No. 18 Ranked Beach Travel to Sac State For Three March 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
* Beach Have Won 8 of 11
* Dirtbags Continue Big West Play at Sacramento State
* Ace, Alvarez Picks Up First Loss Record: 15-9 Big West: 3-0 | Highest Current Ranking: 18th (BA) DATE | DIRTBAG
STARTER | @SAC STATE
STARTER | GAME TIME | | Mar.28 | RHP-Eisentrager
(4-2, 3.89) | RHP-Marizion
(2-3, 2.63) | 2 p.m. | | Mar. 29 | RHP-Weaver
(2-2, 4.42) | | 2 p.m. | | Mar. 30 | LHP-Alvarez
(6-1, 2.31) | RHP-Groeger
(4-2, 3.97)
RHP-Kinsey
(2-1, 5.35) | 1 p.m. | | Listen to all games on the net at www.kbeach.org |
Next Series: vs. UCLA (Apr. 2), at Pepp. (Apr. 3), vs. LMU (Apr. 9), vs. UCSB (Apr. 12-14)
Dirtbags at Sacramento Before Returning to SoCal for 7 Games: The No. 18-ranked 49ers (15-9, 3-0 BWC) return to Big West action this weekend, traveling up the state to Sacramento State (13-10, 0-0 BWC) for a three-game series on Thursday and Friday at 2 p.m. and on Saturday at 1 p.m. Sacramento native RHP Daniel Eisentrager (4-2, 3.89), who resides in nearby Elk Grove, will get the start in the opener against RHP Kevin Marzion (2-3, 2.63), before RHP Jered Weaver (2-2, 4.42) takes to the hill against RHP Marshall Plouffe (3-2, 3.32). In the finale on Saturday, LHP Abe Alvarez (6-1, 2.31) will try to get back on track against either RHP Jeff Groeger (4-2, 3.97) or RHP Chris Kinsley (2-1, 5.35). The series will also be a homecoming for UT Todd Jennings (team-best 18 RBIs), who is from nearby Orangevale. The Dirtbags will then return to Southern California for the next seven games, hosting UCLA on April 2, traveling to Pepperdine on April 3 and hosting Loyola Marymount on April 9.
UPCOMING OPPONENT
Sacramento State unranked | Record: 13-10, 0-0 Big West
Head Coach: John Smith (688-626, 24th season)
Team Notes: The traditional member of the Big Sky, are associate members of the Big West in softball and baseball... Sac State has won six of their last 10, splitting with Stony Brook and Cal Poly over the previous two weekends... their latest RPI was 197th... the Hornets were picked to finish last in the Big West by Baseball America after going 24-35 with a 4-14 mark in the BWC in 2001.
Players to Watch (adapted from Baseball America): 1B Chris Kinsey leads the team with a .362 average, 24 runs, 11 homers and 32 RBIs, including an impressive .755 slugging percentage... C Joe Evans is batting .354 with 15 runs and 21 RBIs... Evans also has sevne homers... OF Tim Reimer is batting .317 with 17 runs... the team bats .262 as a team... on the mount, the staff ERA is a respectible 4.04 as RHP Kevin Marzion leads the stafff with a 2-3 record and 2.63 ERA... Marzion has struck out 25 in 48.0 innings of work... RHP Marshall Plouffe is 3-2 with a 3.32 ERA in 43.1 innings as opponents are batting just .232 against him... RHP Jeff Groeger is 4-2 with a 3.97 ERA in 45.1 innings.
Series Notes: The Beach have won 24 of 29 meetings (.828) between the two, all since 1989... LBSU took two out of three last year. Most Famous Baseball Alum: Mark Davis, closer for San Diego Padres. RECENT GAMES
Mar. 22, 23, 24 (Fullerton, CA) The Titans not only snapped LBSU’s eight-game win streak coming in, but swept The Beach for only the third time since 1989. The previous two times, in 1998 and in 1991, the Dirtbags went on to the College World Series. In game one, Wes Littleton controled the tempo scattering five hits in a complete-game shutout, 6-0. In game two, LBSU took a 6-2 lead into the sixth only to see CSF score five unanswered runs off the LBSU bullpen, including the game-winner off of closer Josh Alliston to win 7-6. In game three, the 49ers made a huge comeback, down 8-2, to close to within 8-7. Nick Covarrubias and Nick Orlandos connected on solo homers, while Todd Jennings two-run homer gave The Beach six runs over the middle innings. Chris Demaria pitched 4.2 shutout innings, after the Titans had scored six runs on 10 hits off of starter Abe Alvarez, who entered the game allowing just six earned runs all year on his way to a 1.24 ERA. Nick Covarrubias did hit .385 for the series, while Nick Orlandos and Chris Wright each hit .364. The pitching staff had an uncharacteristic 7.12 ERA for the series.
Mar. 19, 20 (Long Beach, CA) The Dirtbags ran their win streak to eight in a row by sweeping No. 6-ranked Wichita State, 3-1 and 5-3, as RHP Josh Alliston closed out both contests with saves. In game one, Abe Alvarez (5.0 innings, two hits) and company limited the Shockers to four hits. In game two, Nate Beucler pitched 5.0 innings in his first non-predetermined start, giving up five hits. Pinch hitter Steve Velazco’s scored the go-ahead run after leading off the seventh with a double. Paul McAnulty came through with two sacrifice flys, while Chris Demaria and Alliston pitched 2.2 shutout innings to close out the sweep. BEACH NOTES
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 294-289 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 fell one spot to No. 18 in Baseball America’s national poll and two spots in the USA Today/Coaches Poll to No. 28. They were unranked by Collegiate Baseball. Currently nine opponents are ranked in the top-45.
Pitching Notes: After an uncharacteristic 7.12 ERA against CS Fullerton the team’s ERA is 3.18, which still leads the Big West... opponents are still batting .249 against them and have struck out 181 times, compared to just 37 walks... LHP Abe Alvarez (Fontana) continues to be the ace, despite suffering his first loss of the season at Fullerton (six runs, 3.0 IP)... Alvarez is 6-1 with a 2.31 ERA, striking out 44 and walking just eight... opponents are batting .223 against him... RHP Daniel Eisentrager (Elk Grove) is 4-2 with a 3.89 ERA, but has struggled as of late with a 5.72 ERA in his last four starts... Eisentrager still has a 28:9 strikeout to walk ratio... RHP Jered Weaver (Simi Valley) after starting the season 0-2, is 2-2 with a 4.42 ERA, after compiling a 1.24 ERA and 2-0 record in his last three starts... out of the pen, RHP Chris Demaria (Torrance) has yet to allow an earned run or a walk in 10 appearances... opponents are batting .214, has he has struck out 12... RHP Carlos Muniz (Wilmington) has a 1.17 ERA in 7.2 innings of work... RHP Nate Beucler (Huntington Beach) has an 0-1 record and 3.60 ERA, after pitching five hit, one run baseball over 5.0 innings against Wichita State, in his first non-predetermined start... closer RHP Josh Alliston (Long Beach) had converted two saves against Wichita State before blowing a save at CS Fullerton with three walks... Alliston has four saves and a 5.00 ERA on the season. Hitting Notes: The team is hitting .291 with a .402 slugging percentage and .374 on-base average... this balanced attack has six players with double digit RBIs and eigtht players with 10 or more runs... 2B Nick Orlandos (Mission Viejo) leads the team with a .343 average and .500 slugging percentage... 3B/OF Nick Covarrubias (West Covina) is batting .340 with 17 runs, a team-leading 10 doubles and 10 RBIs... SS Kevin Randel (Montclair) is batting .328 with 16 runs and a team-best .511 on-base average, leading the team with 18 walks... C/3B Todd Jennings (Orangevale) is the co-leader with a .500 slugging percentage including two homers and three triples to go along with his team-best 18 RBIs... Jennings is batting .302, having hit safely in 18 of 22 starts... OF/1B Jeremy Reed (LaVerne) is leading the team with 19 runs... the team is hitting .258 with RISP, compared to .306 with the bases empty... .250 with the bases loaded and .630 with a runner on third and less than two outs... they have a 52% success rate at advancing runners... the leadoff man reaches base 42% of the time.
Defensive Notes: The team has a .958 fielding percentage on the season... the team is 1-5 when making three or more errors in a game, including six at LSU in early March.
Time Changes: Games times for the Cal Poly series in April in San Luis Obispo have been changed to a 5 p.m. start on Friday, and 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Also, on most schedules that were printed, the San Diego home game in April was listed incorrectly, it should be for Wednesday April 24.
Regular M*A*S*H Unit: Here is a list of current injuries for this year’s squad and now long they will be out for. 3B Edgar Varela and RHP Bo Ashabraner are both expected back in the 7 to 14 days:
PLAYER | HOMETOWN | INJURY | SS | PROGNOSIS | RHP MATT PAZ | STOCKTON | RT ELBOW | TOMMY JOHN | SEASON | OF SEAN BOATRIGHT | MISSION VIEJO | LOWER BACK | HERNIATED DISCS | SEASON | LHP BOBBY CRAMER | ANAHEIM | LT ELBOW | TOMMY JON | SEASON | OF PAUL MACALUSO | ENCINITAS | HAMSTRING | DAY TO DAY | MAR. 11 | RHP BO ASHABRANER | YORBA LINDA | RT ARM | CLEANING | 6-8 WEEKS | 3B EDGAR VARELA | E.RANCHO DOMINGUEZ | RIGHT HAND | 4-6 WEEKS | FEB. 11 | OF JOHN BOWKER | SACRAMENTO | RIGHT WRIST | SIX WEEKS | FEB. 18 |
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, IF/OF Steve Velazco and infielders Kevin Randel, Nick Orlandos, Adam Heether and Tim Hutting.
Pitching Notes: The team leads the Big West with a 2.95 ERA... the team has a strikeout to walk ratio of nearly 6:1 (117:21)... opponents are batting .241... LHP Abe Alvarez (Fontana) has three wins over top-30 teams, compiling a 4-0 record with a 1.42 ERA in five starts... Alvarez has struck out 29, walking two in 31.2 innings... opponents are batting .191... RHP Daniel Eisentrager (Elk Grove) is 3-1 with a 3.81 ERA in 26.0 innings... Eisentrager has struck out 18, and walked four... RHP Jered Weaver (Simi Valley) is 1-2 with a 5.06, but an impressive .202 opponent batting average... RHP Nate Beculer (Huntington Beach) is 0-1 with a 3.38 ERA after 4.0 shutout innings last week... relievers RHP Chris Demaria (Torrance) and RHP Joey Pace (Long Beach) both have a 0.00 ERA in 17.1 combined innings... opponents have a .236 average with runners on base and are batting .221 with two out.
Hitting Notes: The team is hitting .285... OF/3B Nick Covarrubias (West Covina) leads the team with a .344 average, five doubles and 13 runs... 2B Nick Orlandos (Mission Viejo) is batting .333 with a .476 slugging percentage... OF/1B Jeremy Reed (LaVerne), projected as a third round pick in the 2002 draft, is batting .323 with a team-best 13 runs... UT Todd Jennings (Orangevale) is batting .315 with a team-best 12 RBIs and .500 slugging percentage... the team is hitting .278 with runners on base, .273 with RISP and .630 with a runner on third and less than two outs... the team has a 52% success rate at advancing runners and reach base to leadoff the inning 40% of the time... pinch hiters are 2-for-20 (.100).
Defensive Notes: The team has a .963 fielding percentage, after an excellent series against Arizona (.990, 1 error)... 11 times this season the team has one error or less... twice this year, the team has five errors or more.
Baseball 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.
NATIONAL POLLS BASEBALL AMERICA
1. Stanford
2. Clemson
3. Rice
4. South Carolina
5. Houston
6. Florida State
7. Wichita State
8. Nebraska
9. Florida
10. Baylor
11. Wake Forest
12. Georgia Tech
13. Alabama
14. CS Fullerton
15. San Diego
16. Texas
17. Texas A&M
18. LONG BEACH
19. Ole Miss
20. Arizona State
USA TODAY COACHES POLL
1. Clemson
2. Stanford
3. Rice
4. South Carolina
5. Florida State
6. Florida
7. Georgia Tech
8. Alabama
9. Wake Forest
10. Houston
11. Texas
12. Baylor
13. Nebraska
14. Wichita State
15. Arizona State
16. CS Fullerton
17. Auburn
18. Ole Miss
19. Texas A&M
20. FL International
28. LONG BEACH
COLLEGIATE BASEBALL
1. Clemson
2. Stanford
3. South Carolina
4. Rice
5. Alabama
6. Georgia Tech
7. Florida
8. Wake Forest
9. Houston
10. Nebraska
11. Florida State
12. Baylor
13. Wichita State
14. Texas
15. Ole Miss
16. Texas A&M
17. Oklahoma
18. CS Fullerton
19. Arizona State
20. North Carolina
NAT. COL. BASE
WRITERS ASSC.
1. Florida State
2. Clemson
3. Stanford
4. Rice
5. South Carolina
6. Wichita State
7. Florida
8. Georgia Tech
9. Wake Forest
10. Baylor
11. Alabama
12. Nebraska
13. Houston
14. Texas
15. Louisiana State
16. Arizona State
17. CS Fullerton
18. Auburn
19. FL International
20. Oklahoma
26. LONG BEACH |
