The Beach Heats Up

The Dirtbags, despite lesser opponents of late, are back to their winning ways. Stuck in the middle of a competitive Big West pack they put themselves in striking position to compete for the conference title.

Last week they swept Cal State Northridge and followed that up with another three wins against Pacific. In other words, the "weekend warriors" are starting to regain their form. The only blemish during that time was a 4-2 loss at San Diego.

In a tight race for the Big West crown, Long Beach State at 8-4 in the conference has many pivotal games remaining starting with a UC Davis team right behind them in the standings.

Ex-Dirtbags Make Major Impact

Perhaps the biggest news of the weekend was not the Dirtbags series with UC Irvine but the Major League debuts of two huge former Long Beach State ballplayers in the big leagues.

On Saturday, former Dirtbag 3B Evan Longoria got the start at the hot corner for the Tampa Bay Rays and OF John Bowker was in right field for the San Francisco Giants.

While Longoria has been the much more highly touted of the two, with a hit in his first major league at-bat and a three-run bomb in the sixth Bowker made the biggest splash.

Determined not to be a one-hit wonder Bowker went deep again Sunday to become the first Giant in the 126-year history of the team to open his career with a homer in each of the first two games.

Showing his versatility the Giants have also used him at first base.

Longoria didn't wait too long to make an impact either. Monday night against the Yankees he got his first two extra-base hits by doubling and then slugging his first big league homer.

The current Dirtbag players couldn’t be more excited. Freshman IF Devin Lohman never got to play with either but knows Longoria.

“He works out with us on in the off-season,” he said. “We are really excited for him. Guys were calling to congratulate him.”

“What it does,” he went on “is give hope to the rest of the guys.”

Stats so far...

Bowker (SFG) 7-13, .538, 2 Hr's, 7 R.B.I.'s

Longoria (TB) 4-12, .333, 1 Hr, 2 R.B.I.'s

Dirtbags Avenge Early-Season Loss

After dropping two-of-three over the weekend to Big West rival UC Irvine The Beach rebounded with a dominating performance on a historic night at Blair Field.

Tuesday night's game marked the 50-year anniversary of the first college game at Blair Field. Long Beach State (20-14) capped the pre-game festivities with a 10-0 shellacking of Pepperdine.

Shane Petersen provided another wrinkle to Long Beach lore by hitting for the first known cycle in the school's history. He was 4-4 with 5 R.B.I.'s.

These two teams squared off in Malibu last month in the first stop of a ten game trip for the Dirtbags. They lost 7-5 and lost ten more in 12 tries since then.

This weekend the Dirtbags won just one of three against the Anteaters.

A 21-hit barrage was too much for Long Beach to overcome Friday night, as ace Andrew Liebel was hit hard for just the second time this year. Irvine won the opener 10-5.

Irvine ace Scott Gorgen went six-and-a-third for his sixth win of the year. Long Beach SS Danny Espinosa was 3-4.

The Dirtbags won the middle game of the series behind a CG effort from Vance Worley (4-2). A five-run seventh inning explosion was all The Beach needed to bring home a 5-1 victory.

Jonathan Jones and Danny Espinosa had two hits apiece for the Dirtbags.

Sunday's rubber match went to Irvine 4-1. It was the third straight series loss for the Dirtbags who dominated the weekends early on.

Jason Corder belted his ninth long ball of the year for the lone Long Beach tally. Jake Thompson (1-4) took the loss. Daniel Bibona (5-1) got the win for the Anteaters. Irvine C Aaron Lowenstein led the team with two hits and three runs batted in.

State Comes Home After Dropping 9 of 10

The Dirtbags dropped the tenth and final game of their grueling road swing that covered two weeks and saw the team's record and morale fall from a lofty perch.

Today, they fell to Loyola Marymount 7-3.

After 30 games the Dirtbags are 18-12. With a 1-2 mark in the Big West.

Here's a look at the team leaders to this point:

Offense
Batting Average - Jason Corder - .365
Hits - Shane Peterson - 40
Runs - Danny Espinosa - 28
Home Runs - Jason Corder - 8
R.B.I.'s - Corder/Peterson - 31

Pitching
Wins - Andrew Liebel/Vance Worley - 3
Saves - Bryan Shaw - 4
Strikeouts - Andrew Liebel - 53
E.R.A. (min 15 IP) - Andrew Liebel - 1.93

Long Beach State hosts the Anteaters of UC Irvine this weekend in a huge conference series. The 7th ranked Anteaters, who advanced all the way to Omaha last season for the College World Series, will be another stern test for the Dirtbags. Add the motivation of winning the annual "Black and Blue" rivalry and the Blair Field crowd should be abuzz.

Friday night's first pitch will be at 6:30 pm. Saturday and Sunday's games are slated for 2 and 2:30 pm respectively.

Dirtbags Finally Get a Win but Lose Four More

The Dirtbags finally got a win in their Big West opener Friday night in Riverside but fell Saturday and Sunday after losing two more in Northern California during the week. A 1-4 week is not exactly encouraging but considering the losing streak had reached six games prior to Friday night's game, a change in the win column was greatly needed.

The Dirtbags are now just (18-11, 1-2) after starting 17-3 while mopping up tremendous national competition early on. In their current nine-game funk where they are (1-8) they have managed a total of 35 runs or just under four a game. While the defense has struggled much of the season it has definitely caught up to the Beach of late. 46 errors have led to 28 unearned runs. These defensive lapses have proved especially costly away from Blair Field where the Dirtbags are just 6-8.

With a series looming against U.C. Irvine and a season finale three game set with rival Fullerton the Dirtbags need to turn it around in a hurry if they want to win the Big West.

In their first regular season meeting with Stanford in 18 years, Long Beach St. fell 9-3 Monday in Palo Alto. The 13th ranked Cardinal took a 3-0 lead on a long bomb by Sean Ratliff and never looked back. Jason Corder went deep for Long Beach, smacking his fourth of the year. Brett Lorin (1-1) took the loss for the Dirtbags.

Tuesday against Fresno State the Dirtbags losing streak reached six. Despite three homers, including another from a torrid Jason Corder, they couldn't get over the hump losing 7-6. Dirtbag starter Tyler Topp gave up four runs in as many innings, David Roberts (2-1) took the loss in relief. LF Steve Tinoco homered for the first time this season and finished with three R.B.I.'s. Danny Espinosa had the other long ball for The Beach.

The Dirtbags then headed out to Riverside to open up Big West Conference play. Andrew Liebel rebounded from his only rough outing of the season and got The Beach a much needed W. Liebel went the distance, giving up three in the fourth but settling down and keeping the Dirtbags in a game they would go on to win 6-3.

Jason Corder's power streak continued with yet another bomb, his sixth on the season, and this one could not have been any bigger for a struggling team. After falling behind 3-1 in the fourth on two Highlander homers, Long Beach exploded for five in the fifth. Corder's four-bagger broke a 3-3 tie. Five Dirtbags had multi-hit performances pacing a twelve hit attack.

Saturday the Dirtbags quickly reverted to their losing ways by dropping the second game 6-4. Vance Worley took the loss despite leaving the game with a 4-2 lead. All three runners inherited by the Dirtbag pen would come around to score en route to a four run seventh for Riverside. Matt Larkins went seven-and-two-thirds for Riverside to run his record to 4-1.

In today's rubber match the Dirtbags were unable to secure a series win. Previously winless Riverside starter Paul Bargas (1-3) baffled Dirtbag hitters in a wire-to-wire one-run gem. The Highlanders won 7-1. Shane Peterson's second long ball of the year provided the lone tally for The Beach. State's Jake Thompson was lifted in the third and was tagged for seven hits and six earned runs.

The Dirtbags will cruise up the 405 Tuesday to take on the Lions of Loyola Marymount (16-15), before mercifully returning to The Beach, where they hope to re-capture their early season magic and stellar play at Blair Field.