49ers Have Won Six of Their First Nine February 25, 2002 WEEKLY RELEASE (PDF) College World Series: 1989, 1991, 1993, 1998
NCAA Regionals: 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001
* Dirtbags Host Fresno Tuesday; Travel to LSU This Weekend
* Beach Take Two out of Three Yet Again
* Eisentrager, Alvarez Dominating Opponents
* Depth to be Tested in Upcoming Weeks Record: 6-3, Big West: 0-0 | Highest Current Ranking: 21st (CB) DATE | DIRTBAG
STARTER | FRESNO ST
STARTER | GAME TIME | | Feb. 26 | Nate Beucler
(0-0, 0.00) | TBA | 6:05 p.m. | DATE | DIRTBAG
STARTER | LSU
STARTER | GAME TIME | | Mar.1 | LHP-Alvarez
(2-0, 0.98) | RHP-Pettit
(1-1, 3.66) | 4:30 p.m. | | Mar. 2 | RHP-Eisentrager
(3-0, 1.56) | LHP-Mestepey
(1-0, 4.12) | 12 p.m. | | Mar. 3 | RHP-Weaver
(0-2, 7.35) | TBA | 11 a.m. | | Listen to all games on the net at www.kbeach.org |
Next Series: vs. Arizona (Mar. 8-10), at UC Riverside (Mar. 14-16) Dirtbags to Host Fresno, Travel to LSU This Week: The No. 21-ranked 49ers (6-3) after winning their third series in a row will host Fresno State on Tuesday at 6:05 p.m. before traveling to Baton Rouge, LA for a three-game series with Lousiana State (8-3). Ticket information for LSU can be obtained by calling (800) 960-8587. On Tuesday, RHP Nate Beucler (0-0, 0.00) will make his first start of the year against either RHP Ben Fritz (2-1, 5.40) or RHP Zack Minor (1-1, 5.84). On Friday, LHP Abe Alvarez (2-0, 0.98) will oppose RHP Bo Pettit (1-1, 3.66) at 4:30 p.m. PST. On Saturday, RHP Daniel Eisentrager (3-0, 1.56) runs his scoreless innings streak of 12.1 innings against LHP Lane Mestepey (1-0, 4.12). On Sunday, RHP Jered Weaver (0-2, 7.35) is scheduled against a yet to be determined LSU hurler. UPCOMING OPPONENTS
Fresno State 50th (CB) | Record: 5-8
Head Coach: Bob Bennett (1275-740-4, 34th season) Team Notes: FSU is picked to finish second, behind Rice, in the WAC... last year they were 41-25 and 22-14... FSU has lost four of their last six, but have single wins on the season over Stanford and CS Fullerton... Coach Bob Bennett will retire at the end of the season and is eighth all-time in victorires... the team is hitting .270 with a 5.89 ERA. Players to Watch (adapted from Baseball America): C/RHP Ben Fritz (.263, 9 HR, 10 RBIs/2-1, 5.40 ERA) is picked to be the WAC's Player of the Year, is the second-best 2002 prospect out of the WAC, is the WAC catcher with the best arm and the WAC pitcher with the best fastball... sophomore 3B Casey McGehee (.314, 14 RBIs) is a top draft prospect out of the WAC in 2003... freshman 2B Carl Lipsey (.250) is considered a top newcomer in the WAC... sophomore SS Chris Patrick (.286) is the best defensive shortstop in the WAC... RHP Mike Hernandez (1-1, 5.40 ERA) is recovering from a season-ending arm injury in 2001... senior C Brad Harper (.176), is an all pre-season all-WAC picks... senior Tobey Riday-White leads the team with a .451 average, 12 runs and nine RBIs.
Series Notes: Fresno State leads the all-time series 35-33-1, but LBSU has taken 14 of 24 since 1989... this is the first meeting between the two clubs since 1998, when LBSU went 1-0-1. LAST WEEK
Feb. 22, 23, 24 vs. Arkansas (LONG BEACH, CA) The Beach took two out of three from the Razorbacks over the weekend, the third straight weekend they have won a series. Abe Alvarez picked up the victory on Friday (7-1) behind a career-best six strikeouts in 6.1 innings of work. Joey Pace worked a scoreless 2.2 innings. Jeremy Reed reached base five times, including three hits. On Saturday, Todd Jennings and Nick Orlandos hit solo homers, while Daniel Eisentrager, Josh Alliston and Niel Jamison combined on a seven-hit shutout, the 49ers third of the season. On Sunday, The Beach lost 5-3, despite loading the bases in the ninth inning. LBSU relievers allowed no runs over the final 2.2 innings.
The Coach: Mike Weathers enters his first year as head coach of the Dirtbags, taking over for Dave Snow, who retired in July. Weathers previously served as the team's top lieutenant for the previous nine seasons under Snow. Weathers carries a 285-283 record in 11+ years as a head coach. Weathers was a head coach at Utah for two seasons in the early 80's and at Chapman from 1984 to 1992.
Rank and File: The Beach remained at No. 21 in Collegiate Baseball's poll and No. 24 in the Baseball Weekly Coaches Poll. They remain unranked by Baseball America. Currently, eight opponents are ranked in the top-40 nationally.
Fighting Only the Best: As usual, Long Beach State's schedule is one of the toughest in the country. The Dirtbags will face off against previously or current top-25 foes USC, Miami, LSU, Wichita State, CS Fullerton, Arizona, and San Diego. According to boydsworld.com, Long Beach State has the second toughest non-conference schedule in the country (LMU is No. 1). No surprise, eight of the 10 are on the West Coast. The Big West is also considered the second toughest conference behind the West Coast Conference.
This Year's Team is Versatile: This year's team features incredible depth with many players being able to play multiple positions. They include: OF/1B Jeremy Reed, C/IF Tood Jennings, OF/3B Nick Covarrubias and infielders Kevin Randel, Nick Orlandos, Adam Heether and Tim Hutting.
Pitching Notes: The Beach have compiled a Big West-leading 2.36 ERA over the first nine games... LBSU features eight of 10 pitchers with ERAs under 3.00... starters RHP Daniel Eisentrager (Elk Grove) and LHP Abe Alvarez (Fontana) offer an impressive 1-2 punch... Eisentrager is 3-0 with a 1.56 ERA in 17.1 innings, and riding a 12.1 inning scoreless innings streak, while Alvarez is 2-0 with an 0.98 ERA as opponents are batting .197 in 18.1 innings pitched... Senior RHPs Josh Alliston (Long Beach) and Chris Demaria (Torrance) have not allowed an earned run in 14.1 combined innings out of the pen.
Hitting Notes: Senior OF Chris Wright (Valencia) leads the team with a .367 average and seven RBIs... Wright's 0-for-2 day on Sunday snapped an eight-game hitting streak, the longest of the season... C/IF Todd Jennings (Orangevale) has hit in each of his starts this season (seven) and is hitting .333... Team USA member OF/1B Jeremy Reed (LaVerne) has raised his average to .333 after hitting .167 after the first weekend... Reed currently leads the team with nine runs... the team is hitting .276 with a .392 on-base percentage... the leadoff batter has reached base 44% of the time... The Beach are hitting .294 with runners on base... they have a 53% success rate at advancing the runner... the team is hitting .271 with RISP and .571 with a runner of third.
B aseball America's Picks: Last year Baseball America selected SS Bobby Crosy as the pre-season Big West Player of the Year and a top draft pick, well they were right, so here's this year's picks. Jeremy Reed is BA's pre-season pick for BWC Player of the Year, and according to their experts the Big West's best pure hitter and best baserunner. Reed is also the top draft pick in 2002 out of the Big West. Reed is the 36th-best junior in the country, Mike Hofius is the 49th-best sophomore, and Josh Alliston is the 28th-best senior. Alliston is the 10th-best 2002 prospect in the BWC.
Beach Picked to Finish Second: The Big West Coaches picked Long Beach State to finish second in the Big West this year. According to Baseball America, they expected The Beach to finish fourth, while Collegiate Baseball picked LBSU third. CS Fullerton is picked to finish first in each of the publications. The next tier featured newcomer UC Irvine, CS Northridge, UC Santa Barbara, UC Riverside and Cal Poly. The bottom tier was Sacramento State and Pacific.
Rotation Down to Five: Five pitchers are expected to vie for three weekend jobs this season. They are: RHP Jered Weaver (Simi Valley), LHP Abe Alvarez (Fontana), RHP Daniel Eisentrager (Elk Grove) RHP Nate Beucler (Huntington Beach) and RHP Josh Alliston (Long Beach).
Strength in Numbers: This year's staff features 11 healthy pitchers, of which five are returning pitchers, two are JUCO transfers and four are freshmen.
Forever Enshrined: The Beach retired the jerseys of their last two skippers early this season. No. 25 John Gonsalves, who coached The Beach from 1970-1988 and compiled a 452-634-16 record had is number retired on February 2, while No. 18 Dave Snow, who coached from 1989-2001 and coined the term Dirtbags compiling a 510-294-1 record, had his jersey retired on February 10.
Reed Has Successful Summer: OF/1B Jeremy Reed (LaVerne) was the second straight Dirtbag to start for the summer National team, when he did so this summer. Reed led the team with a .366 average, 22 runs, 37 hits, a .505 slugging percentage and nine steals. Reed also hit safely in 21 of 26 starts, had a 10-game hit streak and had 12 multi-hit games. Reed was name a pre-season third team All-American by Baseball America.
Drafting For the Future: Last year's team saw 10 players drafted, of which eight signed. SS Bobby Crosby was a first round (25th pick overall) of the A's, while Southpaws Russel Rohlicek (6th) and Chad Bentz (7th) were drafted in the first 10 rounds. RHP Josh Alliston (19th) and LHP Bobby Cramer (38th) both chose to stay for their senior seasons.
BASEBALL
AMERICA
1. Stanford
2. Clemson
3. Florida State
4. Rice
5. South Carolina
6. Miami (FL)
7. Georgia Tech
8. Notre Dame
9. Louisiana State
10. Wichita State
11. CS Fullerton
12. Florida
13. Nebraska
14. Texas
15. Tulane
16. Baylor
17. Southern Cal
18. Wake Forest
19. Texas A&M
20. Ole Miss
USA TODAY COACHES POLL
1. Florida State
2. Stanford
3. Clemson
4. South Carolina
5. Rice
6. Florida
7. Louisiana State
8. CS Fullerton
9. Georgia Tech
10. Miami (FL)
11. Texas
12. Wichita State
13. Tulane
14. Ole Miss
15. Arizona State
16. Wake Forest
17. Texas A&M
18. Oklahoma St.
19. Notre Dame
20. Southern Cal
24. LONG BEACH
COLLEGIATE BASEBALL
1. Stanford
2. Florida State
3. Clemson
4. South Carolina
5. Rice
6. Florida
7. Wichita State
8. Louisiana State
9. Texas
10. Ole Miss
11. Wake Forest
12. Tulane
13. Oklahoma St.
14. CS Fullerton
15. Georgia Tech
16. Miami (FL)
17. Texas A&M
18. Arizona St.
19. Nebraska
20. Alabama
21. LONG BEACH
NAT. COL. BASE
WRITERS ASSC.
1. Stanford
2. Florida State
3. Louisiana State
4. South Carolina
5. Clemson
6. Rice
7. Wichita State
8. Florida
9. Ole Miss
10. Wake Forest
11. Mississippi St.
12. Oklahoma State
13. Texas
14. Georgia Tech
15. Miami (FL)
16. Nebraska
17. Notre Dame
18. CS Fullerton
19. Ohio State
20. Baylor
31. LONG BEACH |
