* Dirtbags Begin Season at USC
* Youngsters Make Out Team; 21 Underclassmen on Roster
* Five Starters Return as Team's Position Players are the Veterans
January 31, 2007 UPCOMING SCHEDULE
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2
No. 25 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Dedeaux Field | 7 p.m.
LB: R-Vance Worley (0-0, 0.00) vs.
SC: R-Ryan Cook (0-0, 0.00)
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3
No. 25 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Blair Field | 1 p.m.
LB: R-Manny McElroy (0-0, 0.00) vs.
SC: R-Brandon Buxbaum (0-0, 0.00)
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 4
No. 25 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Dedeaux Field | 12 p.m.
LB: L-Omar Arif (0-0, 0.00) vs.
SC: L-Tommy Milone (0-0, 0.00)
Record: 0-0 Big West: 0-0 | Hi Rank: No.30 (Collegiate Baseball)
vs. Ranked Teams: 0-0
PDF VERSION OF THE RELEASE Dirtbags Open Season with USC: No. 30-ranked Long Beach State (0-0) will open up the 2007 campaign with fellow Los Angeles County rival, No. 25-ranked USC (1-0 after 6-4 win over Cal Poly on Tuesday) this weekend. Sophomore RHP Vance Worley (0-0, 0.00) will get the call for the Dirtbags in the opener against RHP Ryan Cook (0-0, 0.00) on Friday at 7 p.m. at Dedeaux Field. On Saturday in the home opener at Blair Field at 1 p.m. RHP?Manny McElroy (0-0, 0.00) is expected to twirl for The Beach against RHP Brandon Buxbaum (0-0, 0.00). On Super Bowl Sunday back in Los Angeles and noon, senior lefthander Omar Arif (0-0, 0.00) will pitch for LBSU against Tommy Milone (0-0, 0.00). In Coach Mike Weathers five seasons, the Dirtbags have won an opening weekend four out of five years, against three different Pac-10 opponents (USC, Cal and Arizona State). On-Deck: The Dirtbags travel to Pepperdine for a Tuesday game on February 6, before returning home to host the Texas Longhorns February 9 to 11. SERIES NOTES: The Trojans lead the series since 1980, 45-27... since 1989, Southern Cal has a 33-22 advantage... the Trojans won alll three in 2005, as LBSU returned the favor in 2006.
ABOUT THE TROJANS:
BA: .000; ERA: 0.00; FLD: .000
Chad Kreuter is in his first year at the helm, taking over for long-time skipper and father-in-law Mike Gillespie... the Trojans, after missing the post-season in 2006, are ranked No. 25 by Collegiate Baseball to start the year... the team features two of the top-100 prospects in senior righthander Paul Koss and junior infielder and All-Pac 10 Matt Cusick and have the third-best recruiting class coming in, led by youngster Robert Stock, who skipped his senior year to catch for USC... USC is beginning its 113th season of baseball.
PREVIOUSLY AGAINST USC
RHP Vance Worley made one start on February 5 against USC, going just 3.1 innings, giving up five runs (four earned) on six hits... LBSU went on to win that game at home, 8-6... Brandon Godfrey's pinch-hit single tied the game in the seventh,while catcher Kip Masuda had three hits.... Danny Espinosa had five hits in last year's series against USC.... RHP Andrew Liebel has not allowed an earned run in three relief appearances against USC... LHP Shane Peterson pitched 1.1 shutout innings on Saturday.
Courting the Rankings: The Dirtbags are ranked No. 30 by Collegiate Baseball in the only pre-season national poll that includes The Beach. LBSU is ranked to begin the year for the 16th time in the pre-season since 1989.
Anyone Craving a Dirtbag Game?: Season tickets for the 2007 season start as low as $120 and features games with seven top-30 opponents, including a three-game series with Texas, Oral Roberts and CS Fullerton, a single-game with USC, and Tuesday night affairs with local opponents, Pepperdine, UCLA, San Diego State (and Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn) and Loyola Marymount.
Boyd is It Tough: After having arguably the toughest schedule in Division-I baseball last season, LBSU gets the dubious honor again as according to Boyds World, the Dirtbags strength of schedule is No. 1 nationally. If mathematics is not your thing, Collegiate Baseball has nine of The Beach's opponents in the top-30, led by top-ranked Rice and No. 7-ranked Texas, while Baseball America has six of LBSU's opponents ranked in the top-25 pre-season poll.
And Your Name is?: After seeing 35 players head off to professional baseball over the last four seasons, this year's team is very young, featuring 21 underclassmen. Two of those sophomores, shortstop Danny Espinosa and righthander Vance Worley, are two of the Big West's top prospects for the 2008 draft. Espinosa was the Big West Freshman of the Year, while Worley was one of the top-30 prospects in the Cape Cod League this past summer. Another sophomore, designated hitter Shane Peterson, is the program's top returning hitter (.328). The pitching staff features seven freshmen and five sophomores.
Senior Citizens: Senior outfielder Robert Perry is the team's most experienced player, having batted over .300 in three Division-I seasons as a starting outfielder, earning all-conference honors at Santa Clara and last year at LBSU. Perry is a candidate for the Wallace National Player of the Year award and last year batted .309 with 33 RBIs. TCU transfer Omar Arif is slated to be a big part of the pitching staff after three relief seasons in the Lone Star State, and reliever Andrew Liebel had a 3.00 ERA in 2006 for LBSU. Second baseman Matt Cline is the returning starter at second base, while utility infielder AJ Pinocchio will find time from third to second base.
Junior College Success: Saturday starter Manny McElroy, a junior college All-American from Bakersfield Community College hopes to continue the success his junior college predecessors have achieved. Over the past half dozen years, one-year pitchers like Daniel Eisentrager, Jason Vargas, Marco Estrada, Steve Hammond, Cody Evans and Andrew Carpenter have also catapuled their status in the draft. The final five all were drafted in the top-10 rounds.
Nelson to Miss Time: Riverside Junior College transfer Chris Nelson will miss the start of the season with a hamate bone injury suffered in practice. Nelson, who batted .333 last year, was slated to start in the outfield. The outfielder situation now is likely to feature: seniors Robert Perry and Allen Woods, juniors Jason Corder and Kyle Morgan and freshman TJ Mittelstaedt.
Catching Starts with Defense: Whoever is behind the plate this season for the Dirtbags, they will be solid defensively. Returning sophomore Kip Masuda threw out 40 percent of would-be runners in Alaska and 7-of-17 runners last season. Cal transfer and junior Travis Howell, threw out 46 percent of runners while a member of the Golden Bears.
Major League Talent: Long Beach State Baseball,which has produced 28 Major Leaguers all-time, had 13 former players in The Show last year, amongst the most in Division-I baseball. Since 1999, according to Baseball America's research, LBSU has had the eighth-most Major Leaguers (18). The veterans have included 10-year men, Chris Gomez, Steve Trachsel and Jason Giambi, while the ‘newer' crop has the likes of Bobby Crosby, Mike Gallo, Jeremy Reed, Jered Weaver and the newest Major Leaguer, Troy Tulowitzki.
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Organized Talent: As if 13 Major Leaguers is not enough, the next crop is well on its way as eight former players are amongst their organization's top-30 prospects. Not including Rockie shortstop, Troy Tulowitzki, who is the top prospect in that organization, 2006 first round pick, Evan Longoria is No. 2 in Tampa Bay and former lefthanded reliever, Steve Hammond, is No. 7 in Milwaukee. Among others: in the top-20 are Cesar Ramos (No.10 in San Diego), Andrew Carpener (No. 17 in Philadelphia), Paul McAnulty (No. 18 in San Diego) and Brian Anderson (No. 19 in San Francisco).
First is Always Best: According to Baseball America, since 1999, the Long Beach State program has produced the fourth-most first round picks (Crosby, Weaver, Tulowitzki, Longoria), being only outdistanced by Stanford (6), Rice (5) and USC (5). The first three have all made the Majors, while Longoria finished off his first professional season in Double-A.
Post-Season Success: Since the birth of Dirtbag Baseball in 1989, the program has reached four College World Series, two Super Regionals and 15 NCAA Regionals. Despite missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time in six seasons in 2006, the Dirtbags have reached more College World Series then all but nine other programs since 1989. As part of Baseball America's research, they placed the Dirtbags at No. 15 nationally based on the program's success from 1999 to the present (the expansion to the 64-team field).
Video Killed the Radio Star: EA Sports came out with their latest edition of its MVP 2007 College Baseball Game and Angels rookie and former National Player of the Year (and alum) Jered Weaver is on the cover. Weaver completed his first Major League season in 2006, going 11-2 with a 2.56 ERA. Weaver won his first nines starts as a Major Leaguer.
Dirbags Picked in the Middle of the Pack: According to the conference's coaches, LBSU is picked as the fourth-best squad in the Big West. Baseball America agrees with that assestment, while Rivals.com has LBSU ranked third.
On the Air and on the Net: Every game this season will be over the internet at www.longbeachstate.com. The games will also be available through CSTV's Gametracker software and CSTV's Webcast software. The webcast will be a static camera behind home plate as fans can see the action at Blair Field (starting with the Texas series) and on a given Tuesday night can open their front doors to really feel like they are at the friendly confines. 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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