Dirtbag Baseball

Stanford series: Convo with Coach Marquess

2010-05-07T10:30:00.000-07:00

LBSU takes on Stanford this evening for the first of three non-conference games with the Cardinal.

I chatted with Stanford's hall of fame coach Wednesday morning and here's what transpired.

This will be an extremely meaningful series for me as I grew up in Palo Alto just a few minutes from Stanford's campus and my love for baseball can really be traced back to going to Cardinal games as a kid.

First pitch tonight is at 6:30. I'll be at Blair Sunday. For updates follow me here on Twitter.

Mired in Mediocrity

2010-05-04T14:12:00.000-07:00

It's better to be average than bad. But it sure would be nice to be better than simply mediocre.

Such is the conundrum of Long Beach State's two biggest men's teams.

The basketball team followed up a 15-15 campaign in 2008-2009 with a 17-16 season in 2009-2010.

The Dirtbags are 20-20. They aren't cellar-dwellers and in the case of the basketball team they have come a long way from the six wins in Coach Monson's first season but the Boys of Blair have been a perennial power for the last two decades.

Now they can't get over the hump since their disappointing early exit from the regional they hosted at the end of the 2008 season.

Last year's squad was the first to finish under the .500 mark in the Dirtbag era (circa 1989) and the 2010 version has three home series left against Stanford, Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine - three of the best team's on the West Coast.

LBSU is 9-10 at home, 11-10 on the road and 7-8 in Big West play. In other words, they're staying afloat.

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Devin Lohman is putting together quite a junior season for "Shortstop U." His .420 batting average is more than 70 points better than anyone else and it will be real interesting to see what happens with him come draft time.

The big boys in the middle of the line-up - Tinoco and Terdoslavich - each have 40 RBI's and are hitting .348 and .335 respectively.

The line-up has produced much more than early in the season but there is not enough consistency from top to bottom or enough sure-fire run producing since the running game has been greatly reduced (46 SB's) and there's not a ton of pop with this group (20 HR's).

Drew Gagnon has pitched very well (2.82 ERA) but doesn't have the record to show for it (5-4) in large part since he has had to assume the role of Friday night starter and gets continually matched against the opponent's best guy.

Jake Thompson has struggled with his consistency. He has all the talent in the world with that power arm but has to keep his fastball down and avoid the big inning.

Branden Pinder has pitched pretty well as the Sunday guy but like Gagnon has had some tough luck getting on the right side of the decision.

Eddie Magallon and Nate Underwood have pitched fine in spot starts or long relief but the bullpen as a whole has struggled to really hold down opposing teams.

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LBSU has the schedule left to make a late postseason push. They have 14 games remaining, and nine in conference.

They are currently 67th in the RPI and strong performances against the Cardinal (39th), Titans (12th) and Anteaters (42nd) could get them into the NCAA Tournament but they really need to be clicking on all cylinders and it may take at least ten more wins to get them into contention.

Weekend Wrap: Wichita State

2010-03-16T10:46:00.000-07:00

After being shutout and beatdown Friday night the Dirtbags (7-7) rallied to take their three-game series with the 21st-ranked Shockers of Wichita State (10-3) by winning the next two contests and earn some much-needed confidence.

In the series finale sophomore transfer Joey Terdoslavich led the way by going 3-for-4 and driving in three runs. Devin Lohman added a couple of hits and the pitching of Branden Pinder enabled the Dirtbags to record the 7-3 victory.

For Pinder (1-3) it was his first win at LBSU and couldn't have come at a better time as three straight losses had put him in danger of losing his hold on the Sunday starter spot. He gave up just one run on six hits in seven innings of work, quieting the loud Shocker sticks.

After WSU cut the Dirtbag lead to 2-1 in the fourth, LBSU rebounded with one in the bottom half and four in the fifth to take control of the game.

Kellen Hoime was the hero for The Beach Saturday night going 3-for-3 and driving in two-runs with a big hit in the eighth inning rally that put the Dirtbags ahead for good.

Derek Legg also plated two in the four-run LBSU eighth that erased a 4-3 deficit and sent the Dirtbags to a potential season altering win.

Terdoslavich added three hits and Brennan Metzger had two. Jake Thompson gave up four runs (three earned) in seven innings of work. He struck out seven WSU batters but didn't get a decision. Closer David Brown (2-0) got the win in relief.

It was all Shockers Friday night, as they dominated the Dirtbags and took the opener 8-0. Drew Gagnon struck out 12 but WSU starter Tim Kelley was masterful and a big three-run bomb from Shocker Ryan Jones was more than enough insurance for the victory.

Terdoslavich was named Big West Player of the Week after providing the game-winning hit last Tuesday against SDSU and notching seven hits over the weekend.

LBSU plays at Loyola Marymount this afternoon at 3 p.m.

Weekend Wrap: University of Washington

2010-03-08T11:03:00.000-08:00

Another Pac-10 team was in the third base dugout and the tough times continued. The Huskies took two of three from Long Beach dropping the Boys of Blair to 4-6 and just 1-5 at home against Pac-10 foes so far this season.

In the rubber game Sunday Long Beach took an early 2-0 lead but Andrew Kittredge, Washington's starter and weekend warrior, settled in and held on for a 6-4 win.

Sophomore Drew Gagnon was the hero for The Beach Saturday afternoon going the distance in a 3-1 LBSU win that may push him to the Friday start next week. Gagnon gave up just one unearned run, allowing a meager three hits and striking out four Huskies batters.

It was his first career complete game and a huge boost after Friday night's heartbreaker. Brennan Metzger was the only Dirtbag with two hits, adding a run scored and an RBI.

Friday night was one to forget for The Beach. They led 6-0 after three and 9-4 after five but a seven-run Huskies seventh pushed UW to an 11-9 win.

Metzger added three more hits and two RBI's while Kellen Hoime had two of each and Jordan Casas also recorded a multi-hit game.

Jake Thompson struggled for a second straight start and was unable to make it out of the fourth.

LBSU hosts the Aztecs of San Diego State tomorrow night before finishing the homestand with three games against the Wichita State Shockers.

Mid-week Wrap: Dirtbags drop two

2010-03-04T10:31:00.000-08:00

LBSU (3-4) played Tuesday and Wednesday night at Blair losing 10-5 to USC and 4-2 to Waseda University from Japan.

Playing with wooden bats Wednesday night in an exhibition game against Waseda the Dirtbags fell 4-2.

Tuesday night's game was one for the ages. Five homers - three from the visiting Trojans - were slammed out of cavernous Blair Field. The historic 7th street ballpark is one of the most spacious in the country and plays even bigger at night when the heavy air usually holds flyballs from carrying out. But USC blasted three, including a pair of three-run bombs in the third to grab a 7-3 lead it would not relinquish after LBSU took a 3-0 lead in the second.

Branden Pinder and Eddie Magallon gave up all ten runs but only four were earned as two Dirtbag errors proved very costly.

Kellen Hoime and Joey Terdoslavich went deep for LBSU but it was not enough.

The Dirtbags host the University of Washington this weekend.

Weekend Wrap: University of Arizona

2010-03-01T12:20:00.000-08:00

Rain cancelled Sunday's final game but a little desert air was just what the doctor ordered for those dormant Dirtbag bats on Friday and Saturday.

Devin Lohman and Steve Tinoco led the way Saturday with three hits apiece as LBSU took the series with a 10-3 win.

Tinoco added three RBI's and Drew Gagnon gave up just one earned run in six innings to get the win. A four-run LBSU third blew the game open for the Dirtbags.

Facing a seemingly insurmountable 4-0 deficit after just one frame Friday night the LBSU bats kept chipping away and completed their comeback in the ninth with an 8-7 win.

Jonathan Jones had four of a season-high 16 Dirtbag hits and Tinoco added three more.

With a run in the seventh and eighth and two in the ninth, LBSU got the win they so desperately needed.

Jake Thompson was let off the hook after giving up seven runs (six earned) on 11 hits in just five innings. Four Dirtbag relievers held U of A the rest of the way enabling LBSU to steal the victory.

Long Beach hosts USC Tuesday night at home as they kick off a season-high nine game homestand.

Bruins dominate Dirtbags at Blair

2010-02-24T16:08:00.000-08:00

Garett Claypool has the Dirtbags number and the UCLA bats continued to roar en route to a 10-1 thumping of LBSU Tuesday night at Blair Field.

The 17th-ranked Bruins have scored more than ten runs in each of their four contests this season. The Beach? Not more than two. That is reflected in their records as UCLA is a perfect 4-0 and LBSU fell to 1-3.

I've got the full rundown here including Coach Weathers postgame reaction. Here's the audio link.

The Dirtbags hit the road this weekend for three games with the University of Arizona.

Weekend Wrap: Pepperdine, Oregon & CSUF

2010-02-22T15:45:00.000-08:00

After starting the season off with a bang the Dirtbags dropped their final two weekend contests.

On Sunday Long Beach went to Fullerton's Goodwin Field looking to reverse a bitter end to last year's season by upending the Titans in a rare, early season showdown. But #3 CSUF continued their recent dominance over the Dirtbags with an 8-1 rout. Steve Tinoco broke out of his early 0-for-8 slump going 3-for-4 and Jordan Casas added a pair of hits but for the second straight day seven LBSU hits weren't nearly enough.

Fullerton starter Tyler Pill outdueled Long Beach's Braden Pinder, making his first start in the black and gold, and a late inning offensive barrage by the rival Titans doomed the Dirtbags.

Oregon was the winner Saturday night at Blair by a 6-2 score. Drew Gagnon surrendered five runs in five and two-thirds and LBSU could not string together enough hits pushing across just one in the second and the eighth.

The Dirtbags are back in action at Blair Tuesday night when they host the UCLA Bruins.

Jake the Great sparkles in his 2010 debut

2010-02-20T01:15:00.000-08:00

Despite a few raindrops early and a lot more late it was a beautiful night at Blair Field in Long Beach. Behind the powerful right arm of junior Jake Thompson the Dirtbags won their season opener 2-1.

It was Thompson's first complete game at LBSU and he was dominant from start to finish. What was most impressive was his confidence in his stuff as he said after the game he was going to throw it down the middle and they were going to miss it or hit it - but even when they hit it he wasn't expecting much of a threat.

The middle infielders Devin Lohman and Derek Legg had a pair of hits and Brennan Metzger scored both runs.

For the full run-down of last night's action and post-game audio from Thompson and coach Mike Weathers, click here.

LBSU hosts the University of Oregon tonight at 5:30 with sophomore Drew Gagnon taking the bump for the black and gold.

Weathers and Thompson had some interesting insight into the competition he and Drew had in camp and both expect Gagnon to pick up right where Jake left off. That's on the audio so check it out.

First pitch just hours away and those links

2010-02-19T11:30:00.000-08:00

Jake Thompson will take the mound for the Dirtbags tonight as the 2010 season gets under way at Blair Field.

I promised some links and here they are. The season preview and the sit-down with Coach Weathers.

I'll be at the game tonight and will be tweeting about the affair so follow me at twitter.com/philomis to get the updates as LBSU takes on Pepperdine at 6:30.

I will also be broadcasting the Tuesday night game against UCLA live on longbeachstate.com, so be sure to listen in for that.

Dirtbags open season Friday night

2010-02-17T13:13:00.000-08:00

With a twist on the schedule LBSU plays their first hardball at Blair Field Friday night against the Waves of Pepperdine. Saturday night they host the University of Oregon, Sunday afternoon they travel to Goodwin Field to face bitter rival Cal State Fullerton and Tuesday night they host the UCLA Bruins.

Waiting on my season preview column to go online. I will post links to that as well as my interview with Coach Weathers when they are up.

Blair looks great. LBSU has taken over the operations of the historic stadium, and has already added a few of its own touches with many more to come.

Rockies shortstop and former Dirtbag standout Troy Tulowitzki will throw out the first pitch Friday night.

Check back in, there's a lot more to come!

Uh oh, there Wallach goes

2009-06-11T11:27:00.000-07:00

Brett Wallach, son of former CSUF and Dodgers star Tim Wallach got picked 96th overall by the Boys in Blue and most certainly will make the jump from OCC to the Dodgers minor league system and never don the black and gold of The Beach.

The other notable player that was Dirtbag potential was Jonathan Singleton, from Millikan high in the LBC, but the Phillies snatched him up in the 5th round and he looks to make the jump as well.

Still waiting for the "Long Beach State" to be attached to a 2009 pick.

Wilk and Ruiz make all conference teams, but that's it

2009-05-28T02:32:00.000-07:00

Adam Wilk (2nd team) and Charlie Ruiz (honorable mention) were the only Dirtbags to be honored by the Big West Wednesday.

While both deserved recognition it seems that LBSU's poor finish - losing nine of 10 - and falling into a fifth place tie in the conference standings certainly didn't help the cause of any of their offensive players.

Wilk and Ruiz get picked

Entire run-down of Big West selections

Check back for more info on recruits and draft day commentary in the next two weeks.

Dirtbags a victim of their own success

2009-05-27T12:28:00.000-07:00

End of the season column about LBSU's players getting drafted and succeeding at the next level. How that is starting to hurt the team in Long Beach and the struggles to recruit with more and more competitive local teams and a lack of funding to improve the team's facilities.

A spirited debate follows!

What's next for the Dirtbags?

Dirtbags swept by CSUF

2009-05-25T01:37:00.000-07:00

LBSU was swept but Fullerton and finished their season 25-29.

Been busy with the radio for the games and finals but some closing thoughts, a column and much more soon.

Cal Poly takes two out of three

2009-05-19T01:39:00.000-07:00

LBSU managed a dramatic 13-12 come from behind win Saturday against the Mustangs but dropped games Friday night and Sunday afternoon to send them back under the .500 mark with just three games to play.

Season quickly eroding for Dirtbags

2009-05-13T14:25:00.000-07:00

Things looked bleak for the 2009 season after a sweep by UCSB over the weekend. A 15-2 drubbing at UCLA Tuesday night only made it worse.

With just three outfielders and leading hitter Steve Tinoco noticeably absent from the line-up the Dirtbags struggled to score and have managed just 15 runs in their last four games (all losses) after winning four in a row and seven of eight to climb a season high four games over . 500 (24-20) back on May 5th.

The Dirtbags used four starters in the first five innings as UCLA jumped out to a 12-2 lead.

Josh Corrales (1-2) took the loss giving up five runs in 2 1/3, but Anthony Carrillo (1 IP, 4 runs - 2 earned), Aaron Lambrix (1.1 IP, 3 runs) and Charlie Ruiz later on (1 IP, 3 runs) weren't much better.

Most disturbing is the back-to-back efforts from Ruiz who has been the Dirtbags closer all year and despite some wildness from his nasty spilt-finger pitch has been very effective at the back end of games.

In Sunday's heartbreaking loss Ruiz was charged with the defeat after giving up two walks, a triple and three runs while recording no outs and throwing just two strikes in 13 pitches.

LBSU (24-24) will try and salvage a bit of their season this weekend at home against Cal Poly (33-16, 11-7). Both teams are still battling for second place in the Big West.

UCLA tonight, injury updates

2009-05-12T09:26:00.000-07:00

Just ran into Jonathan Jones on campus...his chin is sore but thankfully he is o.k. after getting plunked in the face while squaring to bunt Sunday.

He hit the ground hard and reiterated our fears in the booth that he thought he may have broken his jaw but fortunately it wasn't that serious.

He will not be making the trip to L.A.

Brennan Metzger is also recovering (after 3 hours in the E.R.) and has a deep bone bruise after getting hit square in the elbow the inning before. I said it on-air at the time but the sound of the ball hitting his elbow was an awful one.

If you had been in the stands and looked away for the pitch you may have assumed he popped up a foul ball somewhere. That was what the "pop" sounded like and I don't think the elbow is built for that.

Jordan Casas, who re-aggravated his ankle injury when his foot caught in the grass on Saturday as he caught a fly ball and tried to throw home, is doing better but remains out.

Even Brandon Young, the sophomore utilityman who would have been a viable outfield option, was sidelined after getting hit with a line drive during BP the day before.

All three of the normal starters (no word on Young) will miss at least tonight's game which presents an interesting outfield situation.

With all three out and Tre Dennis in the DH spot Sunday, first baseman Steve Tinoco went to left where he played last year.

So that leaves the Dirtbags with three pure outfielders for tonight's game at Jackie Robinson in Dennis, Matt Avery and TJ Mittelstaedt. Tinoco would be the next man to roam the UCLA outfield.

Staff game tonight, LBSU sits just one game over .500 (24-23), the Dirtbags have never finished under the break-even line in the 20-year history of that moniker.

As you may remember they lost to the Bruins in L.A. 7-5 two weeks ago. Haven't received a decent answer as to why both games would be played on their field but that is the case.

18th-ranked Cal Poly will be at Blair this weekend for three.

Dirtbags swept by UCSB in Fullerton

2009-05-11T09:46:00.000-07:00

It's a long season that really is a year-round endeavor beginning with summer workouts, going through fall practices and on into the season but for the Dirtbags it may have all come down to about 24 hours in Fullerton and the end result was not very good.

In a must-win series for both teams involved it was Santa Barbara that rose to the challenge sweeping LBSU in Fullerton to strengthen their NCAA case while seriously damaging the Dirtbags chances for a third straight postseason birth.

At 24-23 overall and 10-8 in conference it will most likely take a 7-0 finish for The Beach to be seriously considered by the selection committee and after the UCLA game tomorrow night the Dirtbags get their final six games against top-20 ranked teams in Cal Poly (18th) and Cal State Fullerton (6th).

Sweeps over those teams would definitely raise eyebrows but all of the sudden Long Beach State is missing three outfielders - more on that tomorrow - and struggling to swing the bats while giving up plenty of runs to the other side.

Series recaps ...

11-9 UCSB Sunday

3-0, 14-4 UCSB (doubleheader) Saturday

Dirtbags and Gauchos PPD due to fires

2009-05-09T01:18:00.000-07:00

LBSU/UCSB to play in Fullerton, doubleheader Sat beginning at 2 and series finale Sunday at 1

More info here

Waves no match for The Beach

2009-05-05T23:50:00.000-07:00

In another critical game the Dirtbags rose to the occasion tonight at Blair in beating Pepperdine 10-5.

Seven starters had at least one hit and LBSU scored in six of their eight at-bats en route to their fourth straight win. The Dirtbags have won 13 of their last 16 at home.

They were down 4-3 in the fourth but responded with a run to tie it and then two more in the fifth, sixth and seventh to take over the game.

TJ Mittelstaedt continued to rope the ball going 2-for-3 with 3 RBI's.

Four other LBSU players had two hits and at least one RBI - Jordan Casas (2-for-4, 2 RBI's), Taylor Krick (2-for-3, 2 RBI's) Tre Dennis (2-for-2, RBI) and Steve Tinoco (2-for-4, RBI).

The Dirtbags (24-20) stole five more bases to give them 107 on the season. The school record is 123.

David Brown (2-0) worked a career high 3 2/3 innings for the win. He was one of five Beach pitchers to take the mound on the evening.

LBSU will be in Santa Barbara this weekend for a big series with the UCSB Gauchos.

At 10-5 in the Big West the Dirtbags are in a three-way tie for second place with Cal Poly (10-5) and CSUF (12-6), with three weeks to play.

To spice things up Cal Poly comes to Blair next weekend before the season finale series with Fullerton. So second place will be decided right there between the lines.

I'll be on the air live from Goleta all weekend (Fri - 2pm, Sat - 1pm and Sun - 1 pm) calling the games and you can listen in here.

Dirtbags sweep Davis

2009-05-04T10:37:00.000-07:00

It was an emotional weekend at Blair Field as baseball took a backseat to the stories on and off the field.

Davis, the conference doormat played hard and gave LBSU (23-20, 10-5) two tough games after a blowout Friday night but the Dirtbags got the sweep they needed and with 11 games to go can still play their way into the NCAA Tournament.

Sunday, TJ Mittelstaedt's two-run seventh inning triple carried the Dirtbags to a 3-2 win. Josh Corrales got the win in an emotional return to Blair Field for the freshman pitcher.

Saturday night, Jake Thompson was stellar again and LBSU won 5-2. It was an interesting night and the game, more than the result, served a much bigger cause.

The Dirtbags rolled over the Aggies in the series opener behind ace Adam Wilk, some big offense and a lot of help from the Davis bullpen in a 16-3 blowout win.

LBSU takes on Pepperdine at 6:30 on Tuesday night. The Dirtbags beat the Waves three weeks ago in Malibu by a 5-4 score.

HIGHLIGHT VIDEO FROM SUNDAY'S 3-2 WIN

The Postseason Push

2009-04-30T12:33:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-29T11:17:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-27T23:54:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-22T14:27:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-20T22:08:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-18T20:37:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-14T14:30:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-12T23:17:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-09T09:42:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-08T00:56:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-05T23:13:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-04T17:44:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-02T10:10:00.000-07:00

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.

Dirtbags sweep UNLV

2009-03-29T15:41:00.001-07:00

LBSU runs their record to 10-12 with a big win on Sunday.

Speed, timely hitting and atrocious defense by UNLV gave the Dirtbags a big 13-4 win.

Rylan Sandoval blasted a 2-run bomb to left and Drew Gagnon worked 6 and 1/3 for his second win.

Dirtbags sweep the Rebels

Jake Thompson was fantastic Saturday afternoon at Blair making quick work of the Rebels en route to a 4-0 LBSU win.

Thompson surrendered just one hit in eight strong innings and the small ball style worked to perfection for the Dirtbags.

Thompson, Dirtbags get pair of firsts

LBSU will make a short two game trip up North where they will play at Santa Clara Tuesday night and at California Wednesday afternoon.

The Dirtbags were swept by Cal (11-8, 9-6 and 6-3) at Blair Feb 27-March 1.

They return home next week to start Big West play with a three game series with the Highlanders of UC Riverside.

Dirtbags Update

2009-03-28T14:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of content recently, folks.

The lead-up to Spring Break was a busy one but with the mid-terms and papers behind me (for now) let's get back to the important stuff.

We are just under way at Blair today with the second of three games between LBSU and UNLV.

Long Beach (8-12) won the opener 7-4 behind strong pitching from Adam Wilk and the small ball style Weathers promised to employ before the season.

The Dirtbags are looking for their first series win of the year.

On Tuesday, LBSU fell to the University of San Diego 12-5.

Last weekend the Dirtbags lost two of three at Wichita State. They won the opener 6-4 but dropped the next two 7-5 and 6-1.

News and Notes

- Head coach Mike Weathers continues to serve his three-game suspension for his tirade during a 12-6 win two weeks ago against LMU. Weathers was scheduled to be back for tomorrow's game but the ban was extended an extra game since he was in the ballpark Tuesday at San Diego.

- Pitching Coach Doc Strauss has been handling managerial duties in Weathers absence.

- Junior Steve Tinoco, who has been red hot since early March, has missed the last three games with a strained hamstring.

Make it two in a row for the Dirtbags

2009-03-18T00:31:00.000-07:00

For just the second time this year LBSU (6-9) won consecutive games.

Both times the streak included wins over LMU (8-12), this time 12-6.

Tuesday night at Blair the bats came alive again with the Lions in the other dugout.

Eight of the 15 Dirtbag hits came from the corner infield spots as both third baseman Rylan Sandoval and first baseman Taylor Krick went 4-for-5 and scored three runs.

Krick, TJ Mittelstaedt and Brennan Metzger all had a pair of RBI's.

Manny McElroy (1-1) got the win in relief of Jeff Lease. Lease didn't make out of the third and gave up five runs but the Dirtbags came back.

For McElroy it was his first win in nearly two years.

The Dirtbags stole five bases in the game.

Mike Weathers was thrown out of the game in the sixth for arguing a play at second base.

LBSU will travel to Kansas tomorrow to take on the Wichita State Shockers Friday-Sunday.

49ers get the job done

2009-03-15T18:02:00.001-07:00

The 49ers (not the Dirtbags) came from behind to beat Washington State 6-5 Sunday at Blair.

It was a big win for a young team searching for an identity, especially when their identity was challenged as a group.

49ers win one for the Dirtbags

News and Notes

Freshman standout Derek Legg is suffering from an oblique and groin injury that will keep him sidelined for Tuesday's game with LMU.

Jordan Casas' ankle ailment will also keep him out of the lineup for that game. Both could be back for next weekend's series at Wichita State.

Senior catcher Kip Masuda who is just returning from a hamstring injury should start behind the plate Tuesday evening.

Jeff Lease will form the other half of the battery on the mound.

Thursday, LBSU will travel to Kansas for a three game set with the Wichita State Shockers, a perennial NCAA power the Dirtbags have squared off against every year under the tenure of Coach Weathers.

Dirtbags drop another to WSU

2009-03-14T23:00:00.000-07:00

A five run ninth inning rally did in LBSU (4-9) as they lost again to the Cougars 8-5 Saturday afternoon.

Adam Wilk went seven innings giving up just three runs and leaving with the lead but the 'pen could not hold it.

Charlie Ruiz took the loss (1-1), surrendering three unearned runs, and striking out four Cougars in just 2/3's of an inning.

But his split-finger fastball was too much for catcher John Hill to handle, as he was charged with a passed ball and Ruiz with two wild pitches.

Devin Lohman, Matt Avery and Steve Tinoco all had two hits for the Dirtbags.

Dirtbags shutout in opener by WSU

2009-03-13T21:34:00.000-07:00

LBSU (4-8) managed just five hits Friday night at Blair Field and Washington State (4-8) rolled to a 9-0 victory in the first of three games.

Dirtbags starter Jake Thompson (0-3) gave up seven runs in 4 and 1/3's innings and Long Beach had no answer for the Cougars Matt Way (1-2) who went eight innings surrendering just four hits while striking out eight.

WSU first baseman Alex Burg blasted two homers and drove in four Cougars.

Game two will be Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.

LBSU brings big bats back to SoCal

2009-03-11T11:58:00.000-07:00

After leaving the cozy confines of beautiful new Columbia Stadium it seemed like the Dirtbags offense would struggle upon returning to Blair Field.

This was not the case Tuesday night.

LBSU erupted for 16 runs in the first five innings alone en route to a thrashing of the Toreros of San Diego 17-3.

While a Tuesday game in early March is not a big deal it was a nice win for the D'Bags considering their loss to USD in last year's Long Beach regional.

Tre Dennis - who has looked tentative and lost early on after transferring to The Beach - slugged a home run, reached base six times and had four RBI's.

Jonathan Jones and Kellen Hoime both went 3-for-5 and scored seven runs combined.

Devin Lohman, Rylan Sandoval and a red-hot Steve Tinoco all added a pair of knocks.

Taylor Krick blasted his second homer of the year.

On the bump Jeff Lease (1-0) had a solid outing and earned the win. He went the minimum but struck out six and gave up just one first inning run. He gave up four hits and walked one.

Anthony Carrillo, Josh Corrales and Manny McElroy each worked a scoreless inning while striking out two.

Washington States comes to LBSU for a weekend series with the Dirtbags. First pitch on Friday will be at 6:30 p.m.

The Cougars are just 3-8 on the season but eight of their eleven games have been against ranked opponents (0-3 at #22 Arkansas, 2-2 vs. #16 Oklahoma and 0-1 at #7 Rice).

Dirtbags salvage game three

2009-03-08T14:13:00.001-07:00

Tinoco slugs Dirtbags to victory
LBSU drops two out of three in South Carolina

Long Beach State (3-7) escaped Columbia, South Carolina with one win by beating 25th-ranked USC at their own power game en route to a 10-7 win Sunday afternoon.

Junior Steve Tinoco had a career-day going 5-for-5, scoring four runs and hitting three solo home runs.

The first baseman had just three hits all season entering play Sunday and three home runs in his career at Long Beach State.

Derek Legg added three hits while Jonathan Jones and Jordan Casas had two apiece.

Freshman Andrew Gagnon (1-0) got his first collegiate win on the mound in five innings of work, giving up four runs while striking out seven, and Charlie Ruiz got his second save.

It was the first loss of the season for South Carolina (8-1).

The Dirtbags dropped Saturday's contest despite back-to-back homers in the first inning from Devin Lohman and TJ Mittlestaedt that gave LBSU an early 2-0 lead.

Adam Wilk (1-1) was the loser for The Beach going 4 2/3 innings and was charged with four earned runs.

In Friday night's series opener Legg went 3-for-4 and belted a ninth inning grand slam but it wasn't enough as LBSU fell to the Gamecocks 15-8.

Jake Thompson (0-2) took the loss for LBSU giving up five earned runs in 4 1/3 innings and Tyler Topp got hit hard out of the bullpen surrendering seven earned in just 3 2/3 innings of relief.

The Dirtbags found their power stroke over the weekend crushing seven homers in the three games after hitting only one in their first seven games.

LBSU is back at Blair Field for their next five games. The host San Diego on Tuesday with the first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

Carolina on my mind

2009-03-05T09:12:00.001-08:00

The Dirtbags are in Columbia, South Carolina for a three game set with the Gamecocks.

While the LBSU bats have woke up a bit of late their best chance of winning lies with the Thompson-Wilk-Gagnon tandem that will start on the mound for The Beach

All three have shown great stuff on the young season.

The 25th-ranked South Carolina squad is 6-0 in 2009.

LBSU is just 2-5 after dropping back-to-back series' with USC and Cal.

First pitch tomorrow will be at 4 p.m. Pacific time.

Full run down of the series from the USC perspective

Dirtbags are swept by Cal

2009-03-01T22:43:00.000-08:00

Cal's bats got after it again Sunday to the tune of 15 hits and beat LBSU 6-3 to take all three games over the weekend.

Thoughts

It's not that Long Beach State is that bad - it's a young inexperienced team that is taking its lumps - but in Cal they faced a better team that knows how to win ball games.

Jake Thompson was hit hard, despite pitching into the seventh and working out of some jams.

He was also throwing hard, topping out at a blazing 94 mph on the gun. It's his off-speed stuff, or better use of it, that will really make him effective especially against good line-ups.

Probables

Thompson will get the nod Friday night at South Carolina while Adam Wilk should get the Saturday start due in large part to his dominating performance at LMU Wednesday.

Drew Gagnon will get another Sunday start after throwing in relief yesterday.

Notes

South Carolina (4-0) has just begun play in a beautiful new $25 million+ facility.

Gamecocks coach Dave Tanner was the 2003 USA National team's head coach while Weathers was one of his assistants.

Tanner also coached with Weather's predecessor and Dirtbag legend Dave Snow in 1995 and 1996 including the Olympics in Atlanta.

LBSU will take just 25 players to Columbia, the first time Weathers had said he will have had to leave players at home.

It's the worst start for the Dirtbags since 1998 when they won just two of their first 11 (2-8-1), but rebounded to win that many at the College World Series (their last appearance in Omaha).

Beach drops first two to Cal

2009-02-28T17:30:00.000-08:00

In a pair of high-scoring affairs LBSU came up short last night and this afternoon at Blair.

Jeff Lease couldn't finish the first inning - giving up four hits and four runs (two earned) - and Long Beach dropped a 9-6 decision to Cal on Saturday afternoon.

Devin Lohman had three hits and T.J. Mittlestaedt reached base in five of his seven plate appearances and had 2 RBI's.

Drew Gagnon pitched five and a third innings of relief, striking out five and giving up three runs.

Cal won the opener 11-8 despite trailing 8-4 in the middle innings.

The Dirtbags defense, especially at third base, struggled again committing five errors leading to Cal's three run ninth inning rally and seven unearned runs for the Golden Bears.

Tyler Topp got the start in place of Jake Thompson but didn't make it out of the fourth.

Mittlestaedt had another strong game out of the DH spot going 3 for 4 with 2 RBI's.

Rylan Sandoval had three errors at third after Taylor Krick had a two error game at the hot corner last Sunday.

Probables for Cal Series

2009-02-27T01:36:00.000-08:00

After a mid-week win over LMU, Long Beach has another Pac-10 foe this weekend in Cal Berkeley.

Jake Thompson gets the nod tonight against the Golden Bears. The most proven starter for LBSu should assume this role full time but was slotted Saturday against SC so he could start the highly anticipated home opener.

Jeff Lease will get his first start as a Dirtbag on Saturday afternoon. Lease has worked two and a third innings in relief and I think Coach Weathers wants to get a look at the sophomore southpaw in a different capacity.

Freshman Andrew Gagnon (pronounced Gey-ohn) will start Sunday after tossing five good innings in his Dirtbag debut a week ago in LA. It should be an exciting first appearance at Blair as well.

Tyler Topp is still in the mix to start and Adam Wilk pitched so well at LMU he could find his way into the weekend rotation as well.

LBSU travels to South Carolina for a three game set before returning to Blair for five games in eight days. Topp and Wilk could easily start those two Tuesday games but I'm sure Weathers and his staff would like to see his veterans get some work in there before then and that Saturday start could be it regardless of Lease's performance.

First pitch later tonight is at 6:30, 2 and 1 Saturday and Sunday. This will be the typical weekend schedule for LBSU games at Blair.

Dirtbags tame Lions

2009-02-25T17:04:00.000-08:00

LBSU went back to LA today and held on late for a 9-6 win against Loyola Marymount.

Adam Wilk went seven strong innings giving up just two hits and one run.

The bats came out again too as T.J. Mittlestaedt (three hits) led six Dirtbags with multi-hit performances.

Five other guys -- Jones, Casas, Lohman, Krick and Legg -- all had a pair.

So the top five in the lineup were 10-for-22 with 5 RBI's as Long Beach runs their record to 2-2.

Charlie Ruiz worked the ninth for the save.

The Cal Golden Bears come to Blair for three this weekend.

Team Preview: Part II (The Pitchers)

2009-02-24T08:05:00.000-08:00

As promised here is part two of the season preview featuring the pitching staff and info about the schedule. Three games in the picture looks a little clearer.

Thompson and Gagnon solidified their weekend spots. Lease and Wilk may battle Topp for the other slot. McElroy will stay in the 'pen for the time being.

Here's an in-depth look at the 2009 staff.

LMU tomorrow, Cal this weekend.

Dirtbags get first win in '09

2009-02-22T21:53:00.000-08:00

It was Oscar Sunday in LA and the Dirtbags stole the show.

The freshman came up big for LBSU as Drew Gagnon had a strong first outing and Derek Legg, lauded for his hands at second base, had three hits to lead Long Beach to a 5-4 win over USC.

After dropping the first two games of the series it was great for The Beach to get a win and show some mettle, answering each scoring output from the Trojans with one of their own.

LBSU will start Adam Wilk Wednesday at LMU and take on Cal at Blair Field next weekend.

Thompson and Gagnon will get starts again, Topp or Lease should get the nod in the other game.

D'Bags avoid sweep with 5-4 win at USC

The long wait is over....

2009-02-22T12:42:00.000-08:00

Spring is finally here.

It's a beautiful day for baseball.

I'm at Dedeaux Field in Los Angeles and the Trojans are about to take the field.

Dirtbags starting line-up today:

Jones - CF

Legg - 2B

Krick - 3B

Blood - DH

Lohman - SS

Tinoco - 1B

Avery - LF

Hoime - C

Casas - RF

Gagnon on the bump

USC shuts out LBSU in home opener

2009-02-21T21:10:00.001-08:00

Back down the 405 the Dirtbags luck wasn't much better Saturday night.

USC took game two, and the only one at Blair, 4-0.

Sophomore Jake Thompson pitched well, scattering three hits over seven scoreless innings, but the Trojans broke through for four in the eighth and the Dirtbags had no answer for SC pitching.

USC starter Kevin Couture went seven innings allowing just two hits and striking out 10.

Manny McElroy took the loss for The Beach walking the only two batters he faced in the 8th before Dustin Rasco gave up two big hits as all four Trojans would come around to score.

In two games LBSU has managed just seven hits while striking out 26 times.

SC starters are 2-0 with 13 IP, 3 H, 21 k's and 0 ER's

Long Beach looks to stave off a sweep tomorrow back in Los Angeles at 1 p.m.

Freshman Drew Gagnon makes his first collegiate start for the Dirtbags.

D'Bags drop opener at Dedeaux

2009-02-20T22:53:00.000-08:00

In their season opener LBSU fell 5-3 at USC.

Taylor Krick hit a three-run bomb to put the Dirtbags on the board in the eighth but they couldn't muster any more of a comeback.

Highlights - Krick's homer, Freshman Derek Legg's first hit

Lowlights - Devin Lohman with a golden sombrero out of the clean-up spot and Tyler Topp not making it out of the fourth

Home opener at 5 o'clock tomorrow

The Boys of Blair are back!

2009 Dirtbag Preview Part 1

2009-02-19T01:16:00.000-08:00

The 2009 LBSU Dirtbags are back in full force tomorrow evening at Dedeaux Field in Los Angeles. Long Beach will take on USC to open the season. Saturday's game will be at home and will follow the men's basketball BracketBuster game at 2:30.

LBSU swept the Trojans last winter. We will start the preview off with the defense - infield and outfield - then unveil the pitching staff and some other odds and ends next Tuesday.

Part 1 of the Team Preview - Infield/Outfield

Check back this weekend for updates on the USC series. I will be at the game Sunday, so expect a full Sunday game story and weekend recap shortly after that contest is complete.

Dirtbags picked fourth in preseason poll

2009-01-24T23:25:00.001-08:00

Big West coaches vote LBSU fourth in preseason Big West poll

Season preview coming very soon....

LBSU Baseball - The 2009 Edition coming soon

2009-01-09T16:57:00.001-08:00

This will be short and sweet, but I wanted to get the ball rolling a bit in anticipation of Dirtbag baseball in 2009.

Thanks to the wonderful folks at the NCAA we will again have to wait until late February (instead of late January) for college baseball. I can't think of anything worse unless of course you are them and you have had to listen to cold weather teams bitch and moan for years about the competitive disadvantage of southern, warm weather teams like those in Florida and California.

So we are stuck with this for now. Baseball's version of midnight madness and spring practice is not getting to play until after Valentine's Day. Now we just get stuck with enough games per week that the schedule could be confused with a pro team.

Anyway, it was a highly successful season for LBSU in 2008. Not only did the team take a share of the Big West crown and get to host a regional but ex-Dirtbags took the baseball world by storm. John Bowker homered in his first two games as a Giant and Evan Longoria won ROY, was named to the AL all-star team and played in the World Series.

In the draft the Dirtbags had 11 players selected and other ex-Blair Boys like Giambi, Weaver and Tulowitzki are still playing good ball.

The Dirtbags will have to replace a ton of talent in the coming season. But more on that with a full-scale team preview in the next few weeks. Check back all spring for stories, stats and more!

Goydos Falls Just Short

2008-05-12T12:21:00.000-07:00

Cal State Long Beach grad and America's weekend darling Paul Goydos played 71 tremendous holes at The Player's Championship before missing what would have been the winning putt on 18 and hitting his tee shot into the water on the first playoff hole.

The famed island green on the 17th at the TPC did the Long Beach native, Wilson graduate and former substitute teacher in, but he was still all smiles.

The most interesting part of the 43-year olds run was the hat he wore. With his sponsorship expired he picked up a new cap at the airport LIDS last week. It had a gold LB insigna and "Dirtbags" written across the bottom left side.

Coach Weathers joked "it was the best publicity I could have asked for."

UCSB Gets One for Mom

2008-05-12T12:16:00.001-07:00

On Mother's Day at Blair the Dirtbags were hoping to do some house cleaning for mom and bring out the brooms, but the Gauchos had other plans. Behind great starting pitching and some clutch hits they took the series finale 5-3.

With many players supporting the cause for Breast Cancer Awareness by donning pink arm bands the Dirtbags came up a few hits short.

Full Game Story ...

With the loss LBSU falls to 11-7 in the Big West and currently sits in third place with six games to go. CS Fullerton is 2.5 games ahead at 15-6 and UC Riverside is a game up at 12-6.

In other words, the Dirtbags would have to win out to have the chance to take the conference crown outright or finish 5-1 to give themselves a potential tie.

Barring a major collapse The Beach appears poised to make post season play and a strong finish could land them a regional or at least a favorable #2 seed somewhere close by.

Hosting a regional would be a huge boost for a team that is a 20-6 at home this season.

Dirtbags take the series from the Gauchos

2008-05-12T11:23:00.000-07:00

Visiting UCSB won Sunday's affair at Blair Field in Long Beach but not before the Dirtbags had secured the series win by knocking off the Gauchos on Friday and Saturday.

Long Beach St won 3-0 Friday night behind their ace Andrew Liebel. After posting his first career shutout last week, Liebel repeated the feat, making quick work of the Gauchos. He struck out six and gave up just five hits.

Jason Corder launched his 13th homer of the season, a two-run bomb, after Shane Peterson singled home a run in the first.

Saturday's nightcap was spectacular. From the fireworks after the game to the offensive onslaught during it. Long Beach slugged its way to a 10-8 win.

It was a see-saw battle for the lead that featured multiple middle-inning lead changes. Brian Gump had four R.B.I's for UCSB while Espinosa and Jones each banged out three hits and drove in two runs for the Dirtbags.

Dirtbags Eek out a Close One

2008-05-07T16:21:00.000-07:00

Long Beach State beat Fresno State 2-1 on a cold Southern California evening Tuesday night at Blair Field.

Brett Lorin got the win to improve to 3-3 on the year.

LBSU won despite just three hits. They used eight pitchers, including their top hitter Shane Peterson, to secure the win.

Danny Espinosa led the way for The Beach going 1-3, with a run and a RBI.

Full Game Recap

In other news, there has been a lot of discussion about possible renovations to Blair Field. In its 50th year of hosting the great American pastime there are some changes that need to be made.

Long Beach hosts UCSB this weekend, a fireworks show in honor of 50 years at Blair will follow Sautrday night's 6 pm affair.

Dirtbags Drop 2 of 3 at Davis

2008-05-05T10:45:00.000-07:00

Long Beach State (27-15, 9-6 Big West) lost a critical conference series this weekend. Recent D1 addition UC Davis stormed back against The Beach on Saturday and Sunday to salvage not only one win but a series victory as well.

Andrew Liebel got the Dirtbags off on the right track Friday afternoon with another tremendous performance. He went the distance for a complete game shutout. Long Beach won the game 6-0.

It was his first career shutout and he allowed just six hits while fanning six Aggies. Jason Corder led the way offensively in what has already become a breakout year for him. The RF smacked his 12th homer of the year in the first, finishing 3-5 with 2 RBI's.

Shane Petersen had four hits, Steve Tinoco added three and leadoff man Jonathan Jones had a pair en route to 15 hits on the afternoon.

A wild affair Saturday ended in a 5-4 defeat. Three 7th inning runs by Davis would prove to be enough to hold on to the lead. In the ninth, the Dirtbags left two guys on and had one thrown out trying to score from first on a double.

They scored two early runs on wild pitches. Danny Espinosa had two hits and so did Catcher Travis Howell.

Sunday's rubber game was another one-run loss for the Dirtbags. Jake Thompson pitched into the 7th leaving with a 2-0 lead.

Jason Corder had three more hits and plated both Dirtbag runs but couldn't come up with the biggest hit of all, striking out to end the game with the tying run in scoring position.

Closer Bryan Shaw came in to pitch the eighth in an attempt to get six outs for the save but gave up the three runs that would provide the margin of victory.

The Beach hosts Fresno State Tuesday night and UCSB this weekend.

The Beach Heats Up

2008-04-29T11:03:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-16T16:39:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-16T16:15:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-08T23:46:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-06T16:14:00.000-07:00

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.

Raised on The Farm

2008-03-31T10:51:00.000-07:00

(Note: Long Beach State travels to Palo Alto today to play Stanford. I grew up there and thought I would reflect on that).

Before there were lights, or stadium seats or crowds in the thousands there were just sun-swept afternoons. There was the "ping" of the aluminum bat like the sound of a golf ball and there was freshly cut green grass. There was Sunken Diamond.

Against the crystal clear blue backdrop of the Northern California sky the ball would careen higher and higher and as a kid I often wondered if it would ever come down. Sometimes, it did. Even more exciting was the fashion in which it would.

We went to a lot of games. So many games, Friday and Saturday and Sunday afternoons. I rarely missed one and if I did it was probably because I had my own. I knew many of the players. Or should I say they knew my friends and I.

Because there we always were, rolling around the grassy hill below the clubhouse next to the bullpen. Talking to whoever would listen, constantly with ball and pen in hand seeking more autographs.

One player in particular, a sub-mariner named Brendan Sullivan, really took to my liking. It was a thrill for four years going down there and talking to him. A kid and a college athlete, forging a bond. I always loved watching him pitch.

The submarine style he employed meant he bent over at the waist and threw the ball not only sidearm but brought it down as if he would scrape the ball in the dirt before flinging it upwards toward the plate. Yet, even he, like so many players before and after, graduated and moved on.

The real thrill of the game were the baseballs that were hit out-of-play. Tearing down the hills behind the grandstands towards the fence and the concessions, that was our arena, and we patrolled it as such.

In a bin in my parent's house in St. Louis sits the remnants of these days. 50-60 foul balls, most signed, many still bearing the mark of their original sender into my possession. The blue-green stamp of contact with the bat, and even more the wear of becoming batting practice fodder for my training days.

One magical afternoon everything came together. The perfect storm of ball-retrieving-possibility. First, it was a Tuesday. Tuesday opponents were usually local second-rate teams. Plus, this was before the days of lights so it was a mid-afternoon start. Finally, it had been raining.

My friend's mom used to pick us up from school and take us to the games. With all the elements above working in perfect unison, the place was practically empty. And for a ten-year-old kid it created an unbelievable day.

Over the course of the two or so hours, because I'm sure all these years later we didn't make it in time for the first pitch -- which in retrospect makes the achievement even greater -- I snagged 4, yea that's right four foul balls.

I can vividly remember the feeling of trying to cradle all four balls in my arms. This was my World Series. My perfect game, and the confused looks of all 19 other people in attendance made it all the sweeter.

Just a game on a Tuesday afternoon, many years ago, in a season filled with fifty or sixty. A season that will later seem to be little more than a line in a record book. But those games, those seasons, define us. The precious memories of who we are or were, where we came from and what will become of us.

I was born at Stanford Hospital, raised at Sunken Diamond and will no doubt die a Cardinal fan. Generations of ballplayers come and go like seasons but the feelings of those games, those perfect moments, will live on within them and will certainly never leave us.

Golden Bears Thrash The Beach

2008-03-30T20:19:00.000-07:00

The "weekend warrior" moniker I gave the Dirtbags apparently forgot to accompany The Beach to Berkley. Long Beach St. (17-7) hadn't lost a three game set before yesterday but continued the four game free-fall by falling this afternoon and giving 11th ranked Cal a sweep of the 4th ranked Dirtbags.

Cal took the games by scores of 6-1, 10-6 and 4-3. Friday night saw Long Beach ace Andrew Liebel (2-1) struggle for the first time this season. Liebel pitched into the eighth giving up six runs and 12 hits to the Bears. Cal ace Tyler Ross got the W running his unblemished record to (4-0). Ross tossed eight innings of shutout ball, silencing the Dirtbag bats to the tune of just five hits while recording six K's.

Josh Satin paced a balanced Bears attack with three hits while Blake Smith and Dylan Tonneson went deep for Berkley. Freshman sensation Jonathan Jones had two hits for the Dirtbags as did DH Shane Peterson.

Saturday's affair marked the first series defeat for The Beach this season. It was a game the Dirtbags certainly feel like they could have won. After grabbing leads of 4-1 and 6-4, they could not hold off the Bears who took the game 10-6. The first lead came on the strength of transfer and former Cal Bear Jason Corder's third inning grand slam.

Yet it was the work of another transfer, Cal's David Cooper, who scorched the Big West as a freshman at Fullerton, that made the biggest difference in the game. Cooper launched his Pac-10 leading 10th and 11th big flies of the season to lead the home team to victory. Tonneson went deep for the second time in as many games for the Bears as well.

Although the Dirtbags touched up Cal starter Craig Bennigson for six earned runs in just four-and-a-third, the 'pen surrendered just one hit the rest of the way to allow the Bears to get back in the game. Dirtbags starter Vance Worley (3-1) suffered his first defeat of the season like Liebel the night before. Also in line with Friday's starter Worley got rocked for 12 hits and six earned too.

Today's final crusade between the chalk lines offered only another change in the loss column for the suddenly eroding Beach squad. An extremely tough non-conference schedule finally caught up to them this weekend. Alex Rollin (3-0) went the minimum for the win and David Cooper got another three hits for Cal. Jake Thompson (1-2) gave up two earned in 6.1 innings of work but before the 7th was over Cal took a 4-1 lead that the Dirtbags couldn't overcome.

Espinosa, Godfrey and Howell had two hits apiece for Long Beach. The tough opponents continue in advance of Big West play. The Dirtbags head to "The Farm" Monday to play Stanford. Look for a post prior to the game, sometime tomorrow morning, about my personal attachment to the match-up.

Waves Batter Beach's Streak

2008-03-27T02:52:00.000-07:00

Despite an early 2-0 lead and the confidence that came from winning eight in a row and 15 of 16, the Dirtbags three first inning errors led to five Pepperdine runs and an eventual 7-5 defeat.

Steve Tinoco and Taylor Krick led the way with two hits apiece for The Beach. Tyler Topp went just an inning and a third, giving up six runs (four earned). Long Beach took a 2-0 lead in the top half of the first but quickly fell behind 5-2 after suspect defense paved the way for a big home half for the Waves.

The Dirtbags had a chance to steal a win in the ninth. They loaded the bases with no outs and Tinoco's two-run single cut the deficit in half but they would get no closer.

Robert Dickman got the win for Pepperdine, who improved to 16-7 on the season with the win.

Long Beach State takes its 17-4 mark up North for four games against Pac-10 foes California and Stanford Friday-Monday.

Four More W's for The Beach

2008-03-25T11:05:00.000-07:00

In a continuing effort to blow away the competition, Long Beach St. swept UCLA Friday and Saturday before smoking the Harvard squad. The Crimson just 1-11 on the year would have been better off staying in the sand for their Spring Break trip than hitting The Beach for a game.

The Dirtbags got a day off Sunday to rest, but the weekend warriors got their three wins in just two days, taking the opener Friday night in LA 13-3 and two more Saturday in a doubleheader by the scores of 3-2 and 10-3.

Andrew Liebel dominated again Friday to improve to (2-0). His 1.14 era is Bob Gibson-esque, yet he has a lower mound and faces the impending ping of an aluminum bat. Scattering a meager four hits over 7 innings, only one run against him was earned.

In the first game of the double dip Saturday the Dirtbags put three across in the bottom of the ninth to steal a 3-2 victory. Freshman John Hill and Jonathan Jones each had three hits in the win.

Game two brought another stellar outing from Vance Worley who ran his record to (3-0). Petersen and Corder registered two R.B.I.'s apiece pacing a balanced and efficient Dirtbag attack.

Monday's game was a thorough beat down against a clearly outmatched opponent. Harvard managed just one hit to The Beach's 19, and after putting up 10 runs in the first three frames Long Beach St. cruised to a 15-0 win.

The Beach, now 17-3 on the year is ranked as high as #3 nationally, and higher than any other team in California.

Long Beach travels to beautiful Malibu today to take on Pepperdine. They head to the Bay Area this weekend to visit two bitter rivals in succession. They play the Golden Bears of California this weekend, before heading to Palo Alto to face the Stanford Cardinal on Monday.

Much more about the Monday affair forthcoming....

Dirtbags Crush the Men of Troy

2008-03-17T14:06:00.000-07:00

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.

Different weekend, same result; The Beach takes three

2008-03-11T11:22:00.000-07:00

A trip to the islands yielded three more wins for the Dirtbags running their record to 9-2. They won Friday 4-3 in 12 innings, 4-2 on Saturday, and closed the Warriors out with an 8-4 victory in the finale on Sunday.

In the series opener Shane Peterson doubled home the game winner in the 12th and Andrew Liebel was spectacular again on the mound. He went eight strong innings, striking out nine, and giving up only three runs. Nick Vincent got the win in relief and Bryan Shaw the save giving them each three in their respective categories.

Vance Worley dominated the Warriors on Saturday to run his record to 2-0. He scattered six hits over eight innings and struck out 11 Hawaii batters as Dirtbag pitchers continue to ring up opposing hitters at a tremendous rate. Nick Vincent worked the ninth for the save. Long Beach took the lead for good right from the start. Robert Burk's first Long Beach State home run led off the game and Devin Lohman extended the lead with a triple that scored two, giving the Beach a three run first that would prove to be the difference.

On Sunday Long Beach rode the tide of a five-run seventh inning frame to victory over host Hawaii. Jason Corder and Chris Nelson drove in three runs apiece as the Dirtbags overcame an early 4-0 hole. Starter Jake Thompson went four and a third surrendering four earned while Hawaii got only 4+ from its starter Harrison Kuroda who hadn't taken the bump in that capacity since high school.

The Beach comes home for Tuesday's match-up with Western Illinois before a three game set with USC next weekend.

Weekend Wrap: Dirtbags Sweep Shockers

2008-03-03T23:16:00.000-08:00

With the Southern California sunshine registering temperatures near the 80's the Dirtbags started some spring cleaning early. They brought their brooms and the Wichita State Shockers got swept right back to the cold Midwest.

The 7th ranked Wichita State team, the second top 10 squad to come to Long Beach in as many weeks, fared even worse than the Rice Owls. Behind great pitching and timely offense the Beach took all three games.

Behind weekend one's hero Danny Espinosa's four hits and Shane Peterson's three, including the walk-off double in the 12th, to bring home a 3-2 victory in Friday's series opener.

Andrew Liebel repeated his sparkling work on the mound with seven-and-a-third innings of four hit ball, giving up just an unearned run and striking out 11 for the second straight week.

Unfortunately, the Dirtbag relievers couldnt hold the 2-0 lead and Liebel remains winless despite back-to-back tremendous outings.

In Saturday's matinée the Dirtbags posted a five-spot in the sixth to erase a 4-2 deficit and never looked back winning 8-5. Vance Worley got the W on the mound for The Beach scattering four earned runs and 12 hits over 7+ innings.

The Jason's keyed the sixth inning rally. Jason Tweedy got two RBI's with a bases loaded knock and Jason Corder, in his first at-bat of the '08 campaign, doubled home two more to break a 4-4 tie.

Sunday's affair solidified the Dirtbag's dominance of the series. Behind another great performance from the starter - seven innings and just two runs - this time by Jake Thompson (1-1), Long Beach defeated Wichita State 8-3.

Dusty Coleman's second two-run jack in as many games gave the Shockers a 2-0 lead in the first but Shane Peterson tied it in the home half with a two-run double, his first of two on the day, en route to a five RBI effort.

Thompson struck out eight and walked none, not only getting the win, but providing The Beach with a promising Sunday starter who could bring home the series victory come tough rubber matches as the season wears on.

The seventh and final game of the opening homestand will be Tuesday night (6:30) at Blair Field against the Lions of Loyola Marymount (3-5). This weekend the Dirtbags say Aloha to the mainland and hello to the University of Hawaii Rainbows as they travel to Honolulu for a weekend set.

After taking two-of-three from Rice last weekend the Dirtbags rose to #10 in the polls. The sweep of Wichita State should negate the 5-3 defeat to San Diego last Tuesday. The Dirtbags are 5-2.

Dirtbags take two of three from Rice

2008-02-26T11:05:00.000-08:00

The Dirtbags took two out of three from nationally ranked Rice over the weekend, winning the first two in dramatic fashion at Blair Field. In the opener, the billing of a pitcher's duel more than lived up to the hype. Andrew Liebel went eight innings, surrendering just five hits. He struck out 11 while walking only one. Most importantly he kept Rice off the scoreboard. Equally impressive reigning National Freshman Pitcher of the Year Ryan Berry threw seven shutout innings while fanning 8 Dirtbags. Danny Espinosa's two-out bases loaded single brought home the winning run in the 10th to give the Dirtbags an exciting 1-0 victory.

Saturday brought much of the same drama as the night before. A close, low scoring game was once again the theme. Led again by Espinosa, who attacked the first pitch for the game winner on Friday, rocked the first pitch he saw in the third inning to put Long Beach up 2-0. Freshman Devin Lohman singled in the go ahead run in the eighth and the score held with the Dirtbags starting the season off well by posting back-to-back victories.

The Owls, led by a strong performance on the bump from Matt Langwell, avoided the sweep Sunday at Blair Field by eking out another barnburner, 3-1. Zach Barger's solo home run was the lone Dirtbag tally. Rice took a 2-0 lead with two unearned runs in the fourth, and failed to relinquish the lead after that.

Long Beach hosts San Diego tonight at Blair Field at 6:30 pm. The Shockers of Wichita State join the Dirtbags for a three game set Friday-Sunday.

Dirtbag Baseball, Ready to Go!

2008-02-21T10:20:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the 2008 Dirtbag Baseball blog. I will be covering the Long Beach State baseball program as the season progresses hopefully into late June and famed Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, but let's not get ahead of ourselves before the first pitch has even been thrown out!

Much will be written about the team in both local papers and the Daily 49er right here on campus, but I will be hoping to provide both additional and alternative news and information about the team. As a former high school player and avid fan my passion for and knowledge of the game is immense. I'll be attending games and following the results so check in before or after contests for reactions, commentary and things to keep an eye on.

The season kicks off tomorrow with an exciting series against the 4th/14th (USA Today/Baseball America) ranked Rice Owls at Blair Field. Long Beach State, looking to bounce back from a disapointing first round exit from last year's regional, returns a great pitching staff that will anchor the team early. With the season condensed by nearly a month by new NCAA regulations it's a great luxury to have.

Long Beach has been selected a preseason top 20 pick, and as high as 13th, by multiple baseball sources after finishing the season unranked last year. Led by Vance Worley and Andrew Liebel on the bump, The Beach looks to make noise on the national scene right off the bat.

Three of the teams most productive hitters return looking to lead the Dirtbags to a Big West title as well. A strong infield is led by reigning first team Big West catcher Travis Howell and shortstop Danny Espinosa. At the hot corner is Brandon Godfrey the top returning hitter who posted a .333 clip for the '07 season. First baseman Shane Peterson looks to challenge Godfrey for the top spot this year after batting .327 last spring.