LONG BEACH, Calif. – Coming off a memorable 2017 season, Long Beach State is lining up another exciting year of Dirtbags Baseball in 2018. The reigning Big West champions will face a challenging national schedule in the year ahead, starting on Opening Night at Blair Field, Feb. 16 against Saint Mary’s.
Highlighting the strength of Long Beach State’s schedule, the Dirtbags will play road series against three of the eight College World Series participants from last year, all in the first six weeks of the season. Long Beach State will visit TCU Feb. 24-26 for its first road test, then head back to the state of Texas for a weekend series against Texas A&M from Mar. 9-11. The annual non-conference series with Cal State Fullerton will be played Mar. 23-25 at Goodwin Field, meaning the Dirtbags will host the Titans to conclude the regular season at Blair Field.
“We are excited about our 2018 schedule because it will give us the opportunity to play outstanding programs both at home and on the road,” said LBSU head coach Troy Buckley, who is set to enter his eighth season as head coach. “The non-conference schedule will be a huge test that will allow us to grow and develop our identity for this Dirtbag team. Finally, I’m excited for our fan base; they will have the opportunity to watch great programs and players this spring.”
Following the TCU visit, Long Beach State will play a challenging run of six games in nine days at Blair Field. The Dirtbags play twice against Arizona State (Fed. 27-28) leading up to a weekend series against Ole Miss (Mar. 2-4). The following Wednesday (Mar. 7), LBSU hosts Vanderbilt in a rematch of the 2014 season-opening series, when the Commodores went on to win the national championship.
After the ensuing trip to College Station to face Texas A&M, the Dirtbags will host Washington State on Mar. 14, followed by a weekend series against Tulane, Mar. 16-18. That leads into a stretch of nine out of 10 games on the road to close the pre-conference schedule, including weekend trips to Fullerton and Fresno State (Mar. 29-31).
Long Beach State will open Big West action at Blair Field against UC Irvine (Apr. 6-8), and play home series against UC Davis (Apr. 27-29), UC Santa Barbara (May 11-13), and Cal State Fullerton (May 24-26). That means trips to CSUN (Apr. 13-15), Cal Poly (Apr. 20-22), UC Riverside (May 4-6) and Hawai’i (May 18-20) during conference play.
Once again, all Friday night home games will feature postgame fireworks at Blair Field. LBSU went 6-0 in Friday night home games in 2017, on its way to a 42-20-1 record, a national Top 10 ranking, and the right to host an NCAA Regional and Super Regional at Blair Field.
2018 Long Beach State Schedule (PDF)
