The Postseason Push

LBSU (20-20, 7-5) is halfway through Big West play and is currently fourth in the conference standings.

I have a column in today's edition of the Daily 49er about what they need to do to secure a third straight playoff berth and how their schedule and the strength of the Big West plays into that goal.

The Postseason Push: Dirtbags need strong run to make NCAA's

Conference doormat UC Davis (7-32, 1-11) comes to Blair for three this weekend and the Dirtbags need another sweep to get them closer to 30 wins. Davis has just three wins in 21 tries on the road this season.

Back at .500 after losing to UCLA

LBSU fell 7-5 to UCLA Tuesday night in Westwood. 

Bruins DH Casey Haerther laced a one-out first inning grand slam over the wall in left field to give UCLA an early 4-0 lead.

They added one apiece in the second and third and held on after that for the win.

Jeff Lease (2-2) took the loss giving up five runs in the first two innings.

Garret Claypool got his first win of the season for UCLA striking out 7 LBSU hitters in 6 innings of work as the Dirtbags managed just one hit off of him.

Derek Legg continued his torrid hitting with a single and a double and Jordan Casas added a pair of hits as well but the late LBSU comeback fell short.

The loss drops the Dirtbags to 20-20 on the season with 14 games to go.

Bats come alive in sweep of Pacific

Needing a statement to keep their postseason hopes alive the Dirtbags provided a loud one this weekend in taking three games from UOP.

Derek Legg and Steve Tinoco had huge performances at the plate and the pitching was consistent enough to get the job done.

On Sunday it was TJ Mittlestaedt (HR, 4 RBI's) and Devin Lohman (HR, 2 RBI's) providing the pop in a 10-3 romp for the sweep. 

Tinoco, Legg and Casas each had two hits in support of Jake Thompson who went 7 innings, giving up just 3 runs for his third win.

Saturday was a slugfest as LBSU scored 19 runs en route to a 19-6 win.

Kellen Hoime had 4 RBI's and was one of seven LBSU players to register a multi-hit game. Lohman added 4 runs and Tinoco did both - scored 4 and drove in 4 going 3-for-6 on the day. 

Jonathan Jones added 3 hits and Legg scored 3 and drove in 3 in the blowout. Mittelstaedt had 3 runs, 2 hits and 2 RBI's.

Drew Gagnon survived five innings for the victory.

Adam Wilk was on his game again Friday night in a 5-1 victory going 8 1/3 innings while limiting the Tigers to just one run.

Legg was 4-for-4 while Tinoco (3-for-4) and Jordan Casas (2-for-4) each had a pair of RBI's.

The Dirtbags travel to Jackie Robinson Stadiuum Tuesday night to take on UCLA before UC Davis comes to town for three this weekend. 

SDSU wins another mid-week battle with The Beach

The Dirtbags fell 6-3 Tuesday night at San Diego State. 

Jonathan Jones hit his first collegiate homer in the third to give LBSU an early 1-0 lead but the Aztecs responded with three bombs of their own.

Two came off the bat of Cory Vaughn (giving him three in two games against Long Beach this season) and Josh Chasse added one as well.

Ryan O'Sullivan kept the LBSU bats at bay through eight innings for the win while Addison Reed got his NCAA-leading 13th save.

Jordan Casas had two hits and two RBI's for Long Beach.

The Dirtbags (17-19) head to Stockton this weekend for a must-win series with the Pacific Tigers.

Emotional win Sunday, Pitcher of the week honors for Wilk

I did the Dirtbags games on the radio Saturday and Sunday and was verbally puzzled by the yanking of Charlie Ruiz with two outs in the ninth of the series finale and the Dirtbags leading by three.

I couldn't have been more happy for the young man on the mound after finding out why he was there. 

Freshman Josh Corrales entered the ninth, put a runner on, before getting the final out.

It was his first collegiate save, as the Dirtbags got a much needed 5-2 win.

Bigger than anything between the lines was the presence of Corrales' dad behind home plate.

With just a few days to live, Robert Corrales was out of the hospital for one reason - to see his son pitch, and that's just what he got to do.

Jordan Casas was the catalyst again for LBSU with three RBI's including a big two-out, two-run single in the second and Jake Thompson had a gutty performance on the mound after dropping 15 pounds due to the flu.

Big West Pitcher of the Week

After Friday's night gem, junior Adam Wilk took home the hardware Monday.

The big lefty has morphed into the Dirtbags ace in 2009, and this was both the first weekly honor of his career and first of the year for The Beach.

On the year Wilk is 5-1 with a 2.61 ERA. He has 38 strikeouts in 58 2/3 innings of work.

Tuesday's night game on TV

The Dirtbags will square off with San Diego State at 6 p.m. Tuesday night on CBS College Sports. 

Against the Aztecs two weeks ago at Blair, Tony Gwynn's bunch squeaked out a 4-3 win over LBSU.

Superstar Aztecs ace Stephen Strasburg will not be on the mound. The Friday night SDSU starter is the consensus number 1 selection in this year's draft and sports an 8-0 record so far this year with a 1.28 ERA while striking out an astounding 121 batters in just 63 1/3 innings pitched.

Dirtbags split first two with Northridge

The Dirtbags (16-18, 3-5 Big West) fell 3-1 to the Matadors Saturday afternoon at Blair. After taking a 1-0 lead Northridge came back with two runs in the sixth off of LBSU starter Andrew Gagnon and added an insurance run in the eighth for the win.

After starting the season 0-12 on the road it was CSUN's (16-21, 4-7 Big West) first win away from home all season. It was also their first win in eight tries against The Beach.

Gagnon was the loser dropping to 2-5 despite five scoreless innings before three straight hits in the sixth led to two Matador runs. Paul Tremlin (5-1) got the win in relief, giving up just one hit in three innings of work.

Brian Slover pitched the last two innings, striking out three and inducing a double play after giving up his only hit, for his fifth save.

Jordan Casas had two hits out of the leadoff spot and a steal but was also picked-off of second in the first and thrown out trying to steal in the seventh.

It was another close game and LBSU could simply not manage to come up with any big clutch hits.

Friday night the Dirtbags got just one run again but behind their ace Adam Wilk (5-1) it would prove to be enough.

Wilk threw eight shutout innings for the win and Charlie Ruiz worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his eighth save.

Wilk was projected to challenge for a weekend starting spot but has emerged as the Friday go-to guy. He gave up only four hits while striking out six.

Casas reached on an error in the eighth and came around to score on a Devin Lohman single providing the lone tally in the game. 

Ryan Juarez (4-3) was the tough-luck loser, surrendering an unearned run in eight innings of his own. Both starters hurled 109 pitches. 

Dirtbags back to their winning ways

LBSU used a four run seventh against Pepperdine Monday afternoon to get their first victory in their last six games and give them some much needed momentum heading into a big series with Cal State Northridge this weekend at Blair.

Jordan Casas and Kellen Hoime had a pair of hits and an RBI while Derek Legg continued his stellar freshman campaign with a big two-run base knock that brought in two of those four seventh innings runs to erase a 4-1 Dirtbag deficit and catapult LBSU to a 5-4 lead -- a margin they would preserve for the win.

David Born (1-0) got the win in relief throwing 2 1/3 innings of three-hit, one-run ball while Charlie Ruiz worked the bottom of the ninth for his seventh save.

The Dirtbags (15-17, 2-4) are back home this weekend for more Big West action.

Cal State Northridge (14-20, 3-6) has played well of late and should provide a good test for a LBSU squad looking to take advantage of some home cooking to get back in the conference race.

While the sweep at UCI dropped the Dirtbags 4.5 games back of the Anteaters for first place in the Big West they are only 1.5 games out of second.

UCI sweeps away Dirtbags

LBSU entered their series with UCI with a golden opportunity to seize a spot atop the Big West standings. They leave it scratching their heads and wondering what could have been.

After losing a 3-2 12-inning heartbreaker Thursday night they wouldn't get that close again.

6-3 and 9-5 losses Friday and Saturday simply signified how far they still have to go to get back to playing Dirtbag baseball.

After a seven game win-streak saw them rise to a season-high two games over .500, they have now lost five in a row and fallen to 14-17 and just 2-4 in the Big West.

At 8-1, Irvine is four and half games up on Long Beach State for the conference lead.

While the defense and mental mistakes must improve if the Dirtbags hope to play in June, team morale and most importantly to coach Weathers their effort is still there.

"They are a really close team," Weathers said after Saturday's loss.  Adding that their effort and camaraderie are "unbelievable."

"I have no complaints, that's big the one big bright light here these guys really are with each other."

Full series coverage from the Daily 49er including Matt Moreno's game story from Friday night

Swept Away: UCI Cleans up LBSU

Dirtbags losing streak runs to 4

No. 5 UCI edges Dirtbags in 12 innings

The Dirtbags look to get back on track Monday afternoon in Malibu, where they take on Pepperdine.

Dirtbags/Anteaters Series Preview

LBSU will hop aboard a bus and travel down the 405 to the 73 and get off at University Avenue make a left and see Anteater Ballpark.

In the other dugout will be Big West foe UCI, the fifth-ranked team in the country.

A series win could mean first place in the conference and some national recognition for the first time since last year's first round regional departure. 

A loss would drop the Dirtbags into the middle of the Big West pack with some more favorable opponents coming up.

Either way for a team on the rise, far more sure of their identity then in the early going, the confidence that could come from knocking off one of the top team's in the nation could really catapult LBSU back into postseason contention.

Dirtbags look to leave UCI Black and Blue

San Diego State upends Dirtbags

4-3 was once again an unlucky score for LBSU (14-14) Tuesday night as the Tony Gwynn-led Aztecs held on for a hard-fought victory at Blair Field.

Three of SDSU's four runs came via the long ball. Brandon Meredith hit a two-run homer to center in the first while Cory Vaughn blasted a solo bomb to left in the sixth.

Meredith also connected on the game winning RBI single in the ninth.

The Dirtbags stranded 13 runners in the contest.

John Hill was 3-for-4 getting a rare start behind the plate, while Jordan Casas was 2-for-5 with a double and his team-leading 13th steal. 

Dustin Rasco (0-2) got the loss in relief while Andrew Leary (2-1) got the win for the Aztecs (23-11).

Addison Reed got his NCAA-leading 11th save by shutting the door in the ninth, stymieing a last ditch Dirtbag effort in the process.

LBSU will take on No. 5 UCI at Anteater Ballpark in Irvine Thursday-Saturday, look for a full preview of that series tomorrow.

LBSU drops finale to UCR

Riverside managed to get one game out of its trip inland by taking the final game of the series 4-3.

The Dirtbags had their chances, and held a 2-0 lead early, but they could not overcome a 4-2 deficit in the ninth scoring once before stranding a pair.

Freshman Andrew Gagnon (2-3) was the tough-luck loser for LBSU going eight innings, allowing just four hits and only two earned runs.

Taylor Krick and Jordan Casas had a pair of hits for the Dirtbags but they made three costly errors that greatly contributed to the unfavorable result.

The loss snapped LBSU's (14-13) seven game win streak. The Boys of Blair will look to rebound Tuesday night against San Diego State before a big three game set with Big West-leading UC Irvine. 

The Anteaters just took two of three on the road from the nation's top team Cal State Fullerton and should certainly ascend into the Top 10 in the polls in advance to hosting the Dirtbags Thursday-Saturday.

Dirtbags win second series in a row

The Dirtbags started conference play the same way they entered it, by winning games.

After winning seven games in the first five weeks they now have seven wins in the past nine days and have ridden the hot streak to a 14-12 mark.

Strong pitching, steady defense and timely hitting are 2009 staples and they have led to a 2-0 conference mark with wins against UC Riverside (5-2 Friday night and 2-1 this afternoon).

Jake Thompson is pitching like its 2008 with his second straight great outing.

He was one out short of a complete game at Blair today after going eight shutout innings last week. 

Charlie Ruiz got his sixth save by recording the final out.

Brennan Metzger was 3-for-3 while Jonathan Jones and TJ Mittlestaedt were 2-for-4.

Lucky Number 7

Adam Wilk ran his record to 4-1 with the win in the series opener. He went 7 and 1/3 innings surrendering just two runs while Ruiz worked 1 and 2/3 perfect innings in relief for the save.

Jordan Casas and Taylor Krick both had a pair of hits and an RBI.

Dirtbags: Back from the dead

At just 7-12 last Friday afternoon the Dirtbags looked young, inexperienced and a year away. Less than a week later they seem to have reversed plenty of those notions.

With a sweep at home against UNLV where all their strongest assets were firing - pitching, speed and defense - LBSU gained some much needed confidence as they headed to the Bay Area.

Games against Santa Clara and Cal did nothing to change that momentum.

The Dirtbags (12-12) scored 33 runs in less than 24 hours pounding Santa Clara 14-4 on Tuesday night and Cal 19-7 on Wednesday afternoon.

The win against Cal must have been particularly gratifying since the Golden Bears swept LBSU at Blair earlier this season.

Four Dirtbags homers were too much for SCU as TJ Mittlestaedt went deep twice and Rylan Sandoval and Brennan Metzger joined the longball party as well.

Jason Markovitz got the win in relief.

A night of sleep did nothing to quell the LBSU rally as they woke up and pounded out 21 hits against Cal including three-run homers from Mittlesatedt (4-for-5, 6 RBI's ) and Devin Lohman (3-for-4, 4 RBI's).

Jeff Lease worked five-plus innings for the win in relief.

The Dirtbags open conference play with UC Riverside Friday night at Blair looking to go over .500 for the first time this season.