Dirtbags 2014 Out-Of-Conference Preview: part 1

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.

Reviewing "Baseball in Long Beach"; mainly the Dirtbag parts.

The Summer Leagues have been over for several weeks now, so apart from the occasional scrimmage or two (Dirtbags vs. Trojans on November 23!) we're about to enter the most dead part of the baseball year. Thankfully, Long Beach Register's Bob Keisser's new book Baseball in Long Beach was released just in time to help fend off any offseason withdrawals.

As pretty plainly expressed in the title, the book is an anthology of sorts of baseball in the 562, ranging from biographies of Long Beach-natives that went on to become baseball icons, to the history of college and prep baseball in the city. The book starts out modestly, giving due notice to the reverence the city's baseball community had for Press-Telegram sports editor Frank T. Blair, and the role Blair played in pushing for a ballpark that would serve as the city's baseball epicenter. Keisser quickly shifts gears, however, and covers the lives of favorite sons turned Hall-of-Famers like Bob Lemon and Tony Gwynn.

While these chapters are probably obligatory, many die-hard baseball fans, and certainly Long Beach fans, are already to some degree familiar with several of the stories referenced. The bios, however, serve as nice segues into the stories of lesser-known natives Bobby Grich and Vern Stephens, two should-be Hall-of-Famers who are profiled in the curiously titled chapters “Moneyball” and “Moneyball, Part II”. It's an interesting look if for no other reason than both Grich and Stephens's outstanding big league careers seem to have fallen under the radar as history has passed. Keisser examines how the advancement of sabermetrics have created a swell of Hall-of-Fame support for the previously dormant cases of Grich and Stephens. Though Keisser's use of advanced statistics creates a compelling case for both players, the overabundance of statistics referenced (advanced and traditional) occasionally causes the stories behind the players themselves to get lost.

Eventually, Keisser focuses Baseball in Long Beach on baseball in Long Beach, digging deeply into the the rich history of the area's several high schools. Covering high school baseball history for one specific city might seem like an awfully niche subject, particularly if the reader is a non-Long Beach native like myself, but one can't help but be impressed with the sheer volume of baseball talent that the area has produced, and Keisser allows no one of significance to slip through the cracks. Moreover, the overview Keisser gives serves as a nice foundation and backstory to the real heart of the book (as least as far as I'm concerned), the history of Long Beach State baseball and the rise of the Dirtbags.

In clearly laying out the history of the region's prep and Junior College baseball programs, Keisser sets up the telling of how a hastily assembled group of players on a perennial loser of a school managed to use it's lack of funding and facilities as a motivating force. You know the story of the mud-caked uniforms that became the then-49ers' signature look, but the book also focuses on other Omaha-bound LBSU teams, including the '93 squad which became the first to call Blair Field home, only to struggle out of the gate. One interesting anecdote referenced involved Coach Dave Snow holding “practice” on the track, rather than the baseball field, and running his team (the first ever to officially be known as the Dirtbags) after a disappointing weekend series. As Keisser puts it, in words that seem all too relevant today: “[the message] was clear – you didn't become a Dirtbag just by being on the team, and the coach was willing to do whatever it took to get that point across.”

There's a chapter dedicated to some of Long Beach State's biggest names in the major leagues, though Evan Longoria has noticeably little coverage. The portion on Troy Tulowitzski, inparticular, is intriguing, as it's obvious Tulo's passion for what it means to be a Dirtbag still plays a heavy role it the all-star shortstop's approach to the game.

Keisser's telling is truly comprehensive, as he goes on to cover the stellar career of long time big league scout Harry Minor; the Jeff Buroughs-lead Little League World Series teams of the '90's; several championship clubs from amateur leagues such as PONY and American Legion; and he provides anecdotes about the California Winter League, the old Pacific Coast League, and the multiple failed attempts at an independent league team in Long Beach (no mention of the American West Baseball League's proposed Long Beach Splash, who apparently folded this past summer before games were ever played).

Keisser's book is well worth a read, particularly if you're suffering from the offseason blues, and those with at least a passing familiarity of the region's baseball prowess should appreciate the thoroughness of Keisser's coverage. Bringing this back to the Dirtbags, I'll close with an excerpt on Long Beach State's status in the post-Snow era, as the Dirtbags enter 2014 still trying to find their previous glory:

“What's mostly been lost is that thing Snow always sought – players who buy in 100 percent to the type of play and discipline he wanted. There's been a lot of players excited to be a Dirtbag but very few with the discipline and commitment to play like one.”

Five lukewarm questions for the Dirtbags this summer

The Dirtbags failed to make the regionals once again, yet it's been a busy June for Long Beach State baseball. Shane Carle was just drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates on Day Two of the MLB Draft (an LBSU pitcher going to the Pirates? Can't help but wonder if ex-Pirate Troy Buckley had some input on that); many Dirtbags have started their summer league seasons; and damn-near a fifth of the 2013 squad just up and left. So before I fully transition into my DC Grays summer league coverage (and find out just when exactly I can go to a game), I wanted to address a few of the questions facing Dirtbag baseball as we look ahead to the 2014 season.

1. How will Johnny Bekakis rebound?

After spending the spring on the couch for academic reasons, Bekakis is back(is) on the playing field, teaming with fellow-Dirtbags Zack Rivera and Josh Frye with the LaCrosse Loggers in the Northwoods League.

Though it’s still early in the summer (so early it’s still spring) Bekakis has gotten off to a decent start in the NWL, tallying seven hits and four steals through the Loggers’ first nine games while manning centerfield for LaCrosse (Bekakis spent his first two seasons for the Dirtbags primarily in left field). Assuming he picks up where he left off in 2012, Bekakis should be back in left for LBSU next season, likely hitting at the top of the lineup.

What will Richard Prigatano prove in the Cape?

Playing in the Cape Cod league usually means more for a player’s draft status than his collegiate production. Nevertheless, Prigatano seems to be gearing up for big 2014 after showing a small but noticeable step forward in 2013. The would-be junior right fielder improved both his slugging and on-base percentages last season, but he still needs to find a way to better utilize his natural power in spacious Blair Field, and his poor strikeout-to-walk ratio (33:13 last season) remains a concern.  How he performs against the nation’s best prospects this summer should give us an idea of what we can expect next spring.

Will Jason Martin, Matt Ball, or Garrett Hampson end up at Blair Field next year?

If you’d asked me yesterday I would’ve said: maybe, yes, no. Now, after two days complete in the MLB draft, I’ll adjust that to: no, probably, and hopefully.

Jason Martin was the first LBSU recruit to go this year, plucked by the Astros in the 8^th round. That high of a selection likely means he’s going to skip school and play semi-pro (because, c’mon, it’s the Astros).

Matt Ball seemed likely to go to Long Beach State from the start, but a little bird told me he’s likely to be drafted in Day Three, so the odds of his going pro just went a little higher. Still, he’s not likely to get a huge signing bonus so I’d say the odds are still in our favor.

Garrett Hampson is the name we’ll be keeping an eye on until the signing deadline in August. Pre-draft reports had Hampson going in the round 2-4 range, but he’s somehow managed to slip outside the top ten rounds. Teams will be a little more bold with their selections early in Day Three, but if Hampson manages to fall outside round 15 that could be an indication that teams have some signability concerns.

If Ball makes it to campus he may fill the void left by the recently departed David Hill, as being the underclassmen with the best chance to start on weekends in 2014. Both Martin and Hampson could provide some much needed speed and athleticism to a Dirtbag lineup that hasn’t been able to produce much in several years. Hampson also fills a void in the Dirtbags’ infield. We’ll try not to get our hopes up, but Martin, Ball, and Hampson could all be key pieces of the 2014 Dirtbags… if they go to school.

4. Will anyone go Matt Anderson on us?

As a reminder, Anderson was the Dirtbag would-be senior righty that went undrafted last year, only to have an insane season in summer ball and sign a pro contract anyway. Bekakis, Frye, and Nick Rosetta are the only would-be seniors playing summer ball this year, and none of them were major parts of the 2013 Dirtbags, so seeing them go pro would be a bit of a stretch. Don’t expect any surprise departures this summer (I mean, besides David Hill going one-and-done).

5. What will be the big question marks entering Fall Ball?

The biggest one will be what is the overall health of the team with Ryan Strufing, Kyle Friedrichs, and Prigatano (and possibly Michael Hill) all coming off injuries? Among the position battles at hand, the Sunday starter gig (Nick Sabo being the early frontrunner) and the left side of the infield (too many candidates to name) will be biggest competitions entering 2014.

Stay tuned for updates on all of these questions in the coming days and weeks...

Going Gray (with some notes on the Tallahassee Regional)

Yes, I'm alive.

There's no sense in going into detail about what's kept me away; it was the usual "real life" crap. You know, boring stuff. Unfortunately those same reasons limited my college baseball attendance to two (TWO!) games all season.... and it was a double-header... and it snowed.... at a baseball game.... what kind of fantasy world of a city am I living in?

But thankfully Dirtbag Blues is back just in time for the Summer Leagues, specifically the DC Grays' second season. The Grays served as my primary baseball surrogate last season and will have to fill that role for me again this year (for the Grays personnel that read this: I was the creepy quiet guy with the big goofy red scorebook... it's kinda my trademark).

To celebrate the return of the one team I'll actually be able to watch on a (semi) consistent basis this year, I've decided to hit the reset button on my blog and turn it into a #GraysArea (this is a thing, apparently). My old posts are still floating around and will probably make a return by next spring, but for now I'm not going to overthink this blogging stuff. Just a nice, boring template for my nice, boring content.

I'll have more on the 2013 Grays in the next few days, but for now you might catch a sneak peak of a few players who will be participating in the Regionals this weekend; specifically the Tallahassee Regional. The Florida State-hosted regional will feature three members of the Grays; Troy infielder Peyton Fuller; and Savannah State right-hander Sherman Graves and outfielder Mendez Elder. Fuller and Graves don't figure to factor into the tournament too much (though Graves could see some action if the Tigers' bullpen gets taxed early), but Elder is worth keeping an eye on. The freshman from Atlanta was a big part of the Savannah State offense this year, posting a .379 on-base percentage with 10 stolen bases.

I've got plenty to say about the 2013 Dirtbags (and the Dodgers... good God...) including some notes about next week's draft, but there will be plenty of time for that. For now, Go Grays!

Series Preview: Dirtbags @ Pacific, 4/5-7

Twelve second scouting report on Pacific.

Overview

It’s been awhile. In my absence the Dirtbags have had their souls crushed by San Diego State, received a kick to the groin from Cal State Fullerton, and played a solid series in their conference opener against Cal State Northridge.

The Pacific Tigers, meanwhile, played poorly to begin the year, poorly against Creighton, and assembled a local little league all-star team to play Fullerton in their stead last weekend. I don’t really hold the contempt for Pacific that my rhetoric may reflect, but as I’ve said on multiple message boards “good luck in the WCC next year, Tigers.” (I frequently follow this up my lamenting about how I wish the Big West could find a tenth school. Apparently, beggars can be choosers)

What's at stake

You’ll notice even before I stopped writing altogether, I stopped mentioning the Dirtbags RPI numbers (currently #138, 36th in SoS, 1-8 record against teams in the top 25, and an overall “RPI record” of 8.3-16). That’s because any hope the Dirtbags had of grabbing an at-large regional bid has long since disappeared. Sure, there’s a chance LBSU could go on a tear and post a record of 27-3 the rest of the way, but in that scenario they’d probably simply win the conference’s automatic bid anyway.

And that’s what’s at stake. The 2-1 Dirtbags will have to win the Big West to be playing June baseball this year, so from this point forward just about every series is a must-win, and this weekend may be a “must-sweep”. Taking only two out of three wouldn’t be crippling to the Dirtbags’ conference hopes, but would likely reflect a talent-gap of a team that simply can’t win a 27-game conference season.

As for Pacific, they’re going to do their best to keep their net runs in the –30 range for the series. I swear to God, if they win this series, there will be bloodshed.

Tale of the Tape

Pitching Match-ups

Friday: RHP Shane Carle (3:35 ERA, 33:12 K:BB, 43 IP)  vs. LHP John Haberman (8.44 ERA, 15:8 K:BB, 21.1 IP)

Carle has been the Dirtbags’ top pitcher all season and should continue to be so. The occasional blow up has kept his ERA in the less-than-outstanding range, but typically he’s been a good bet to get a quality start.

John Haberman has pitched better than his 8.44 ERA indicates but still, his ERA is 8.44. Seriously, guys.

Saturday: LHP Jake Stassi (2.73 ERA, 19:11 K:BB, 29.2 IP) vs. RHP Michael Benson (3.43 ERA, 11:13 K:BB, 42 IP)

Stassi has been one of the surprises of the season for the Dirtbags as he continues to offer consistently solid outings. Since a shaky three-inning start against Arizona State back in early March, Stassi has gone three straight outings of six-plus innings while allowing only one run.

Benson is somewhat of the antonym of Haberman. His performance this year has been slightly less impressive than his decent ERA would imply, though last season he was easily the Tigers best pitcher.

Sunday: RHP David Hill (4.55 ERA, 20:16 K:BB, 31.2 IP) vs. TBA

David Hill has settled into the Sunday role nicely, thus far, pitching two consecutive quality starts against Big West opponents. It’d be unfair to expect much bigger things out of him for this season, but his ceiling is sky-high.

The Sunday starter for the Tigers will likely be either Cory Popham, Michael Hager, or Kyle Crawford. Only one of those options (Crawford) is an unhittable-lefty.

Lineup:

Juan Avila and Ino Patron have returned to the Dirtbag lineup to give the offense a badly needed boost. Avila is back after suffering a hand injury, while Patron returns after letting Royce Murai hit for him the first five weeks of the season. Both Avila and Patron have pushed their on-base percentages over .350 and Patron is slugging .418

In an interesting development, it appears The Colby Brenner Show has gone the way of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and Jeff McNeil moved into center field for the entire CSUN series last week. Colton Vaughn has taken over at second base and has some dynamic speed of his own, while currently boasting a .357 on-base mark. Keep an eye on his progress, as the redshirt sophomore could grab a starting role in 2014 if McNeil or Michael Hill depart for the professional ranks this June.

The Tigers typically offer an offense that isn’t horrifyingly awful, though this year they have just a .306 team on-base percentage and a .329 slugging mark. First baseman Erik Lockwood (.333/.418/.449 in 23 games) remains the team’s biggest threat. Catcher Jason Taasaas, with .383 OBP, is having a solid year but aside from that there aren’t many noteworthy performances from the UoP lineup. Senior second baseman Dustin Torchino has been something of a sparkplug for the Tigers for much of his career, but has disappointed thus far with a .645 OPS. Although Pacific will soon be leaving the Big West, it might be worth watching freshman outfielder Gio Brusa. Brusa has gotten off to a slow start (.414 OPS) but has the potential to be one of the better Tiger hitters in recent memory.

Dirty Talk

I’m still working on getting this blog back up to speed, so I wasn’t able to find a Pacific fan for “Dirty Talk” this week. But that’s okay because I have something even better, a chat with ever-present Fullerton fan Dave Wright from two weeks ago that I never posted. Sorry for the delay, Dave.

Dirtbag Blues: Having already climbed into the top 10 in most polls, how do you think this year's team compares to other Titan squads of the past several years? Dave Wright: There is much more cohesiveness with this year's team than there was in 2011, the last year that Serrano was the head coach, or last year in Vanderhook's first season.  There were major internal issues in 2011 and there was a transition period last season that isn't uncommon with a new coaching staff where some players didn't have as big of a role that they thought they would.  It helps that there are more seniors on the team than any other team at Fullerton in recent memory because the leadership from the seniors has been excellent. The one area on the field that this team is much better in than the previous two teams is the ability to hit for power, which they haven't done much at all since the BBCOR bats were introduced other than Nick Ramirez in 2011.  The rest of the team hit 8 HR's that year and Fullerton only hit 10 HR's last season but they have already hit 11 HR's.   DB: What could be the Titans biggest weakness? DW: The team hasn't been stringing together many hits on the weekends, hitting in the .235-.240 range in each of the last four weekend series.  However, they have seen some pretty good pitching in those series against TCU, Oregon and Texas A&M and the best starter they have seen was probably Alex Gonzalez last weekend at Oral Roberts, who is likely to be drafted in the first two rounds. DB: What's Michael Lorenzen's draft stock look like right now? Any other draft-eligible Titans making a name for themselves so far?  DW: Lorenzen has been hitting much better than he did in the last six weeks of 2012 and is driving the ball with more authority.  He will probably be drafted either late in the first round or in the second round.  The player who can be drafted in June who has made the biggest jump from last season is Chad Wallach.  The MLB guys obviously like his bloodlines but he has gone from being a poor defensive catcher, after being converted to the position last year, with a below average bat to a solid defender and one of the better hitters on the team.  There aren't too many juniors on the team so the other players who are going to be drafted are seniors and the one who is standing out is Carlos Lopez, who has gotten himself in much better shape and is having a great season. DB: I'm gonna challenge you here... who's been better, Justin Garza or Thomas Eshelman? When was the last time the Titans had two freshmen arms that were so good, so early? DW: They have been about the same.  Eshelman is a bulldog who doesn't throw as hard as Garza, who has a live arm, but Eshelman is a little more polished.  Fullerton had two solid freshmen in the weekend rotation last season with Kenny Mathews and Grahamm Wiest and had a couple of pretty good freshmen in the rotation in 2009 with Noe Ramirez and Tyler Pill, which is the last time that the Titans went to Omaha. DB: Austin Diemer looks like he's gotten off to a very nice start, any other Titans who have had surprisingly strong/poor seasons? DW: Diemer has very good speed and will be the starting CF in 2014 after Lorenzen has moved on.  He just needed to get some playing time after getting used to hitting against D1 pitchers.  Wallach, whom I already mentioned, is another one who is having a surprisingly good season. DB: We both know the Dirtbags are going to win the conference, but hypothetically speaking... who poses a bigger threat in the Big West to the Titans; UC Irvine or Cal Poly? DW: Interesting question.  Everybody expected Irvine to have a very good pitching staff and those guys have delivered but their offense has been surprisingly good and their defense has been excellent despite losing three senior starters up the middle at 2B, SS and CF.  Cal Poly returned most of their lineup but hasn't been hitting much until recently and the main reason why they got off to such a good start is due to their pitching being excellent.  They look like two pretty evenly matched teams. DB: We've talk a little about this before, but in general what do you think caused such a large regression for the Dirtbags in recent years, and what do you think they need to do to get back on track? DW: Long Beach stopped getting the amount of front line talent that they were getting in Mike Weathers earlier years as recruiting slipped and the talent level has been below average compared to where it was up to 2008 and that is a big reason why the program has regressed.  Troy Buckley has started to get the program solidified since returning as an assistant for the 2010 season but he probably needs one more big recruiting group to get the talent level in the program close to where it was in 2007-2008 when Long Beach hosted regionals in both of those seasons.

I’ll look forward to chatting with Dave again in four weeks, in the mean time you can find him on twitter here, where you can ask him pretty much anything about the Titans.

Dirtbags' Keys to the Series

An absent supporting cast

Though Avila and Patron have rebounded, Jeff Yamaguchi and the trio of freshman Eric Hutting, Zach Rivera, and Jonathan Serven have regressed, leaving the LBSU lineup awfully top-heavy. Some more support from the 5 through 9 hitters are badly needed for this light-hitting offense.

The Stassi/Hill weekend combo

The Dirtbags may have finally solidified the back end of their rotation and if Stassi/Hill are able to keep the Tigers offense at bay it’s hard to image the Dirtbags could lose this series, or even fail to sweep.

Don’t screw it up

It still seems like the Dirtbags haven’t been able to get running on all cylinders this year, and the team’s imbalanced output has been even more glaring in the last couple weeks. Rookie righty David Hill tosses a strong game against Fullerton…. Michael Hill’s inexplicably called out at third base to end the game; the Dirtbags manage to get seven hits against Northridge’s Jerry Keel… Shane Carle somehow gets lit up by a poor CSUN lineup.

The Tigers may end up being the worst opponent the Dirtbags face all season, if there’s going to be a series where everything should go right for Long Beach, this would be it.

Up Next: For the Dirtbags; San Diego State and UC David; for me, probably writing a remorse-filled letter begging Pacific to stay in the conference.