We're still
waiting on the official announcement on the Long Beach State 2014
schedule, but the out-of-conference slate was recently announced on
twitter (one of the two accounts the Dirtbags seem to have) and it's
a thing of beauty. Though they're again going a tad heavy on the home
games, next season's schedule has the potential to be the strongest
in years, which is saying quite a bit. In the first of three posts,
we take a look at some of the teams headed to Blair Field this
spring...
Vanderbilt (2013 ISR: 4; RPI: 2) –
The Commodores cruised to a
series win against the Dirtbags to open what would be a historic
season for VU. Frankly, in retrospect it's amazing Long Beach State
even managed to win one game at the Hawk, given how good the Dores
turned out to be. Vandy would go on be win a record 26 SEC games and
become a national seed. In that three-game series, Vandy outscoured
LBSU 31-19, despite being tied with 30 hits each. The difference
would be Vanderbilt's trademark base on balls (18) and fearless
baserunning (seven steals, plus more extra bases taken than I care to
remember).
Vandy lost half a
minor league team-worth of players to the draft, but will
nevertheless open 2014 as one of the top teams in the nation. On the
hill for Vandy will be Golden Spikes Finalist RHP Tyler Beede (2.32
ERA, 103 K/63 BB, 101 IP) who tossed five solid innings against the
Dirtbags last February, albeit while struggling to manage a tight
strike zone. Senior RHP TJ Pecoraro (5.97, 15/14, 34.2 IP) also
returns but was hit hard in Long Beach State's Sunday win last year
and will have to fight his way back into the rotation against RHPs
Walker Buehler (3.14, 57/25, 63 IP), Tyler Ferguson (4.21, 21/11,
25.2 IP), and LHP Philip Pfeifer (3.68, 47/30, 63.2 IP). Ferguson and
Pfeifer both had mediocre relief appearances against the Dirtbags
last season.
SS Vince Conde
(.307/.380/.458) is arguably the best of the few returning starters,
though a plethora of part-timers from last year seem poised to become
impact players. What will be interesting to see is what the Dores
offensive approach will look like after losing five players that drew
30+ walks, and four of five players with 15+ steals in 2013, but rest
assured the 2014 lineup will present a challenge for Dirtbag pitching
it what's likely to be the first series of the season.
“Mini-Tournament” featuring
Arizona State, Wright State, and UC Irvine – This
series is actually going to include two games at home (versus Arizona
State and Wright State) and one on the road (at UC Irvine). This will
be the first tournament-style weekend for in Blair Field since the
start of the 2010 season, and oddly enough it'll conclude with ASU
playing WSU on Sunday, while the Dirtbags are down in Orange County
battling the Anteaters. It's confirmed that this will be the second
weekend of the season.
Arizona State (ISR: 15, RPI: 20) –
Last season's series in Tempe resulted in a three-game sweep for the
Sun Devils and one of the most anemic offensive outputs from the
Dirtbags all year. LHP Ryan Kellogg (3.15, 54/17, 103 IP) is likely to
get the ball for this Friday game. Kellogg tossed seven, two-hit,
scoreless frames against LBSU a year ago, leading ASU to its second
shutout of the series. Several of ASU's top hitters from last year
are gone, but the Sun Devils bring in a strong recruiting class and a
solid core of returners lead by SS Drew Stankiewicz (.295/.363/.396)
and 1B Dalton DiNatale (.302/.397/.405).
Wright State (ISR: 202, RPI: 219) –
Wright State returns to the
southland after being swept at UCLA last spring, however the Raiders
are an unfamiliar foe to Blair Field. Wright State finished fourth
last season in the Horizon League; a conference whose only regional
representative, Valparaiso, suffered an early season sweep to the
Dirtbags. Wright State will see a lot of lineup turnover in 2014 but
returns senior OFs Kieston Greene (.335/.396/.492) and Mark Fowler
(.308/.383/.390).
UC Irvine (ISR: 29, RPI: 80) – The
Anteaters are coming off a disappointing 2013 and saw further
coaching turnover in the summer, resulting in the exit of revered
assistant Pat Shine. However they did manage to take two of three
against the Dirtbags last season (the first series since 2010 that
didn't include a no-hitter!). Irvine enters 2014 with lower
expectations and may not quite be the pitching-rich team they've been
in recent years, but they return some star-studded hitters like 3B
Taylor Sparks (.360/.388/.581), 1B Connor Spencer (.373/.443/.491),
and SS Chris Rabago (.269/.325/.356). The Dirtbags will be heading to Irvine for the Sunday-finale of this tournament. The back of the
Irvine rotation is currently up in the air but a strong returning
candidate for this role is sophomore southpaw Elliot Surrey (3.95,
10/5, 13.2 IP). It's also been announced the Dirtbags' regular season will close with a home conference series against the Anteaters.
Utah Valley (2013 ISR: 211; RPI:
232) – Utah Valley! It's Utah Valley you guys! A favorite of
myself and writers like Eric Sorenson from two years ago make the
trip out to Long Beach next season, their first in the re-vamped WAC.
These Wolverines, however, are a far cry from the 2012 squad that won
47 games behind a .959 OPS. After seeing their run production drop by
over 40% in 2013, the 2014 team will return a somewhat more
experienced lineup lead by Sophomore’s 3B Stone Ramsey
(.307/.402/.457) and 1B Mark Krueger (.323/.374/.453). On the
pitching side Utah Valley also saw a slight regression in 2013, and
lose 2012 Great West Pitcher of the Year RHP Adam Gunn, among others.
Top returners include likely Friday starter RHP Devin Nelson (3.55
ERA, 61/17 K/BB in 78.2 IP) and reliever RHP Brian Whatcott (1.69,
19/11, 26.2 IP).
The Wolverines
will likely be the Dirtbags' weakest weekend opponent next year, and
their 2013 stats and RPI weren't that dissimilar from arguably LBSU's
weakest foe last season; the Seattle Redhawks. The same Seattle
Redhawks that came to Blair Field and won two out of three.
Up next: We round
out the home schedule with one-forth of last year's College World
Series field.
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