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.