Beach Hosts LMU on Tuesday, UC Santa Barbara This Weekend April 8, 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 On a Roll, Host LMU Tuesday, UCSB This Weekend
* Dirtbags Batting .409 with a 1.60 ERA Over Last 5 Games
* First Place LBSU Looks to Improve Against UCSB This Weekend Record: 20-9 Big West: 6-0 | Highest Current Ranking: 14th (BA)
DATE | DIRTBAG
STARTER | LMU
STARTER | GAME TIME | | Apr. 9 | RHP-Beculer
(0-1, 4.19) | RHP-Jenson
(1-5, 7.86) | 6:05 p.m. | DATE | DIRTBAG
STARTER | UCSB
STARTER | GAME TIME | | Apr. 12 | LHP-Alvarez
(7-1, 2.22) | RHP-Vasquez
(4-4, 3.02) | 6:05 p.m. | | Apr. 13 | RHP-Eisentrager
(5-2, 3.47) | LHP-Thompson
(2-1, 4.43) | 6:05 p.m. | | Apr. 14 | RHP-Weaver
(4-2, 3.51) | RHP-Garcia
(2-3, 6.57) | 1:05 p.m. | | Listen to all games on the net at www.kbeach.org |
Next Series: at San Diego (Apr. 16), at Miami (FL) (Apr. 19-21), USD (Apr. 16) Lions and Tigers and Gauchos, Oh My!, Ok Maybe Not Tigers: The No. 14-ranked and first place Dirtbags (20-9, 6-0 BWC) return from a five-day layoff on Tuesday when they host Loyola Marymount (14-19) at Blair Field at 6:05 p.m. LBSU is one game in front of both CS Fullerton and CS Northridge, both 5-1, in the conference title race. The Beach return to conference play this weekend with a three-game set with UC Santa Barbara (15-19, 2-4 BWC). On Tuesday, RHP Nate Beucler (0-1, 4.19) makes his fourth start of the season against LMU’s RHP Kevin Jenson (1-5, 7.86). On Friday, LHP Abe Alvarez (7-1, 2.22), well rested after a 12-day break, will go against RHP Matt Vasquez (4-4, 3.02) at 6:05 p.m. On Saturday, in a mid-evening 6:05 p.m. start, RHP Daniel Eisentrager (5-2, 3.47) takes on LHP Sean Thompson (2-1, 4.43). In the finale on Sunday at 1:05 p.m., RHP Jered Weaver (4-2, 3.51), who has not lost in the last five outings, takes to the hill against RHP James Garcia (2-3, 6.57). The next win by The Beach will be Head Coach Mike Weathers 300th career win.
UPCOMING OPPONENTS
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LOYOLA MARYMOUNT LIONS unranked | Record: 14-19, 7-4 WCC
Head Coach: Frank Cruz, 6th season, 163-165
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Team Notes: LMU enters the week at 14-19, after losing two out of three to Saint Mary’s last weekend... they have won seven of their last 10... the Lions were picked to finished behind top-35 ranked San Diego in the West Division of the WCC this year... the offensive juggernaught beat USC 31-7 back on March 17, and defeated Cal Poly 17-15 on February 17, both at home.
Players to Watch (adapted from Baseball America): 1B Kris Zacuto is considered the best pure hitter and best defensive first baseman in the WCC... Zacuto is third on the team with a .305 average with a team-best 14 doubles and 23 RBIs... SS Billy Lockin is batting a team-best .347 with 24 runs and 24 RBIs... OF Joe Frazee is batting .326... Tommy Perz (.277) and Christian Campos (.236) both have 23 RBIs... Perez also leads the team with six homers... despite a team batting average of .287, their on-base percentage is .402... the team’s ERA is 6.50 with three players with ERAs under 6.00... RHP Justin Abreu is 3-2 with a 4.04 ERA, while RHP Vincent Cordova is 5-2 with a 4.71 ERA, both start and relieve.
Series Notes: The Beach lead the all-time series against the Lions, 48-34 (.585) including 23 of 30 (.767) since 1989. LBSU took both contests last year.
Most Famous Baseball Alum: Chris Donnels, 3B NY Mets ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UC SANTA BARBARA GAUCHOS unranked | Record: 15-19, 2-4 Big West
Head Coach: Bob Brontsema, 231-227, 9th season
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Team Notes: The Gauchos enter the weekend series at 15-19, losers of 15 of their last 23... their lone conferences wins, are over the past two weeks, and against Irvine (17-6 on Sunday) and Northridge (5-4)... UCSB was picked to finish in the middle of the pack of the Big West... Coach Bob Brontsema is the reigning BWC Coach of the Year.
Players to Watch (adapted from Baseball America): The team is batting .287... Los Alamitos High native, junior IF Blair Havens, in a part time role, is batting .387 in 13 starts with 16 runs and 14 RBIs... OF Ryan Spilborghs, a pre-season all-conference pick, leads the team with a .375 average, 39 runs and 42 RBIs... Spilborghs has nine homers and five triples to his credit for an impressive .669 slugging percentage... 2B Chris Malec is batting .321 with 25 runs and 39 RBIs... DH Matt Wilkerson (.289) leads the team with 10 homers, and has 30 RBIs and a .623 slugging percentage... Wilson High and JUCO transfer junior OF Kevin Miller is batting .182... freshman All-American Matt Vasquez is 4-4 with a 3.02 ERA, as opponents are batting .238 against the righty... third team All-American RHP James Garcia has struggled to a 2-3 record and 6.57 ERA... Jared Edrosolan has a 3.27 ERA in 11 appearances out of the pen... starter Sean Thompson is 2-1 with a 4.43 ERA, making just his fourth start of the year this weekend... the team’s ERA is 6.11.
Series Notes: LBSU leads the all-time series 53-48 (.525) winning 37 of 59 since 1989 (.755)... UCSB took four out of six last year.
Most Famous Baseball Alum: Chris Speier, IF, SF Giants
RECENT GAMES
April 2 (LONG BEACH, CA) Paul McAnulty’s leadoff homer in the bottom of the ninth gave the No. 14-ranked Beach a 4-3 victory over UCLA, after the Bruins had led 2-0. McAnulty ended the night 3-for-3 with three RBIs. Chris Demaria scattered three hits over 3.0 innings of relief, before Carlost Muniz struck out four of five Bruins he faced for his first LBSU win.
April 3 (MALIBU, CA) For the second time in less than a week, Nick Covarrubias contributed five hits in a game-- only the second LBSU player ever to do so-- as the No. 14-ranked 49ers pounded Pepperdine 16-1. After 23 hits a week earlier against Sac State, The Beach had 21 hits against the Waves. LBSU scored seven runs in the ninth, including a grand slam by Jeremy Reed. Covarrubias added three RBIs on the day, as eight players had multi-hit games. 3B Edgar Varela saw his first action of the season, two innings of defense, after a hand injury kept him out for 26 games.
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 is closing in on 300 wins and has a 299-289 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 remained at No. 14 in the nation in Baseball America’s latest poll. This is the highest the Dirtbags have been ranked by BA since March of 2000, when they were twice ranked No. 14. LBSU is ranked No. 21 by Collegiate Baseball and by the No. 20 by USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll. This is the first time since February 12, 2001 that all three polls have ranked The Beach is the top-25. Currently six opponents are ranked in the top-35.
Pitching Notes: The Beach have a team-best 2.90 ERA, with nearly a 5:1 strikeout to walk ratio... the staff has an impressive 1-2-3 punch in newcomers LHP Abe Alvarez (Fontana), RHP Daniel Eisentrager (Elk Grove) and RHP Jered Weaver (Simi Valley)... Alvarez, the staff ace, is 7-1 with a 2.22 ERA, as opponents are batting just .224 against him... Alvarez pitched just six innings last year... Eisentrager, a JUCO transfer from Northern California, is 5-2 with a 3.47 ERA, striking out 37 and walking just seven in 49.1 innings... the freshman, Weaver, is 4-0 with a 1.24 ERA in his last five starts, pushing his record to 4-2 with a 3.51 ERA... Weaver has opponents hitting just .206... from the bullpen, RHP Chris Demaria (Torrance) has yet to allow an earned run or a walk in 12 appearances, spanning 21.2 innings... opponents are batting .203 against him... junior RHP Carlos Muniz (Wilmington) has an impressive 0.90 ERA in 10 appearances after picking up his first win last Tuesday, while freshman RHP Neil Jamison (San Diego) has a 2.92 ERA... closer and senior RHP Josh Alliston (Long Beach) is 2-2 with four saves.
Hitting Notes: The team is hitting .409 over his last five games to raise its batting average to .314, second in the conference... with two five-hit games over the last five games, senior OF/3B Nick Covarrubias (West Covina) is hitting a team-best .383, second-best in the conference... Covarrubias leads the Big West in doubles with 13 and has a .433 slugging percentage and 25 runs... senior 2B Nick Orlandos (Mission Viejo) is second on the team with a .349 average and 15th in the conference in hitting... freshman C Brad Davis (Mission Viejo) continues to earn a spot at catcher, batting .339... junior SS Kevin Randel (Montclair) is hitting .337 with 25 runs, with 22 walks and a .483 on-base percentage, fourth-best in the conference... junior OF Jeremy Reed (LaVerne) is batting .319 with a team-best 26 runs and has yet to make an error in 85 attempts this year in center field... the team is hitting .313 with runners on base, compared to .316 with the bases empty, .304 with the bases loaded and .630 with a runner on third and less than two out... they are hitting .304 with RISP... the leadoff hitter gets on base 44% of the time, as the team has a 56% success rate at moving the runner over... pinch hitters are 8-for-30 (.267).
Defensive Notes: The team has a .962 fielding percentage, fourth-best in the Big West... the team is 1-5 when making three or more errors in a game, including six at LSU in early March.
Regular M*A*S*H Unit: Here is a list of current injuries for this year’s squad and how long they will be out for. 3B Edgar Varela played two innings of defense on April 3, while RHP Bo Ashabraner was ready to come in last week out of the bullpen.
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 | SINCE
MAR. 11 | 3B EDGAR VARELA | E.RANCHO DOMINGUEZ | RIGHT HAND | 4-6 WEEKS | MID-APRIL | OF JOHN BOWKER | SACRAMENTO | RIGHT WRIST | SIX WEEKS | LATE APRIL |
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. Clemson
2. Stanford
3. Rice
4. Alabama
5. Wake Forest
6. Georgia Tech
7. Houston
8. South Carolina
9. Wichita State
10. Florida State
11. Florida
12. Nebraska
13. CS Fullerton
14. LONG BEACH
15. Ole Miss
16. Texas
17. Baylor
18. Texas A&M
19. FL Atlantic
20. East Carolina
USA TODAY COACHES POLL
1. Clemson
2. Stanford
3. Rice
4. Georgia Tech
5. Alabama
6. Wake Forest
7. South Carolina
8. Florida State
9. Texas
10. Wichita State
11. Florida
12. Houston
13. Ole Miss
14. Nebraska
15. CS Fullerton
16. Arizona State
17. Baylor
18. Texas A&M
19. Oklahoma State
20. LONG BEACH
COLLEGIATE BASEBALL
1. Clemson
2. Stanford
3. Alabama
4. Rice
5. Georgia Tech
6. Wake Forest
7. South Carolina
8. Wichita State
9. Ole Miss
10. Nebraska
11. Houston
12. Florida
13. North Carolina
14. Florida State
15. Texas
16. Texas A&M
17. Oklahoma
18. Baylor
19. CS Fullerton
20. FL Atlantic
21. LONG BEACH
NAT. COL. BASE
WRITERS ASSC.
1. Clemson
2. Stanford
3. Rice
4. Alabama
5. Georgia Tech
6. Wake Forest
7. South Carolina
8. Ole Miss
9. Wichita State
10. Texas
11. Houston
12. Florida State
13. Nebraska
14. North Carolina
15. Oklahoma State
16. Florida
17. Richmond
18. Texas A&M
19. CS Fullerton
20. LONG BEACH |
