Lefty Improves to 12-2 on the Season May 24, 2002 LONG BEACH, CA- Abe Alvarez (12-2) pitched eight strong innings in picking a Big West-best 12th win in leading the No. 26-ranked Dirtbags (35-19, 15-7 BWC) to an 8-3 victory over archrival No. 15-ranked CS Fullerton (36-18, 14-8 BWC) in Game 1 of the Battle at Blair. Alvarez threw his longest career outing, going 8.0 innings giving up two runs on eight hits, walking two while striking out six. Long Beach State takes over second place, moving a game ahead of CS Fullerton in the standings. The Beach jumped on Fullerton starter Wes Littleton (9-4) early, scoring five runs over the first three innings. Littleton had entered the game with a 1.75 ERA and saw his ERA jump to 2.22 after the contest. Littleton lasted 4.1 innings giving up all eight runs on 11 hits. Jeremy Reed started things off in the first with a two-run homer to give LBSU a 2-0 lead. The Dirtbags followed with three more in the third to lead 5-0. Paul McAnulty's RBI single, extending his hitting streak to a team-best 15 games, was followed by a Brad Davis' two-run single to give LBSU a 5-0 lead. The Beach added two more in the fifth off a two-run single from Todd Jennings and an RBI double from Nick Orlandos-one of three hits on the night for the senior second baseman. Mike Hofius also had three hits for The Beach. The two freeway rivals take on one another Saturday at 6:05 p.m. and Sunday at 1:05 p.m. BOX SCORE | 
