49ers Have Won Six of Their First Nine March 5, 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 Arizona This Week
* Beach Lose to Fresno; Lose Two of Three to #7 LSU
* Eisentrager, Alvarez Dominating Opponents
* New Lineups Record:7-6, Big West: 0-0 | Highest Current Ranking: 30th (NCBWA) DATE | DIRTBAG
STARTER | ARIZONA
STARTER | GAME TIME | | Mar.8 | LHP-Alvarez
(3-0, 1.82) | RHP-Rierson
(4-1, 1.99) | 6:05 p.m. | | Mar. 9 | RHP-Eisentrager
(3-1, 2.34) | LHP-Little
(4-1, 3.82) | 1:05 p.m. | | Mar. 10 | RHP-Weaver
(0-3, 6.86) | RHP-Kaiser
(3-0, 2.45) | 1:05 p.m. | | Listen to all games on the net at www.kbeach.org |
Next Series at UC Riverside (Mar. 14-16) vs. Wichita State (Mar. 19, 20)
This Week: The No. 30-ranked 49ers (7-6) will return home to warmer climates when they host No. 27-ranked Arizona (17-4) this week at Blair Field. LHP Abe Alvarez (3-0, 1.82) will face RHP Sean Rierson (4-1, 1.99) on Friday at 6:05 p.m. to open the series. RHP Daniel Eisentrager (3-1, 2.34) will face off against LHP Joe Little (4-1, 3.82) at 1:05 p.m. on Saturday, while RHP Jered Weaver (0-3, 6.86) will oppose RHP Marc Kaiser (3-0, 2.45) on Sunday at 1:05 p.m.
LAST WEEK
Feb. 26 (Long Beach, CA) The Beach dropped their second in a row as RHP Josh Alliston gave up a career-worst eight runs (six earned) on nine hits over 2.2 innings. RHP Nate Beucler (0-1), making his first start of the year, took the loss, tossing the first two pre-determined innings, giving up two earned. The LBSU bullpen did retire the final 13 Bulldog batters in succession.
Mar. 1, 2, 3 (Baton Rouge, LA) The No. 7-ranked Tigers took two out of three from The Beach in cold, damp conditions. LBSU took game one of a rescheduled doubleheader due to rain, 8-3, behind 6.1 strong innings from Abe Alvarez as Nick Covarrubias had two RBIs. In game two, six errors contributed to six unearned runs by the Tigers. Loser Daniel Eisentrager did strikeout a career-best seven. LSU lefty Lane Mestepay gave up one run and five hits over 8.0 innings. In the finale on Sunday, LBSU led 3-1 and 4-3 only to see the Tigers come back and win it in the 11th, 5-4, with a game-winning homer from Matt Heath off of reliever Josh Alliston. The game time temperature was 32 degrees with a 19 degree wind chill. Heath also had an RBI double in the game. Alliston had retired nine in a row, including six strikeouts, before the homer. LF Steve Velazco, making his first career start, went 3-for-5. For the series, Nick Orlandos and Nick Covarrubias each went 6-for-12.
UPCOMING OPPONENT
Arizona 27th (USA Today Coaches Poll) | Record: 17-4
Head Coach: Andy Lopez (704-422-6, 20th year, 1st year at AZ)
Team Notes (adapted from Baseball America): Arizona enters the week at 17-4, with sweeps of New Mexico, San Diego State, UC Irvine and CS Dominguez Hills... three losses are to Texas A&M and another is to Utah... they are ranked No. 27 in the USA Today Coaches Poll... the Cats are picked to finish seventh in the Pac-10 this season by Baseball America, after going 33-23 and 12-12 in the Pac-10 in 2001... UT Marc Kaisser (.348, 23 R, 17 RBI) is a pre-season all-Pac-10 pick... Coach Lopez previous led Pepperdine to the 1992 CWS Championship and was at Florida... C Richard Mercado leads the team with a .364 average, 16 runs and 16 RBIs... OF Jeff Van Houten is batting .348 with 18 runs and 16 RBIs... C Chris Cunningham leads the team with 25 RBIs... the team is batting .290.
Players to Watch (adapted from Baseball America): The team has a combined 3.21 ERA... starters RHP Sean Rierson and RHP Marc Kaiser are a combined 7-1 with a 1.99 and 2.45 ERA, respectively... RHP Tony Sulser (1-1, 0.84) and RHP West Zlotoff (0-1, 0.84) are the team’s top relievers... opponents are batting .260... the team’s strikeout to walk ratio is 3:1.
Series Notes: After sweeping last year’s series in Arizona, The Beach lead the all-time series 9-8, including 8 of the last 10 since 1989. 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 286-286 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 dropped to No. 31 in the Baseball Weekly Coaches Poll and are No. 30 by the NCBWA. 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.
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: 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 | 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 |
RHP Matt Paz Stockton right elbow Tommy John, season
LHP Bobby Cramer Anaheim left elbow Tommy John, season
OF Sean Boatwright Mission Viejo low back herniated discs, season
RHP-Bo Ashabraner Yorba Linda right elbow cleaning, 6-8 weeks (Feb. 1)
3B Edgar Varela E. Rancho Dom. right hand four to six weeks (Feb. 11)
OF John Bowker Sacramento right wrist cast, 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 Beach have compiled a 3.17 ERA, which continues to lead the Big West... opponents are batting .256 against them... the team’s strikeout to walk ratio is a little over 4:1... sophomore LHP Abe Alvarez (Fontana), who tossed just 6.0 innings last year, has two wins over top-10 opponents (USC, LSU) and leads the staff with a 3-0 record and 1.82 ERA... Alvarez has a team-best 24.2 innings, striking out 16 and walking just two... opponents are batting .209... RHP Daniel Eisentrager (Elk Grove) is 3-1, after suffering his first loss at LSU, despite a career-best six strikeouts, with a 2.35 ERA... in 23.0 innings, Eisentrager has struck out 17 and walked three... last year’s most consistent starter, RHP Nate Beucler (Huntington Beach) made his first two appearances last week after missing the first three weeks with various minor injuries... Beucler went 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA in 4.0 innings... RHP Bo Ashabraner (Yorba Linda) will throw off the mound for the first time in the spring this week... he had his elbow cleaned out in the winter... RHP Chris Demaria (Torrance) and RHP Joey Pace (Long Beach) lead the bullpen with an 0.00 ERA in 14.1 combined innings... RHP Josh Alliston (Long Beach), (1-1, 4.61 ERA), second all-time in saves, retired nine in a row before giving up the game-winning homer on Sunday... Alliston struck out a career-best six... opponents are hitting .253 with runners on base, .238 with two out and .288 as the leadoff hitter.
Hitting Notes: UT Todd Jennings (Orangevale) continues to lead the team in batting with a .333 average and 10 RBIs... Nick Covarrubias (West Covina) and Nick Orlandos (Mission Viejo) after each going 6-for-12 over the weekend have raised their averages to .327 and .324, respectively... National teamer OF/1B Jeremy Reed (LaVerne) is batting .314 with a team-best nine runs... 1B Mike Hofius also has a team-best 10 RBIs, despite a .278 average... UT Steve Velazco (San Marcos) made the most of his first career start (in left), going 3-for-5 with a double... the team is hitting .273 as a team, and .277 with RISP... they reach base in the leadoff position 40% of the time and have a 51% success rate at moving runners... they are batting .600 with a runner on third and .105 (2-for-19) pinch hitting.
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. Florida State
4. Rice
5. Georgia Tech
6. Louisiana State
7. South Carolina
8. Nebraska
9. Wichita State
10. Houston
11. Miami (FL)
12. Notre Dame
13. CS Fullerton
14. Florida
15. Baylor
16. Wake Forest
17. Texas A&M
18. Texas
19. Ole Miss
20. East Carolina
USA TODAY COACHES POLL
1. Florida State
2. Stanford
3. Clemson
4. Rice
5. South Carolina
6. Louisiana State
7. Georgia Tech
8. Florida
9. Wichita State
10. CS Fullerton
11. Miami (FL)
12. Ole Miss
13. Wake Forest
14. Texas
15. Arizona State
16. Texas A&M
17. Baylor
18. Houston
19. Nebraska
20. Alabama
31. 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. Ole Miss
10. Wake Forest
11. Georgia Tech
12. Oklahoma State
13. Texas A&M
14. Baylor
15. Texas
16. Houston
17. Nebraska
18. Arizona State
19. Miami (FL)
20. CS Fullerton
NAT. COL. BASE
WRITERS ASSC.
1. Stanford
2. Clemson
3. South Carolina
4. Florida State
5. Florida
6. Wichita State
7. Georgia Tech
8. Louisiana State
9. Miami (FL)
10. CS Fullerton
11. Wake Forest
12. Ole Miss
13. Baylor
14. Nebraska
15. Rice
16. Arizona State
17. Houston
18. Ohio State
19. Texas A&M
20. Alabama
30. LONG BEACH
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