Long Beach State University Athletics
Greatest Collegiate Baseball Rivalry This Weekend
3/22/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Dirtbags, Titans Renew Rivalry Record: 12-12 Big West: 0-0 | Hi Rank: No. 37 | vs. Ranked Teams: 6-8 Dirtbags Try to Right the Ship: Long Beach State Baseball (12-12) will try get back on track, after being swept at home to No. 23-ranked Wichita State and having lost seven of 10, when they travel to arch rival No. 4-ranked CS Fullerton (17-6, prior to playing Pepperdine on Tuesday) for a three game non-conference series at Goodwin Field. On Friday RHP Wes Roemer (5-0, 1.89) hosts RHP Jared Hughes (4-1, 3.66) at 7 p.m., while RHP Lauren Gagnier (5-2, 2.54) hosts RHP Andrew Carpenter (3-1, 2.92) on Saturday at 6 p.m. The series finale will feature veteran RHP Dustin Miller (5-1, 3.72) against RHP Vance Worley (1-4, 4.85). The two rivals will play the Big West games to close out the regular season from May 26 to 28. LBSU has twice been at .500 this late in the season, in 1997, at 11-11 and in 1993, at 12-12. The 1993 team which lost to Army and then Division-II Cal Poly, went on to the College World Series after winning 15 in a row. The team did see the return of two of its senior leaders this past weekend, Sean Boatright to designated hitter and infielder Chuck Sindlinger, who made his first career start at short on Sunday. Courting the Rankings: The Dirtbags nearly dropped out of the top-40 for the first time in the Mike Weathers Era, checking in at No. 37 in the Coaches Poll after receiving 15 total votes. This is the team's lowest national ranking during the regular seasons since ranking No. 37 in late May, 2001. LBSU's highest ranking was on February 6, 2006 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. A Look at CS Fullerton: The Titans are rolling at this point, riding an eight-game win streak into their Tuesday home game with Pepperdine and ranking as high as No. 4 nationally... following a sweep at Arizona, Justin Turner leads the club with a .362 average, while David Cooper has driven in 18 runs... OF Danny Dorn is batting .317.... CSF is batting .296 overall with a 2.85 ERA and .980 fielding percentage... Vinnie Pestano already has eight saves, and an 0.50 ERA, while Ryan Paul has a 1.80 ERA in 10 appearances... Friday night starter Wes Roemer is 5-0 with a 1.89 ERA. The Titans enter the week 10-1 at home. 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 Scott Bradley and Bryan Shaw. 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. Beach Hits .500 with Sweep by Wichita State: The No. 21-ranked Dirtbags dropped out of the top-35 for the first time under Mike Weathers and hit .500 for just the third time this late in the season in the Dirtbag era (since 1989) after getting swept by Wichita State. The team managed just five hits on Friday as Jared Hughes suffered just his third loss since mid-March, 2005 (11-3), and second to Wichita State. Hughes pitched seven innings, but tired by giving up two runs. The next two days WSU twice came back from deficits to win. LBSU led 2-0 and following a five-run seventh, 7-6, only to watch the Shockers score two in the ninth to win. Andrew Carpenter was roughed up for five runs, while Kip Masuda and Shane Peterson kept the team in the game with three hits a piece. On Sunday WSU did it again, coming back from a 4-0 and 7-5 deficit with two, five-run innings. The first after Vance Worley pitched into the fifth with a no-hitter. Five of WSU's 10 runs were unearned as infield errors in the fifth and eighth led to the big innings. Evan Longoria may have broken out of his slump, producing two hits and launching a solo home run. LBSU dropped five straight at home with the series sweep and its third-straight three-game series, a first in Dirtbag history. The series did see the return of Sean Boatright, at designated hitter, for the first time in 11 games, and infielder Chuck Sindlinger, who missed 12 games. Playing Them Close, Playing Them Ranked: Long Beach State enters the week having played 14 ranked teams this season, going a combined 6-8. Six of those losses have come by three runs or fewer. The Dirtbag schedule features nine teams ranked in the top-40 and all but five with RPIs under 100, according to boydsworld.com. The 49ers RPI is at 35 to enter the week. They've Done This Before: Dirtbag lore teaches us that Long Beach State baseball has traditionally been slow starters en route to return trips to Omaha and the College World Series. In 1998, the team started the season 2-8-1 before reeling off 12 in a row. In 1993, LBSU was 12-12 before winning 16 of 19. And finally in 1991, the 49ers were 5-8, before winning 20 of 21. In Case You Missed It: With Japan's win over Cuba in the World Baseball Classic, six of the nine starters for Cuba played on the Pan American Championship Team in 2003 which beat Team USA and former Dirtbag Jered Weaver in the Gold Medal Game, 3-1. Mike Weathers was an assistant coach on that team. Peterson Emerges from the Ashes: Freshman Shane Peterson (Temecula) has given the Dirtbag coaching staff a much needed bat in the month of March. Peterson, since starting for the first time on February 19 leads the club with a .417 average and .611 slugging percentage. Peterson has hit safely in six of his last seven contests primarily taking over in leftfield. Boatright Returns to the Lineup: For the first time in three weeks, senior Sean Boatright (Mission Viejo) returned to the lineup, playing designated hitter. Still questionable to play the outfield because of his elbow, Boatright went 3-for-8 over his final two games and has hit safely in 11 of 13 starts this season. Boatright is among the Big West leaders in doubles with eight and is batting .280 on the season with a .560 slugging percentage. Time to Break Out?: After a hot start, infielder Evan Longoria (Downey) has cooled as of late, but a solo home run and a two-hit performance on Sunday may have turned things around for one of the top position players in the country. Longoria still ranks amongst the Big West leaders in average (.354), homers (4), slugging (.561) and on-base percentage (.486) and has been superb at third base making just two errors all season. Masuda Delivers When Needed: Freshman catcher Kip Masuda (Kaneohe, HI) continues to deliver when needed, batting .414 over 11 games and nine starts with three doubles and a .621 slugging percentage. Masuda has hit safely in seven of nine starts this season. Bradley Fines Niche: Senior first baseman Scott Bradley (Walnut Creek) is another player delivering for the 49ers, batting .325 with seven RBIs and three doubles over 10 starts and 18 games this season. A proven pinch-hitter as well as a first baseman, the senior's bat has kept him in the lineup this season. Cline Continues to Occupy Second Base: Junior Matt Cline (Huntington Beach) continues to occupy second base, having started the last 13 games at second base. Cline is batting .327 on the season with 13 runs and nine RBIs as the team's leadoff hitter. He has hit safely in 10 of those 13 games. Friday and Saturday lead to Quality Outings: Eight of the Dirtbags 14 starts to open up a series have been quality starts for righthander Jared Hughes (Laguna Beach) and Andrew Carpenter (Vacaville). The duo has combined to go 7-2 on the season, with Carpenter producing a 2.92 ERA and Hughes a 3.66 ERA. Both have opponent batting averages in the .220's and have gone into the sixth inning in 12 of 14 combined starts. Liebel Steadies Bullpen: Sophomore righthander Andrew Liebel (Pomona) is emerging as a solid reliever for The Beach, producing a 2.61 ERA over nine appearances this season. He has allowed an earned run in just two of his nine outings this season. The bullpen core is still young in sophomores Donnie Hume and Liebel, and freshmen Bryan Shaw, Shane Peterson and Scott Turmail. Brett Andrade, with nine appearances, and Mike Malott are the lone seniors. Gold Glove Infield: If there was such a thing as the nation's top defensive infield, Long Beach State's four infielders around the horn from Brandon Godfrey (1B) to Chuck Sindlinger (2B) to Danny Espinosa (SS) to Evan Longoria (3B) may be it. Matt Cline, a junior college shortstop, has not missed a beat playing at second base as well. Espinosa leads the Big West with 84 assists at short. Not A Bad Set of Wins: So far this season the Dirtbags have beaten some pretty good pitchers. LBSU has five wins over All-American arms (pre-season or former winners), including two over USC closer Paul Koss, one over Cal's Brandon Morrow and Texas' Kyle McCullough and a pair of victories over National Pitcher of the Year candidates Ian Kennedy (USC) and Joe Savery (Rice). 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. 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 this 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. 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. 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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