Baseball Preview: California Baptist at Long Beach State

LONG BEACH, Calif. (Interstat) — A surging California Baptist team visits struggling Long Beach State in a non-conference baseball game Monday at Blair Field.

The Lancers (26-6) enter with one of the nation’s top records but are looking to rebound from a 9-8 loss at Abilene Christian on Saturday, which snapped a five-game win streak. The Dirtbags (10-20) are aiming to steady themselves after a 18-4 road loss to Cal State Northridge the same day.

California Baptist’s offense is powered by catcher Matt Chavez. He is coming off a strong performance Saturday, going 2 for 4 with a home run and three RBIs. Over his last 10 games, Chavez is batting .290 (9 for 31) with two homers and eight RBIs.

Long Beach State will counter with hot-hitting outfielder Smith Chandler. He was a bright spot in the weekend series against CSUN, including a perfect 4-for-4 day with two home runs and three RBIs in Friday’s 17-4 victory. In his last 10 games, Chandler is hitting .333 (11 for 33) with three homers and nine RBIs.

The Lancers’ lineup also features third baseman Connor Ross, who homered and drove in three runs Saturday. On the mound, reliever Bryan Peck logged three innings of work in that contest, allowing no hits and striking out four despite being charged with three earned runs.

For Long Beach State, relievers Alex Ramos and Tyler Gebb provided scoreless outings in Saturday’s defeat.

The teams are on divergent paths. California Baptist has won 12 of its last 14 games. Long Beach State has dropped 10 of its last 13.

According to Interstat’s game simulator, the projected final score is California Baptist 8, Long Beach State 3.

Following Monday’s contest, the Dirtbags travel to face Loyola Marymount on Tuesday before opening a series with Cal State Fullerton. The Lancers return home to host Texas-Arlington for a three-game series starting Friday.