Long Beach State University Athletics
Dirtbags Begin Five-Game Homestand
4/24/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
49ers Begin Five-Game Homestand Record: 19-18-1 Big West: 4-1-1 vs. Ranked Teams: 6-11 Major League Talent Comes to Blair: Blair Field this week will be the place for fans to catch up with a couple of former Major Leaguers, when Poly High graduate and future Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn brings his San Diego State Aztecs (15-28) to Blair Field on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. and World Series winner Ed Sprague and his Pacific Tigers (22-16, 3-6 Big West) come to town for a three-game series starting on Friday. On Tuesday, LBSU is slated to use much of its staff against Aztec righthander Will Miller (1-2, 5.62). The weekend will feature righthanders and dueling six-game winners Jared Hughes (6-1, 2.88) and Andrew Carpenter (6-2, 2.78) against Pacific righthander Luke Massetti (5-4, 4.25) on 6:30 p.m. on Friday and Tiger lefthander Joey Centanni (3-2, 2.40) on Saturday at 2 p.m. Sunday's starters have not been announced for the 1 p.m game. The Beach (19-18-1, 4-1-1 Big West) are over .500 for the first time since March 18, and have gone 7-3-1 over its last 11 games, after sweeping UC Davis last weekend. The week begins a five-game homestand for the Dirtbags, as the team will play 12 of their final 19 games (included the team's suspended game at CSUN) at home. The Dirtbags enter the week two games back of first place CS Fullerton, as the Titans and 49ers each have just one loss on the season in Big West play. A Look at San Diego State: Since beating The Beach in the ninth inning two weeks ago, SDSU has won five of its last seven to up its record to 15-28 on the season and 8-5 in the Mountain West Conference after series wins over Utah and at UNLV last weekend... weekend starter Justin Masterson (4-5, 4.06) is projected as a first round pick by Baseball America as he along with fellow starter Bruce Billing (3-3, 4.07) are bright spots in a rotation that has a 6.83 ERA... Paul Smyth continues to lead the club with a .372 average and 38 RBIs, while Quintin Berry is batting .318... SDSU is batting .280 as a team with a .951 fielding percentage.... Berry has 25 of the team's 42 steals. A Look at Pacific: The Tigers, who are off until the weekend, were swept by top-ranked CS Fullerton at home last weekend dropping them to 3-6 in the Big West and 22-16 overall... prior to that, UOP had won five of seven with series wins over UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara... the Tigers opened up the conference schedule by losing two of three at Cal Poly... Pacific, which at one point ranked second in the conference in ERA, has a respectable 3.84 ERA thanks to Eric Stolp's 1.50 ERA out of the bullpen as one of the team's three closers, or fellow relievers, Curtis Pasma (3.13 ERA) and Jason Haar (3.98)... Saturday starter, Joey Centanni has a .231 opponent batting average to go along with a 2.40 ERA in 13 appearances and seven starts... outfielder Ramon Glasgow is batting .342 to lead the club, while outfielder Matt Berezay is batting .331 with eight homers and 31 RBIs... UOP bats .263 as a team and has a .963 fielding percentage. Courting the Rankings: LBSU dropped completely out of the rankings for the first time since May 7, 2001 on March 27. 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. 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. This week's show, an hour earlier, will feature outfielder Ted Pattock and Press-Telegram beatwriter Bob Keisser. 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. And We'll Make That Up May 10: The team's game at CS Northridge which was suspended after nine innings at 3-3, will be completed on May 10 at 3 p.m. in Northridge. The two teams split the first two games of the series. Longoria on Player of the Year Watch List: Third baseman Evan Longoria (Downey) is on CSTV's list National Player of the Year candidates, which each week ranks the top-eight players in the nation. Longoria was ranked as the fifth-best player in the 2006 draft in Baseball America's latest banter, and as the top position player. Longoria, the projected conference player of the year as well, is amongst league leaders in average (.333), slugging (.598), homers (8) and RBIs (29). Playing with Numbers: Boyds World.com, long known for its number crunching and RPI figures, has put together its top-10 lists for the last five years and The Beach are amongst the national five-year leaders in hit by pitches (356-10th), sacrifice bunts (259-3rd) and ERA (3.11-3rd). LBSU led the nation in ERA in 2005 and prior to this year had ranked in the top-15 in each of the last four seasons. The team's ERA of 3.37 is currently in the top-25. Regional Projections, Part II: Baseball America came out with an update to its regional projections, and instead of traveling the Los Angeles freeway system to Dedeaux Field and USC, the Dirtbags are now, according to the Durham experts headed to Austin in a four-team regional with Texas, Texas Christian and Lamar. Bullpen Starting to Gel?: After producing just one save from March 4 until April 20, the team had two saves over the weekend giving them a combined 10 on the season from four pitchers. Freshman Bryan Shaw (Livermore) has emerged as the ace of the bullpen, producing a 1.12 ERA over 15 appearances, while fellow righthander Brett Andrade (2.49) and Andrew Liebel (2.75) have been equally solid. Perry Becomes Red Hot: Centerfielder Robert Perry (Sunnyvale), a .300 hitter at Santa Clara, was expected to be a key cog in the offense this season. It just took a little while to develop. After watching his average dip to .220 on the season on March 24, it has risen to .300 after hitting in 11 of his last 12 games. Perry also slugged his first two homers of the season last week and has driven in 21 runs, which is second on the team. Where'd He Come From?: Junior College transfer AJ Pinocchio (Sonora) had five career at-bats heading into the team's doubleheader on April 15 at CS Northridge after recovering from a shoulder surgery last season. Since then he has hit in six-straight games, logged his first extra base hits of the season (all of them) and is batting .400 on the season. He also has four multi-hit games in six starts. Bradley Earns Spot at First: Senior Scott Bradley (Walnut Creek) has finally earned his spot at first base. The senior, who has platooned with sophomore Brandon Godfrey throughout the season, continues to find a place in the lineup, ranking in the top-20 in the conference in hitting (.321), while driving in 13 runs over 30 games and 19 starts. The Weekends Have Never Been Easy: The weekend starters for The Beach, since the early part of the century have always been tough, with the likes of Alvarez, Weaver and Ramos coming through the program, and this season is no different. Friday and Saturday starters Jared Hughes (Laguna Beach) and Andrew Carpenter (Vacaville) have combined to go 12-3 on the season with a sub-3.00 ERA. Both rank amongst conference leaders in ERA, innings pitched and opponent batting average. Mid-Season Prospects: The Dirtbags also feature two players, not surprisingly, in Baseball America's mid-season college update. Third baseman Evan Longoria (Downey) is listed as the top college position player in the country and fourth-best college player, while Jared Hughes (Laguna Beach) is the 19th-best college pitcher and 29th best collegian. Longoria is also named as the top position player midway through the college season. Longoria has risen from the 10th-best prospect overall in the draft to begin the season. Genghis Khan Fan Club: As one national writer put it, the Dirtbags have "a slate only Genghis Khan would love." Seventeen of its first 28 games were against ranked opponents and according to Boyd's World.com, LBSU has the second toughest strength of schedule in the country. LBSU's mark of 6-11 against those ranked teams is a little easier to stomach when you consider with 23 new faces, LBSU has lost five of those games by two runs or fewer, and two in the opponents' final at-bat. Amongst this week's rankings, four have RPIs in the top-10, three have been No. 1 this season and 11 have received votes or been ranked. 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. Dirtbags in the Majors: To start 2006, the Dirtbags had eight Major Leaguers (now nine), including: veterans Chris Gomez (Orioles), Steve Trachsel (Mets) and Jason Giambi (Yankees), and up and comers, Bobby Crosby (A's), Jeremy Reed (Mariners), Jason Vargas (Marlins), Terrmel Sledge (Padres) and Mike Gallo (Astros). Abe Alvarez (Red Sox), Jered Weaver (Angels), Kasey Olenberger (Angels), Paul McAnulty (Padres), Chad Bentz (White Sox) and Chris Demaria (Brewers) began the year in Triple-A. Demaria was called up to the Brewers during the middle part of April. 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). They also have a no-decision against CS Fullerton ace Wes Roemer. 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: 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. All games will continue to be on the internet. 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. Some of the Best Tools?: Heading into the season and according to Baseball America, Evan Longoria, 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..." 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 2005, LBSU had a record 13 players playing in the Major Leagues, as Jason Vargas (Marlins) and Chris Demaria (Brewers) each made their Major League debuts. Both the 10 prospects and the 13 Major Leaguers, were 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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