Dirtbags picked fourth in preseason poll

Big West coaches vote LBSU fourth in preseason Big West poll

Season preview coming very soon....

LBSU Baseball - The 2009 Edition coming soon

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.