Long Beach State University Athletics
Greatest Rivalry on Tap
5/24/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Regular Season Finale: Titans vs. Dirtbags Record: 29-24 Big West: 12-6 Regular Season Comes to a Close: Long Beach State Baseball (29-24, 12-6 Big West), winners of 13 of its last 18, and two of its last three series, will host arch rival No. 2-ranked CS Fullerton (39-13, 15-3 Big West) in the final regular season matchup for both ball clubs. Friday's game will be on national television, College Sports Television (Direct TV Channel 610) on Friday at 6:30 p.m. as part of college baseball's best college rivalry. The Titans are assured of at least a co-championship in the Big West, while Long Beach State will finish no worse than second. A sweep by The Beach gives them the automatic bid and a co-championship, while one win by the Titans give them the title outright. Righthanders Andrew Carpenter (7-3, 2.93) and Fullerton's Wes Roemer (10-1, 2.16), who are two of the top pitchers in the league, will battle in the opener. On Saturday Fullerton will feature Lauren Gagnier (11-4, 2.63) at 6:30 p.m., before throwing Dustin Miller (10-1, 3.01) on Sunday at 1 p.m. LBSU will counter with Jared Hughes (8-3, 3.27) sometime during the weekend with either LHP Donnie Hume (3-3, 3.81) or RHP Vance Worley (4-7, 3.93) starting the other game. Third baseman Evan Longoria continues to be a national player of the year candidate with a .362 average, 11 homers and 43 RBIs. NCAA Regional Information: The NCAA will announce the 16 regional sites on Sunday, May 28 at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN News and at www.ncaasports.com. The NCAA Regional pairings will be announced at 9:30 a.m. on ESPN on Monday, May 29. The super regional site announcements will take place on June 6 at 11 a.m., while the College World Series schedule will be announced on June 12 at 8 p.m. The regionals are a double elimination tournament between four teams; the super regionals is a best out of three format with the eight winners headed to Omaha and the College World Series. LBSU remains in the hunt for post-season play with an RPI, according to boydsworld.com, at 44. 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. A Look at CS Fullerton: BATTING: .309; PITCHING: 2.75; FIELDING: .977 Rivalry Notes: Since 1989, only three other teams have won or shared Big West titles besides the two rivals, CS Northridge, Nevada and Fresno State... since 1996, LBSU has more Big West Pitchers of the Year then the Titans, 6-to-5 (Marcus Jones, Mike Gallo, Abe Alvarez-twice, Jered Weaver-twice). All have made it to the Majors except for Weaver... the Dirtbags eliminated the Titans in the team's only NCAA Regional matchup, a regional in Palo Alto in 2002... two of the program's longest games happened in back-to-back years at Blair Field, both wins for the Dirtbags in 16 innings in 2001 and 2002... brothers Jason (LBSU) and Jeremy (CSF) Giambi went to the rival schools in the early 1990's.... the series has the Titans owning a slight 24-21 edge at Goodwin Field and a 23-20 lead at Blair Field. Best Tools are Beach-Made: According to Baseball America, Evan Longoria is the best pure hitter in college hitter, the college hitter with the second-best eye, and one of the top three college players "closest to the Majors." According to the website's draft tracker, Longoria is the fourth-best prospect nationally. The publication has also noted that Longoria could join former first round pick Troy Tulowitzki (seventh pick in 2005) in Rockies organization as the No. 2 pick overall. Longoria enters the weekend on a nine-game hit streak and has hit in 14 of his last 15 games. Cream of the Crop: Third baseman Evan Longoria (Downey) has maximized his collegiate potential and made himself one of the hottest hitters in college baseball this season. Longoria leads the Big West in slugging (.622), walks (40) and on-base (.481), while ranking near the top in average (.362), runs (41), homers (11), doubles (12) and RBIs (41). Longoria was named Baseball America's Midseason Position Player of the Year and is routinely named college's top position player. Longoria is trying to become the first Dirtbag since 1997 and third ever in the Dirtbag era (Toby Sanchez-1997, Jeff Liefer-1995) to earn the program's triple crown (leader in average, homers and RBIs). His 11 home runs are the most by a Dirtbag since Jaeme Leal hit a record 24 in 1999. Struble Makes an Impact: Senior Jordan Struble (Murietta) came to Long Beach State as a junior college catcher, and after playing the outfield last year and most of this year, Struble finally got a chance to start behind the plate, and delivered. After coming through with his first collegiate homer in eight innings behind the plate the day before, Struble caught the final game at UC Riverside and produced his second-straight multi-hit game. Struble is batting .214 on the season in 26 games, but may be the secret weapon the Dirtbags are waiting for. Hughes Returns to Roots: Jared Hughes (Laguna Beach) returned to a more familiar day of the week, Sundays, and delivered when the Dirtbags needed him, striking out a career-best 13 in a six-hit complete game. It was Hughes' first complete game of the season, as the righthander returned to the day of the week that produced eight wins for the then-sophomore last season. Hughes after hitting a stretch in the season where he went 3-0 with a 1.83 ERA from March 31 to April 28, gave up a combined nine earned runs in his next two starts in early May prior to last Sunday's start. Hughes is 8-3 on the season with a 3.27 ERA, ranking amongst the Big West leaders in those two categories as well as strikeouts (76), opponent average (.226) and innings pitched (104.2). Carpenter Heads to Fridays: Junior righthander Andrew Carpenter (Vacaville) pitched his first Friday night of the season last week to mixed results, retiring 11 of the first 12 batters, but giving up six runs to take his first loss since March 25. Carpenter, a three-time Big West Pitcher of the Week, has five complete games on the season, the most of any Dirtbag pitcher since Marcus Jones in 1997 (6). Carpenter this season has thrown a one-hitter over Illinois-Chicago and given up three or fewer runs in nine of 15 starts. Carpenter ranks amongst the Big West leaders in wins (7-3), ERA (2.93), innings (110.2), strikeouts (93) and opponent average (.240). His season, which has watched his stock rise amongst scouts, has also included a win at Rice over their All-American Joe Savery and a win at Texas in 87 degree heat. Perry Leads Resurgence: Centerfielder Robert Perry (Sunnyvale), the childhood teammate of Troy Tulowitzki and the former Santa Clara teammate of Jared Hughes, had a tough start to his Dirtbag career. After watching his average dip to .220 against the Titans on March 24, it has since risen to rank amongst the Big West leaders, as he is batting .318 on the season with 42 runs, four triples and 32 RBIs. Perry is one of three players to play in all 53 games (third baseman Evan Longoria and shortstop Danny Espinosa are the others). Worley's Season Improves: It's been an up and down year for freshman Vance Worley (Sacramento). After starting the season in the rotation to mixed results (a 1-4 record and 4.85 ERA) and briefly as the team's closer (one save, two chances), long relief has fitted Worley best this season. He has a 2.70 ERA out of the pen since April 15, and over his last three long outings in replacing Donnie Hume in the middle innings, has gone 2-0 with a 2.70 ERA, picking up two wins the week of May 8 against LMU and UC Santa Barbara. Overall, Worley is 4-7 with a 3.93 ERA. Donnie Hume, meanwhile is 3-1 as a starter. Bullpen by Committee: With one veteran to start the year in the bullpen in senior Brett Andrade (Pleasanton), the team's relievers have done remarkably well. Andrade leads the club with a 2.51 ERA, while freshman Bryan Shaw has a 2.61 ERA. Both have over 20 appearances, as does sophomore Andrew Liebel who packs in a 3.12 ERA. Rounding out the bullpen are sophomore Donnie Hume (3.81) and freshmen Vance Worley (3.93) and Scott Turmail (4.91). As a whole the bullpen is 10-9 with a respectable 3.16 ERA. Five players have at least one save. How Young Are They?: The Dirtbags this season have employed two freshmen this season on the field (shortstop Danny Espinosa and leftfielder Shane Peterson) and relied on three out of the pen (relievers Bryan Shaw, Vance Worley and Scott Turmail). Another pitcher, Andre Lamontagne has come on as of late, while catcher Kip Masuda was used earlier in the year in 20 games. The team has also relied on a handful of sophomores as well, in outfielder Jose Hernandez and relievers Andrew Liebel and Donnie Hume. Regional Projections... Where Are We Going Now?:According to Baseball America and SEBaseball.com, The Beach are now slated to go to Tempe, AZ for an NCAA Regional. The Dirtbags will need to continue to win in order to secure a spot in the national tournament. Other predictions around the country have had LBSU going to Virginia, Houston, Southern California and Austin. Oen Tough Schedule: 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. Every non-conference team the Dirtbags have faced this season is in the upper half of their conference, while five of them were leading their respective conferences, heading into last week. 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). The list has grown to 11 with three call-ups this season. Chris Demaria was called up to the Brewers during the middle part of April, while Paul McAnulty was called up to the Padres in mid-May. Abe Alvarez pitched in mid-May for the Red Sox before being sent back down. Jered Weaver (Angels), Kasey Olenberger (Angels), and Chad Bentz (White Sox) remain in Triple-A. Overall, LBSU has had 26 major leaguers in its history. Dirtbags Beaten Up: Sophomore first baseman Brandon Godfrey (Los Alamitos) has missed the last two weekends with a shoulder injury originally suffered while playing in Alaska during the summer, while freshman righthander Andre Lamontagne (Santa Maria) is still nursing a sore ankle One of the team's sparks late in the year, AJ Pinocchio, suffered a hamate bone injury on May 5 and is out for the season. This adds to the seemingly endless set of injuries that have sidelined reserve outfielder Allen Woods (ankle) and reserve first baseman Chris Lopez (hamate) for the last two months. Outfielder Sean Boatright remains day-to-day with his re-occurring back injury. Longoria on Player of the Year Watch List: Third baseman Evan Longoria (Downey) is on CSTV's list of National Player of the Year candidates. 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 is the projected conference player of the year as well. 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. Mid-Season Prospects: The Dirtbags also feature two players, not surprisingly, in Baseball America's mid-season college update. Third baseman Evan Longoria (Downey) was listed as the top college position player in the country and fourth-best college player, while Jared Hughes (Laguna Beach) was the 19th-best college pitcher and 29th best collegian. Longoria was 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. 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. 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. 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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