Long Beach State University Athletics
Road Trip to End at LMU on Tuesday
4/7/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 7, 2008
LONG BEACH--No.16-ranked Long Beach State (18-11, 1-2 Big West), losers of eight of their last nine, will close out their 10-game road trip on Tuesday when they travel to Loyola Marymount (16-15) for the second of two games with the Lions at 3 p.m. The Lions have lost four straight and will send RHP Lee Roberts (1-2, 3.78) to the hill against RHP Brett Lorin (1-1, 2.70).
Two weeks ago, LBSU entered the week 16-3 and No. 4 in the nation, prior to their 10-game road trip. After beating Harvard with a one-hitter, LBSU dropped six-straight before winning the Big West opener at UC Riverside on Friday. The Dirtbags dropped its first conference series of the year and dropped to No. 16 in the Coaches Poll, No. 20 in Baseball America and No. 21 in Collegiate Baseball in this week's national polls.
The team just finished off a string of 13 games over 16 days, going 5-8. According to Baseball America's national poll, LBSU has played five teams ranked in the top-15 (No. 5 Cal, No. 9 Wichita State, No. 10 Stanford, No. 11 Rice, and No. 13 San Diego), going 6-5.
During the current road swing, LBSU is hitting .245 and producing a 6.04 ERA, as their team ERA has gone from 2.02 to 3.15 on the season. Despite losing just one of the games, the bullpen, which had not allowed a run until March 2, gave up 14 runs for a 3.95 ERA, while the team's starters have a combined for a 7.29 ERA.
Some bright spots in the lineup have included RF Jason Corder, who hit four home runs over a five-game stretch to give him a team-best six, and freshman centerfielder Jonathan Jones, who had hits in his first 13 starts and is batting .344. Shane Peterson continues to lead the club with a .355 average, and a conference-best 31 RBIs.
The Lions are led by 1B Ryan Wheller's .363 average, team-leading 26 RBIs and 24 runs. OF AJ LaMonda is batting .325 with 22 runs and 20 RBIs as the Lions are hitting .286 as a team. The team ERA is 5.50 with Ernie Cho producing a 1.74 ERA out of the pen, while Chris Eusebio has a 2.93 ERA in 13 relief appearances.
In the first meeting with the Lions, LBSU used a four-run sixth to propel them to a 5-2 victory as LMU's Nate Keadle had a no-hitter over the first five innings, before tiring.
The Dirtbags will return home to face No. 7-ranked UC Irvine in a key conference match up this weekend. The rotation for the Black and Blue Rivaly Series has already been set with RHP Andrew Liebel (3-1, 1.93) matching up with RHP Scott Gorgen in maybe the nation's best game on Friday night at 6:30 p.m., followed by RHP Vance Worley (3-2, 4.28) and RHP Jake Thompson (1-3, 4.75) on Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. UCI will counter with Bryce Stowell (4-1, 1.96) and Daniel Bibona (4-1, 3.15).
Sunday's game will be nationally televised on CSTV with Carter Blackburn and Kevin Stocker calling the game and will also honor the 1998 College World Series team in a pre-game ceremony. The game, originally scheduled for 1 p.m. was moved back to 2:30 p.m. to accommodate televison.
Two 50th Anniversaries will also be on tap. Friday's game on April 11 will be the 50th Anniversary of the first game played at Blair Field, between Poly High and Huntington Beach High, while the April 15 game against Pepperdine will be the first collegiate game at the park. Former Long Beach State Head Coach John McConnell, who coached the 49ers against Long Beach City College, will throw out the first pitch and be on hand along with others to celebrate the occassion.
