DIRTBAGS SQUEEZE OUT ANOTHER SERIES AND GATHER FOR BRUNCH BALL

Welcome to Super Sunday and our spare parts edition of Diamond Dust. Like the Martha Stewart menu from the Grey Bar Hotel, sometimes a winning effort requires substituting an ingredient here and there.

Saturday for example newcomer Evan Longoria was on the bench observing a taut little thriller between the Niners and Saint Mary’s when all universe short stop Troy Tulowitzki skied a pop-up to first that the Gael’s dropped. It was just confusing at the time since the LB runner scooted on home only to be sent back since the ump ruled that the goof occurred in foul territory. Tulo was later walked and nobody suspected anything until he was pulled the next inning due to extreme pain in his left hand. It seemed that he had injured that hook bone in his hand and even a tough guy had to give it up.

Back to Evan, he came in and played the position defensively like a perfect spare part and then, in the first extra inning experience for the Bags, banged a lead-off double over third and started an inning that would result in LB winning it’s second series of the season with a 2-1 escape over SMC. After Longoria’s big rap Weather’s went Snow Ball with a bunt that nobody could get, the Gael’s loaded the Bags with Bags via the intentionally walk before another spare part, pinch hitter Chris Jones, laid down a perfect suicide squeeze and the 49er faithful filed out feeling happy and relieved.

Speaking of great relief, there was more of that for the Beach on Saturday in the form of Brian Anderson (2.0 innings, 3 Ks and no hits) and Neil Jamison (1 inning, 1 hit, 1 K and the W). The first seven innings was quite the duel between the impressive heat of the Dirtbag Saturday Special Cody Evans throwing heat and the Gael’s Joel Fountain throwing, well, puzzling slow stuff that had more curves and bends than your Hooter’s waitress.

SUNDAY MY DUST WILL COME—SMC’s Fountain tired in the eighth inning after 101 pitches in his D-I debut…an error and a walk got him in trouble and Tito Cruz tied the affair with a clutch hit right side...Evans tossed 81 pitches, 50 through the first five innings…Tulowitzki had know immediate swelling but saw the docs after the game to e-ray for a break…if it is that hook bone the repair is pretty standard and might only cost him a couple of weeks…the Beach had but eight hits after lust hitting at ASU…the Niner average through the first five is .321 while the opponents are hitting .265…of course there is this little matter of averaging 10 men per contest left on base…as usual the team ERA is brilliant, 2.20 to the other guys 4.87 but it is awfully early…if Norm Chow does bolt USC for the NFL Trojan baseball boss Mike Gillespie loses a secret weapon…he told the media day throng that “Norm Chow has agreed to become our offensive coordinator."…USC starts their season Tuesday with SDSU…in their 5-2 win over CSUN Niner tennis showed some depth when fiery Claudia Argumendo came in replacing Sandra Rocha, who missed the match due to a family emergency, and won going away 6-1, 6-1…after spending half of Thursday night in Mary Hegarty’s dog house, Senior guard Aisha Hollans had a stat line to brag about last night with 17 points, eight steals, eight assists and seven rebounds as LBSU crushed Pacific 74-48…meanwhile in Stockton our men go the other end of that romping stuff losing on TV 87-58…the Weather report, “I was pleased about the way that we kept creating things and didn’t give in to the frustration that guy gave us…finally I decided that we just needed to get it done so we squeezed”…today’s starter will be Marco Estrada opposed by whatever is left of all those SMC right-handers but expect Jared Hughes to get in for LB now that all his issues are settled…he looked big (6-7, 230) in pre-season stuff and throws very hard and with Anderson and Jamison already worked twice it should be his turn…he was a rumored top draft choice out of HS before he dropped in draft status when he decided to go to college, first at Santa Clara, alma mater of Niner pitching whiz Troy Buckley, then the Beach…from the scoreboard Cal Poly 8, San Jose State 7; Fullerton 4, Stanford 3, next week’s visitors California 5, UC Irvine 4 (11); UC Riverside 7, San Diego 4; Nevada 1, Pacific 0; Arizona State 10, Gonzaga 8 and…nah, can’t go there every game—DR. DAN