Dave Smith, Long Beach State blank San Diego State in regional opener

Long Beach State, playing host to its first NCAA baseball tournament regional since 2008, certainly looked the part of a powerhouse Friday night.

The top-seeded Dirtbags scored three runs in the first inning, received a dominant pitching performance from Dave Smith and ran away with a 6-0 victory over fourth-seeded San Diego State in the teams’ postseason opener at Blair Field.

Smith pitched a five-hitter and Jarren Duran drove in two runs for Long Beach State (38-17-1), which advanced to face Texas (38-22) at 7 p.m. Saturday in a winner’s bracket game.

San Diego State (41-20) will play UCLA (30-26) in an elimination game at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Bruins fell to Texas, 3-2, earlier Friday.

Long Beach State opened a 4-0 lead in the second inning and was never threatened. Duran, Lucas Tancas and David Banuelos each had two of the Dirtbags’ nine hits.

San Diego State had its chances against Smith and made the least of them, going 0 for 14 with runners on base and 0 for 2 with runners in scoring position.

Smith, who had one walk and one strikeout, triggered cheers from standing fans after the Dirtbags recorded the final out.