* Dirtbags Head to Houston to Face Owls
* Beach Have Taken Four of Six From Top-25 Programs
* Shaw, Espinosa Earn Big West Player of the Week Awards
February 12, 2007 Record: 4-2 Big West: 0-0 | Hi Rank: No.20 (Collegiate Baseball)
vs. Ranked Teams: 4-2 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16
No. 6 RICE
Houston, TX | 2 p.m. PST
LB: R-Vance Worley (0-0, 3.75) vs.
RICE: TBA
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17
No. 6 RICE
Houston, TX | 12 p.m. PST
LB: R-Manny McElroy (1-0, 9.00) vs.
RICE:TBA
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 18
No. 6 RICE
Houston, TX | 11 A.m. PST
LB: L-Omar Arif (1-1, 1.86) vs.
RICE: TBA PDF VERSION OF THE RELEASE
Two Stepping with More Texans: The No. 20-ranked Dirtbags (4-2), winners of four of their last five, will travel to Texas to take on their second-straight Lone Star opponent, when they travel to previously top-ranked Rice (2-3) and now No. 6-ranked, for a three-game series on Friday at 2 p.m., 12 p.m. and 11 a.m. Pacific. LBSU took two of three from Texas last weekend. LBSU will front the same rotation they have had for the previous two weeks in RHP Vance Worley (0-0, 3.75), RHP Manny McElroy (1-0, 9.00) and LHP Omar Arif (1-1, 1.86). Rice has not named a rotation, but last week's was RHP Chris Kelley (0-0, 1.23), RHP Ryan Berry (1-0, 0.00) and LHP Joe Savery (1-0, 0.00). The Beach have or will play 11 straight games against top-25 opponents to start the year. Last week, LBSU came from behind three times, tying Pepperdine and defeating Texas twice.
SERIES NOTES: LBSU won the only meeting last year in Houston, as part of the Coca Cola Classic hosted by Rice when Andrew Carpenter defeated then No. 5-ranked Rice 4-1.
ABOUT THE OWLS:
BA: .220; ERA: 2.06; FLD: .960
The Owls are 2-3 on the young season, dropping from the No. 1 ranking in both major polls to No. 6 in Collegiate Baseball and No. 7 in Baseball America... Rice enters the week having lost three of four, to Vanderbilt, Texas State and Texas A&M, and defeating Baylor... they host UT-San Antonio on Tuesday... two-way player and All-American LHP Joe Savery is still on the hill with an 0.00 ERA in two starts over six innings, but is hitting just .176 to start the year... Savery is one of four pre-season All-Americans, joining lefthanded reliever Cole St. Clair, shortstop Brian Friday and outfielder Tyler Henley... outfielder Chad Lembeck leads the club with a .353 average, while Ryan Berry was named C-USA Pitcher of the Week following a six shutout inninngs over Baylor... Wayne Graham, a three-time National Coach of the Year is in his 16th year at Rice.
PREVIOUSLY AGAINST RICE
Just three players played against Rice last season. Danny Espinosa went 0-for-3 against Joe Savery and company, Allen Woods pinch-hit and Robert Perry had one of the team's six hits, a single, and stole two bases. On-Deck: The Dirtbags return home to host current No. 15-ranked UCLA on February 20 and California in an abbreviated two-game series on February 23 and 24.
Texas-Sized Bite Out of the Longhorns: The Dirtbags took two out of three from No. 7-ranked Texas (W 7-6, W 9-8 (10), L 1-2), coming back with a three-run ninth inning on Friday; and coming back from a seven run deficit (the second time that week) to win in 10 innings on Saturday. On Sunday, they put the winning run at the plate in the ninth, only to fall by one. On Friday, Bobby McMurray, who had not played in two years previously because of a shoulder injury, came through with a two-out, pinch-hit two-run single to tie it, before Danny Espinosa won it with a single. Dustin Rasco, who had not pitched in two years and two transferred from Kansas State, picked up the win. On Saturday, after a 7-0 lead by Texas forced the bullpen into the contest early, LBSU came back with Andrew Liebel throwing four shutout innings and Bryan Shaw closing the doors for three more shutout innings. Two Jason Corder homers got the game close, as did a five-run third inning, before Brian Capon, the team's third catcher that day, came through with a two-out single to win it in the 10th. It was Capon's first Division-I hit and first hit since two junior college seasons in 2004 and 2005. On Sunday, Omar Arif pitchd a career-high 5.2 innings, as LBSU had a chance to win it in the ninth, but Texas finally wiped their brow when Robert Perry struck out swinging to end the contest. Perry had tied Saturday's game in the seventh.
Courting the Rankings: The Dirtbags moved up 10 spots to No. 20 nationally in Collegiate Baseball, and just missed the Baseball America poll. LBSU began the year ranked No. 30 for the first two weeks. LBSU was ranked to begin the year for the 16th time in the pre-season since 1989.
Sophomores Sweep Awards: Danny Espinosa (Santa Ana) and Bryan Shaw (Livermore) swept the Big West Conference Player of the week awards as Espinosa batted .467 over the week, while Shaw picked up the win with three shutout innings in Saturday's series clincher over Texas. Espinosa's three-run homer at Pepperdine tied the game last Tuesday, while his RBI two-out single defeated Texas in the opener. On Saturday, he scored the game-winning run in the ninth following a two-out double. Shaw struck out a career-best five, including two with runners on second and third with no outs in an 8-8 tie in the eighth on Saturday.
Bullpen Aces: Early season returns have the LBSU bullpen as one of its top assets. Andrew Liebel (3 appearances) and Bryan Shaw (2) have yet to allow a run in a combined 12.2 innings, while five other relievers have ERAs under 4.00. The team's ERA as a whole is 3.17.
Perry Has Hot Start: Senior OF Robert Perry (Sunnyvale) has had a hot start to his final collegiate season. Perry is batting .409 to start the season as the team's primary leadoff hitter. He is a Wallace Award Finalist.
Swinging Away: Junior OF Jason Corder (Mission Viejo) already has three homers to start the 2007 campaign, slugging away at a .682 clip. In two seasons at Cal, Corder had just one homer.
Consecutive Hits: Freshman OF Steve Tinoco (Coto de Caza) made the most of his first career start, going 4-for-4 against Texas, before pinch-hitting on Sunday and hitting a solo home run. Tinoco is now 5 for his last 5.
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 top-25 foe Oral Roberts and CS Fullerton 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, pre-season polls had Collegiate Baseball with nine of The Beach's opponents in the top-30, led by top-ranked Rice and No. 7-ranked Texas, while Baseball America had 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. 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 twice. 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.
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, JC 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 Breaks Hamate, Still Plays: Riverside Junior College transfer Chris Nelson was slated to miss time due to a hamate bone injury suffered in practice. Nelson instead become a late inning defensive replacement and a pinch runner. Nelson, who batted .333 last year, was slated to start in the outfield.
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. Howell has thrown out 3-of-7 base runners this season.
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.
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 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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