Long Beach State University Athletics
Dirtbags Remain on the Road
2/13/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Dirtbags Finish Road Trip in Malibu, Texas Record: 4-2 Big West: 0-0 | Hi Rank: No. 15 | vs. Ranked Teams: 3-0 Road Trip Concludes in Texas: The No. 15-ranked Dirtbags (4-2) will conclude its second longest road trip of the season when they travel to No. 14-ranked Pepperdine (3-3) on Tuesday and to Houston this weekend as part of the Coca Cola Classic, hosted by Rice to take on Lamar (record of 3-2 as they play Texas Pan American Monday), No. 5-ranked Rice (4-1) and Oklahoma (5-1). Long Beach State is coming off a series loss at Cal last weekend in which they managed to bat just .217 over its final two games of the series after starting the season batting .364. Lefthander Donnie Hume (0-0, 1.50) is expected to get the start in the team's first Tuesday game of the year in Malibu at 2 p.m., while the normal rotation of righthanders Jared Hughes (1-0, 4.35), Andrew Carpenter (0-0, 2.25) and Vance Worley (0-1, 7.71) will start on the weekend for games at 11 a.m. Pacific on Friday (Lamar) and Saturday (Rice) and 10 a.m. Pacific (Oklahoma) on Sunday. A Look at Pepperdine: The Waves enter Tuesday's contest having dropped the final two games at Fresno State over the weekend and are 3-3 on the season... they are ranked as high as No. 14 nationally... Adrian Ortiz leads the team in batting (.462) in the early going, while Donald Brown (.400) has a team-best six RBIs... the Waves are hitting .277 as a team and have a 4.82 ERA... Pre-season All-American catcher Chad Tracy leads the club despite a slow start (.222), after batting .367 last year... Pepperdine went 41-23 and reached the regional finals at Blair Field... Pepperdine is picked to win the West Coast Conference. A Look at Lamar: Out of the Southland Conference, Lamar is picked to win the league after going 38-23 last year... C Mike Ambort (.336) and OF Collin Delome (.307) both return to lead the club... they finish up a series with Texas Pan American on Monday... Jim Gilligan won his 1000th game last season.... Ambort led the conference last year in homers (18) and RBIs (65). A Look at Rice: Rice enters the year at 4-1 and are ranked as high as No. 5 nationally... they are picked to win Conference USA in their first year in the league... gone are the Big Three pitchers that all went in the first round a few years back, but Rice does feature pre-season All-American shortstop Jose Rodriguez (.345), the team's returning home run hitter and LHP/1B Joe Savery (.382, 43 RBIs), the team's project starter against LBSU, for Wayne Graham's club that went 45-19 last year and just missed Omaha, losing to Tulane in the Super Regionals... Savery was last year's Freshman and WAC Pitcher and Player of the Year... Rice is batting .277 as a team with a 2.62 ERA as Cole St. Clair has one save and a 1-0 record in 7.1 shutout innings out of the pen. A Look at Oklahoma: The Sooners (5-1) are picked to finish seventh in the very tough Big 12, featuring future LBSU opponents Texas and Baylor... 3B Ryan Rohlinger (.345 last year) is projected as an all-conference performer, while RHP Daniel McCutcheon (4-5, 4.18 ERA) is the ninth-best prospect out of the league... Sunny Golloway is in his first year at Oklahoma as the team returns its entire infield... the Sooners have won three straight heading into the weekend, all over Western Illinois, as they are batting.386 with a 5.29 ERA. Courting the Rankings: The 49ers dropped in both major polls this week, three spots in Collegiate Baseball to No. 15 and two spots to No. 19 in Baseball America. The Coaches Poll will be released in late February. LBSU's highest ranking was last week, when they were No. 12 in Collegiate Baseball. The Dirtbags began the season ranked in the top-25 in all three national polls for the 16th time since 1989. Cal Takes Series' Final Two Games: After batting .364 over the first four games of the season, the No. 12-ranked Dirtbags dropped the final two games at Cal (scoring just three runs), while batting .217 (W 7-6, L 2-3, L 1-4). LBSU had also converted its first four saves of the season prior to Saturday's loss. In the opener, Robert Perry had four hits and Scott Turmail pick up his first collegiate victory as LBSU twice built three-run leads. On Saturday, after Scott Bradley looped a single to right to give LBSU a 2-1 lead in the seventh, closer Brett Andrade after a perfect eighth, gave up back to back homers to All-Americans Brennan Boesch and then to Chris Errecart to tie the series. The blown save ruined a superb outing by Andrew Carpenter, who gave up just one run on six hits over seven innings. On Sunday, freshman Tyson Ross struck out a career-best nine en route to the series victory. Year Two for the Weathers Show: Cirivello's Restaurant at 4115 Viking Way in Long Beach will again the site for the Mike Weathers Show every Wednesday, from an even earlier 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. time slot. This week's show will feature Sean Boatright and Scott Turmail. The show will not only feature Coach Weathers, but a select player from the team. Prizes and tickets will also be given away during the show. Fans can email questions to the show or during the game to radio voice Rob Buska at kwrmsports@yahoo.com. Godfrey Starts Season Hot: First baseman Brandon Godfrey (Los Alamitos) enters the week with a six-game hitting streak, leading the team with a .444 average. A redshirt freshman last season, Godfrey is one of three players to drive in four runs on the season. Last year he batted .305 in 47 games. Longoria Keeps Things Flying: Third baseman Evan Longoria (Downey), a pre-season All-American and the summer's Cape Cod MVP, enters the week batting .368 with seven runs and a team-best slugging percentage of .789 thanks to one triple and two homers. Longoria has also shown his range at third, giving the Dirtbags left side of the infield, along with slick fielding freshman Danny Espinosa (Santa Ana), maybe one of the toughest defenses in the country. Prior to Sunday, he had not struck out over his first 17 at-bats on the season. He has also posted a .556 on-base percentage. Cruz Gets His Chance: After waiting for his chance for three seasons to start, backing up a couple of draft picks at catcher and third in the process, it might be Tito Cruz' (Glendale) year. Cruz, a .240 career hitter, enters the week batting .333 having thrown out one of three base stealers on the young season in four starts. Doubling up on the Boat: Senior outfielder Sean Boatright (Mission Viejo), a pre-season all-conference selection, is batting .318 on the season with a team-best five doubles and .682 slugging percentage as the team's cleanup hitter this season. Boatright has also scored five runs. He was named Big West Player of the Week following the team's sweep of USC. Carpenter Builds on First Start: Junior college transfer Andrew Carpenter (Vacaville), one of 23 newcomers on the team, had a solid second start this past Saturday, going seven strong innings, giving up one run on five hits. Carpenter's ERA is now at 2.25. Ready to Go in a Hurry: Sitting, waiting, getting up, getting down. The life of a reserve. So far this season, LBSU's reserves have been a key ingredient to the team's early season success. The backups are batting .421 and the bullpen has a 2.21 ERA. Donnie Hume (Vacaville) and Brett Andrade (Pleasanton) have each converted two saves, while Scott Bradley (.444) and Kip Masuda (.500) have both come through on the season. The bullpen has also helped qualm the lofty 4.55 ERA out of its starters this season. Dirtbags Picked Second in Big West: According to the pre-season coaches poll and Baseball America's college preview issue, Long Beach State is picked to finish second to CS Fullerton. The Titans are ranked as high as No. 5 nationally this season. As usual, the teams will play two series this season, one from March 24 to 26 at Goodwin Field, and the conference series to close out the Dirtbags regular season from May 26 to 28. Catch the Dirtbags Over the Airwaves: For the second season, veteran broadcast Rob Buska will broadcast the team's games over the radio and internet. All home games can be heard in the Long Beach area on 1370 AM, with all games after 6 p.m. heard on KWRM's larger signal available in Orange County and the Inland Empire. Fans traveling with the team can tune their radios to 88.1 FM and listen to the Long Beach State broadcast at the visitor's ballpark. All games will continue to be over the internet at www.longbeachstate.com. Hard Look at Dirtbag Duo: Infielder Evan Longoria (Downey) and Friday night righthander Jared Hughes (Laguna Beach) made a couple of pre-season national of player of the year watch lists, as the duo are both on the Wallace Player of the Year list, while Hughes is an initial candidate for the Roger Clemens Award, given two years ago to former Dirtbag Jered Weaver in its first year of existence. National Recognition for Duo: Evan Longoria (Downey) and Jared Hughes (Laguna Beach) were both placed on pre-season All-America teams, as Longoria was a first team selection by Baseball America, and made the third team in Collegiate Baseball. The NCBWA and Baseball America each chose Hughes as a third team All-American. According to Baseball America, Longoria was rated as the 10th-best prospect for the 2006 draft, while Hughes was the 33rd-best prospect. Some of the Best Tools?: According to Baseball America, Evan Lonogoria, the sixth-best college player in the country, is one of the nation's best pure hitters, while Jared Hughes, the 15th-best collegian, has some of the nation's best command, amongst college players. According to Baseball America's Allan Simpson, "Longoria is a late bloomer, who came of age last summer in the Cape Cod League..." Strong Summers: Infielder Evan Longoria (Downey) was named the Cape Cod MVP and a first team Summer All-American after leading the Cape in homers (8) and RBIs (35). Jared Hughes (Laguna), who went a perfect 7-0 in the Cape, and was a two-time Cape player of the week, was also a Summer All-American (second team). The duo were starters for the East at the Cape Cod All-Star Game. Second baseman Chuck Sindlinger was named an All-Star out of the Central Illinois League after batting .300 with a .435 on-base percentage. Nation's Toughest Non-Conference Schedule: According to Sebaseball.com, the Dirtbags feature the nation's toughest non-conference schedule, featuring series against No. 1-ranked Texas and fellow top-25 programs, Wichita State, Baylor, USC, and CS Fullerton and single games against Pepperdine, Rice and Oklahoma. And Your Name is?: The Dirtbags feature 23 newcomers including: switch hitting freshman shortstop Danny Espinosa (Santa Ana), from the CIF state champions; junior centerfielder Robert Perry (Sunnyvale), a transfer from Santa Clara who was an All-WCC pick; and designated hitter Chris Lopez (West Covina), who hit 28 homers in two years at East LA Junior College. On the pitching staff, which only features a combined 41 innings from last year outside of Hughes, junior college transfer Andrew Carpenter (West Covina) and freshmen righthanders Scott Turmail (Florissant, MO) and Vance Worley (Sacramento) are expected to see heavy workloads. Freshman lefthander Shane Peterson (Temecula), is a two-way player in the mold of former Dirtbag Jason Vargas, who is now pitching for the Marlins. In Review: The Dirtbags reached its 15th NCAA Regional in 2005, falling at home and watching USC advance to the Super Regionals, finishing 37-22. The team has appeared in four College World Series and two Super Regionals. They have hosted three-straight playoff series. Since becoming Head Coach in 2002, Mike Weathers-led teams have produced 31 professional players and watched seven players make it to the Major Leagues. Eight players have been drafted in the first three rounds over the last four years. Since Leaving The Beach...: Former Dirtbag players have prospered in professional baseball since leaving The Beach, as 10 former players are amongst Baseball America's list of top prospects for the 30 Major League teams, according to the South Day Daily Breeze. In 2006, LBSU had a record 13 players playing in the Major Leagues, as Jason Vargas (Florida) and Chris Demaria (Kansas City, now with Milwaukee) each made their Major League debuts. Both the 10 prospects and the 13 Major Leaguers, are amongst the most from any college program. Also, former players Troy Tulowitzki (Colorado), Jered Weaver (LA/Anaheim), Russel Rohlicek (Chicago), John Bowker (San Francisco) and Todd Jennings (San Francisco) have all been invited to Major League spring training camps. World Baseball Classic Features the Dirtbags: Two former pitchers are members of the World Baseball Classic and Team Italy in February in Astros reliever Mike Gallo and Angels farmhand and Italian Olympian Kasey Olenberger. Gallo, who just completed his third year in the Majors, was the team's keynote speaker at the Leadoff Dinner on January 26. Baseball to Endow Scholarship for Coach: The baseball program is in the process of endowing a scholarship named after former Head Coach Bob Wuesthoff (1964-69), who led the 49ers to their first conference title in 1964. The seven-man committee of former players and coaches, led by LBSU's first coach John McConnell has already raised $60,000 en route to $150,000 over five years. Those interested can call (562) 985-4662 for more information. |
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