Dirtbags Crush the Men of Troy

Another weekend and another three wins for the Dirtbags (12-3). After losing a head scratcher to Western Illinois 3-0 on Tuesday, the 2nd mid-week defeat at the hands of a lesser opponent already this season, the weekend warriors dominated a quality team Friday through Sunday for their third straight sweep and are now 11-1 on those days this season.

Friday night saw the dazzling work of Andrew Liebel finally rewarded with a W. After giving up just three runs and three walks while striking out 31 in his first three outings - all extra inning Dirtbag wins - Liebel finally became the pitcher of record by going the distance for The Beach. In just over two-and-a-half hours Liebel struck out five, gave up just one run and Long Beach held on for a 2-1 victory at Blair Field. Rylan Sandoval's two-out single in the third would be the difference.

Saturday at USC this time, Long Beach snatched a 9-6 victory from the Trojans. Despite two homers from USC, a three-run shot by Grant Green in the seventh to even the score at 6 and a two-run bomb from Anthony Vasquez to bring Southern Cal within one in the fifth, the Dirtbags prevailed. Jonathan Jones put the Beach ahead for good with a triple in the eighth sparking a three run burst and Shane Peterson went 4-5 with 3 RBI's and two doubles. Jason Corder doubled and homered for the Beach.

Sunday brought the teams back down the 405 to Long Beach where the Dirtbags' offensive onslaught proved too much for the Trojans to handle. Shane Peterson went off again this time with 6 RBI's including a grand slam inciting a huge seven-run rally in the 7th. Another great AB from Jonathan Jones led to the go-ahead hit, his second in as many days, and after two more runs crossed the plate and LBSU held a 12-9 lead, Peterson's big fly provided the final margin of victory. The Dirtbags had 17 hits in all, but blew early leads of 4-0 and 8-2 before they exploded in the 7th for the win.

Long Beach hosts SDSU Tuesday night at Blair Field. Next weekend they will continue the home-away series pattern with another LA foe, the Bruins of UCLA.