Long Beach State University Athletics
Dirtbags Host UC Santa Barbara in Key Series
5/8/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 8, 2008
LONG BEACH--No. 26-ranked Long Beach State (28-17, 9-6 Big West) will face off against UC Santa Barbara (30-17, 9-6 Big West) in a key Big West match up for both ball clubs as they jockey for position over the final three weekends of the regular season.
A log jam remains in the conference standings, as CS Fullerton leads the pack with a 13-5 record, followed by UC Riverside (10-5), who are 1.5 games back. Three teams are 9-6, including LBSU, UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara. UC Irvine is 8-7. UCSB has lost four of five, LBSU has won nine of their last 12.
UCSB will send RHP Mike Ford (5-3, 2.93), LHP Mario Hollands (6-2, 2.97) and LHP Chuck Huggins (7-2, 4.04) to the mound, against righthanders Andrew Liebel (6-2, 1.87), Vance Worley (5-3, 4.40) and Jake Thompson (2-4, 4.20). Friday's game will be at 6:30 p.m., Saturday at a later then scheduled, 6 p.m. start and Sunday is at 1 p.m.
Liebel has pitched into the seventh inning in each of his 17 career starts, as he is coming off a six-hit shutout, the first shutout of his career, last Friday. The Big West leader in innings has struck out 78 over 86.2 innings, and has given up just 77 hits for a .239 opponent batting average. Worley took the loss last Saturday against UC Davis, giving up three of his five runs in the seventh. In Sunday's finale, Jake Thompson rebounded with 6.2 shutout innings, only to watch UCD score late again to take the series.
The Gauchos have won three of the last four series between the two clubs, as LBSU swept last year's series in dramatic fashion. After taking the opener behind Manny McElroy, LBSU scored six runs in the ninth to even the series. In Sunday's rubber game, after trailing 4-1, LBSU rallied with three runs in the eighth and then eight runs in the 11th to win in Santa Barbara. Two years ago the Gauchos took two the first two games of the series, roughing up Jared Hughes, before closer Bryan Shaw, then a freshman, gave up three runs in the ninth in that Saturday loss. Worley, also a freshman, got the win in relief to salvage the final game of the series.
Bob Brontsema's club leads the Big West in five offensive categories, including slugging (.481), runs (346), home runs (49) and RBIs (318). UCSB has scored 10 or more runs 12 times this year, led by Chris Fox' .346 average and Brian Gump's .338 average. Mike Zuanich is tied with LBSU's Jason Corder for the conference lead in home runs with 12. Zuanich has also driven in 47 runs. On the mound, the Gauchos have a 4.59 ERA, as Kyle Brown is their top relief specialist with a 2.61 ERA over 19 appearances. All three starters have gone at least 69 innings this season, combining to go 18-7.
The Dirtbags are 18-5 at home this season, and 10-12 away from Blair Field. LBSU will play eight of their final 12 at home, which began with a 2-1 win over Fresno State on Tuesday.
3B Rylan Sandoval is batting a team-best .414 in Big West games this season, while fellow 3B Brandon Godfrey is batting .400. Shane Peterson and Danny Espinosa are both batting .373 in league contests, as Peterson leads the club with a .376 overall average.
Entering the weekend, Boydsworld.com, which closely predicts the final RPI determined to announce the 64-team NCAA Regional field, the Dirtbags have an RPI of No. 39. Among opponents, Rice is No. 5, the Titans are No. 13, UCI is No. 20, California is No. 22, Wichita State is No. 27 and San Diego is No. 29. The Dirtbags are 6-6 against those six teams.
A number of anniversaries have occurred during the season, with the City of Long Beach celebrating another one on Saturday, May 10 when the team's second game of a three-game series with UC Santa Barbara, was moved back to accommodate a fireworks show following the game. May 10, 1958 was when Blair Field was officially dedicated, as the first game was played on April 11 and the first college game was played on April 15, 50 years ago. The 2008 season is also the 15th Anniversary of the team's 1993 run towards Omaha, featuring Jeff Liefer, all-time saves leader Gabe Gonzalez and Daniel Choi; and the 10th Anniversary of the 1998 College World Series team, which featured the most prolific hitting team in school-history. Thirty-five years ago on March 31, 1973 Ruben Patron pitched a school-record 20 innings in the longest game in school-history.
