a consistent mid-’90s fastball and is expected to be a key piece in the bullpen. In his limited time with the Volunteers, he averaged 13.5 strikeouts per nine innings while keeping opposing hitters at . He has Jonathan Carlos (2.76 ERA in 32-2/3 innings), Josh Haley (2.36 ERA, 26-2/3 innings), Dalton Ponce (2.95 ERA, 18-1/3 innings), Ethan Clough (3.12 ERA, 26 innings) in a deep bullpen.
Outfielder Alex Champagne (Arizona State), infielder Nick Malinconz (Cal Poly), outfielder Jascia Morrissey Jaquel (Cal State Bakersfield) and outfielder Joey Walls (UNLV) all batted .350/.444/. . 614 batting average with eight home runs and 48 RBIs, and led the nation with 26 doubles last season.
First baseman Jonathon Long (Orange High) is one of LBSU’s top returning hitters. Jr. batted .311/.411/.454 last season and finished second on the team in home runs (6), RBIs (37) and walks (25), earning him a spot on the first Big West coach’s preseason team. Earned.
Redshirt sophomore outfielder Rocco Peppi (Marina High) leads the team in batting average (.321), hits (68), doubles (11), total on-base percentage (94), and on-base percentage (.408). Comes back after being ranked 2nd in 2022.
Junior catcher Conor Barnes is considered one of the country’s defensive catchers, and the Big West’s Defensive Player of the Year is expected to make offensive progress this season.
Miles Patton is perhaps the most notable of the freshmen who went on to have illustrious careers at Millikan High. The left-hander was the 2022 Moore League Player of the Year, 2021 Moore League Pitcher of the Year, and his CIF-SS Division Player of the Year in 2021. In his last two seasons in high school, he went 13-5 with a 1.07 ERA, and in 143 2/3 innings he had 190 strikeouts and held his opponents’ batting average to . .
In addition to the season-opening series against Wichita State, Long Beach has a home non-conference series against South Florida and Seattle, and preseason No. 24 at the LeClair Classic in Greenville, North Carolina against East Carolina, Indiana and Georgetown. Head-to-head expeditions will visit Reno in April for two games each against Nevada and the Grand Canyon. The Dirtbags also face a typical slate of non-conference midweek games against regional opponents (UCLA, USC, Loyola Marymount, Fresno State, Cal Baptist).
LBSU’s Big West schedule begins March 17-19 at UC San Diego. The Dartbags played at UC Irvine on Easter weekend (April 6-8), and on May 12-14 at Blairfield as the preseason favorite defending his champions against UC Santa Barbara. increase. 19-21) and home series against UC Davis (May 25-27).
