WELCOME UCLA AND MEET THE MVG’S: THEY CLEAN THE FIELD AND THE PRESS BOX BUFFET

Phil Hester has a nice seat at Blair Field, about two rows up on the first base side and so far he has enjoyed the work of his spring tenant, Long Beach State baseball. The have drawn some nice crowds, haven’t lost a game, and he’s virtually the only college sports landlord allowed to sell beer.

Phil is the department chief for LB Parks and Rec but like all good managers he is only as goods as his team, and there are no better grounds crew in the land than firm of Lupold, Buckley, Gadbaw and Messal. Less expensive than your Beverly Hills lawyers, Scott Lupold, Nick Buckley, Mike Gadbaw, and Landon Messal swept the standing water all morning, pulled the tarp off at 2 p.m. and hauled out bags of Turface, at $15 a bag the secret potion to absorb gallons of water in the wink of an eye.

And now you know the rest of the story and why we have the UCLA baseball team (5-9) on the field to face our No. 15/16 Long Beach State Dirtbags (9-4). The Bruins are looking to win at Blair for the first time since 1995 and er, ah, it won’t be easy. LB has won five of their last six including that hosing of Illinois-Chicago this past weekend, drowning the Flames for 26 of 27 innings. The Niner mound work is the talk of the nation, a 2.63 team ERA and has held opponents to a miserly .232 batting average but this is a Tuesday and a first start for freshman lefthander Shane Peterson (0-0, 3.86) who faces off against UCLA lefty Brian Schroeder (1-0, 3.14) who already has a Tuesday win when he threw 6.0 innings, allowing no runs on four hits with four strikeouts and two walks as the Bruins shut out Pepperdine. So since Brian was the 2005 UCLA Co-Pitcher of the Year and led the staff with four wins is former Irvine skipper John Savage stacking the Tuesday deck for a win over his old foe? Film at 11.

MID WEEK DUST—While the Beach has survived in home mid weekers with UCLA the finals have been close…the Bruins lost to the Bags at Blair 4-3 in 2002, 2-0 in 2003, 2-1 in 2004, and 2-1 last season…they just dropped three-straight to CSUF, 7-2 , 3-1 and 12-6…while the Bags have a poll to say they play the nation’s toughest sked, so does UCLA….they play 32 games against NCAA tourney teams, No. 1 strength of schedule according to Boyd's World …last Bruin note, tonight’s guest travel for a series at NC State while the LB tries to dodge the next storm for the Baylor weekend…on the spring training front USA Today reports on the Weaver brother wars…Jeff you know just signed with Jered’s employer, the So Cal Angels…"Hey, my brother was out of work, he needed a job," says Jered, at 6-7, 205, 2 inches taller and 5 pounds heavier. "I told him, 'Don't worry about me. I'll get my spot.' As long as that spot stays in the family, I'm cool."…Jered will open the season at Class AAA Salt Lake where his $4 million bonus will buy a lot of soft drinks

Baylor is on a bit of a funk coming in, the Bears had to score late on Sunday to avoid a sweep at home by Arizona State…Da Bears are playing in San Marcos, Texas tonight facing Texas State…. since the Weatherman is giving us this on and off pattern of rain you should know that the weatherman named Mike is trying to make his team look like Noah’s Ark….two of every species--pitchers, catchers, hitters, fielders, etc…last weekend’s rout allowed the coaches to audition more talent…the Beach now has two good catchers, the old guy Tito Cruz and the Hawaiian Punch, Kip Masuda. Masuda still struggles with the breaking ball but he nailed a belt high fastball out of Blair on Saturday, the first Beach home homer of the year…at first there are two sluggers competing, the left handed hitting Brandon Godfrey (.324) and the right handed option Scooter Bradley (.364)…at second there is a choice between the senior vacuum sweeper Chuck Sindlinger (.233) and brash newcomer Matt Cline (.333)…the outfield also has a pleasant log jam, Robert Perry, Sean Boatright, Jose Hernandez, Jordan Struble, Shane Peterson, and Tom Wolf, two for every spot…and as you know Niners pitching rich again….ten players have gone into the circle and that means the good ship Dirtbag looks like an Ark that could sail the Niners right to Omaha Beach, or at least deep into the NCAA tournament.—DR. DAN

CAPTAIN NOAH WEATHERS HAS LOADED THE GOOD SHIP DIRTBAG,TWO BY TWO

Since the Weatherman is giving us this on and off pattern of rain you might not be surprised that the other weatherman, Dirtbag baseball coach Mike Weathers, is trying to make his team look like Noah’s Ark. Two of every species--pitchers, catchers, hitters, fielders, etc.

Last weekend the only soft spot in the formidable 49er schedule, Illinois Chicago, came in to town just in time for the baseball staff to audition more of their 2006 talent. For example the Beach now has two good catchers, the old guy Tito Cruz and the Hawaiian Punch Kip Masuda. Masuda still struggles with the breaking ball but he nailed a belt high fastball out of Blair on Saturday, the first Beach homer of the year. At first base there are two sluggers competing, the left handed hitting Brandon Godfrey (.324) and the right handed option Scooter Bradley (.364). At second there is a choice between the senior vacuum sweeper Chuck Sindlinger (.233) and brash newcomer Matt Cline (.333).

The outfield also has a pleasant log jam, Robert Perry, Sean Boatright, Jose Hernandez, Jordan Struble, Shane Peterson, and Tom Wolf, two for every spot. Finally, the pitching rich Niners are, well, pitching rich again. Ten players have gone into the circle and the team ERA is miniscule 2.63. Looks like an Ark that could sail the Niners right to Omaha Beach, or at least deep into the NCAA tournament.

DOPPLER DUSTING--A student reporter asked Coach Weathers what his “strategy” would be for the games this week and he said, “Stay dry.” With the best ground crew in the West, Blair has a great chance of getting all three games in against visiting Baylor, Friday night, Saturday and Sunday afternoon. The Bears have been a puzzle so far and, like the Beach, played a mid week game Tuesday. They had to rally on Sunday to avoid being swept by Arizona State while Long Beach was sweeping Illinois-Chicago.

Remembering the slogans of Bob Maxson, it does appear that the Beach is hot. Last Saturday both of the basketball teams won, and both will get a bye for a round or two of the Big West tourneys. The tennis team took the Northwest passage to Oregon and returned with a 3-0 mark, with wins from # 22 Oregon, # 54 Denver and unranked Portland. They are now 8-2 for the season having won eight consecutive matches.
The ladies return to action at the 49er Courts this weekend versus two long-time conference rivals., today (Thursday) at 2pm vs. # 67 UC Irvine and Saturday at 11am vs. # 68 Pacific.

Back to hoops the Niner men ,scoring just over 83 points per game, are in the rarified scoring average company of Duke, Washington and Memphis, that other school that plays in a pyramid.

Back to the bases, the home folks were buzzing last weekend by the pitching success of the Dirtbag College of Baseball Knowledge. Friday night Jared Hughes led five zip after eight, on Saturday the congregation was agape by the one hitter offering of Andrew Carpenter and on Sunday true Freshman Vance Worley dropped his ERA from 5.87 to 3.86 in his shutout work. Oh yes that freshman behind the dish, Kip Masuda, was compared in the press box to CSUF’s Hawaiian catcher Kurt Suzuki. Masuda wanted to be a Dirtbag for a long time so much so that he paid his own way to a summer camp, hit a homer, and got a scholarship.
On the calendar for the insiders, men’s basketball (14-11) is at home today (Thursday) hosting UC Riverside before slipping behind the Orange Curtain to Irvine Saturday afternoon. The ladies of hoop, the other half of that UCI doubleheader, are 17-9 overall and still has a chance to win or share the Big West regular season –DR. DAN

SERMON ON THE MOUND: WORLEY TRIES TO FOLLOW THE CARPENTER

Welcome to Sunday School at the Dirtbag College of Baseball Knowledge. Although the diamond scriptures do say it is okay to smite the horsehide, the Reverends Mike Weathers and Troy Buckley are convinced that pitching is the road to the promised land and successful teams have at least three reliable starters. The Friday night service led by Jared Hughes was inspiring. On Saturday afternoon the congregation was agape by the one hitter offering of Andrew Carpenter. Today the Beach faithful hope that the trinity is complete with the first win of the season by freshman Vance Worley (0-2, 5.87 but getting better each weekend.)

Ironically Carpenter's 94 pitch performance equaled Dan Danielson's one-hitter in 1979 (in 52 seasons the 49ers have never had a no-hitter) on a day when the pitcher and his coach agreed he didn’t have his best stuff. First Weathers, “His velocity wasn’t very good and his location was just off.” Andrew himself, “It was warmer than last weekend (when he beat #2 Rice) but I didn’t have exceptional stuff. I never realized that I was close to a no hitter.” Perhaps when he read the box score Carpenter realized the domination that gave #17-ranked LBSU (8-4) its first shutout of the season and a series win over the visitors from Illinois-Chicago. Only a Justin Johnson grounder into short right in the seventh would spoil the gem. The 1100 on hand were thrilled by the 14 Flames in a row Andrew extinguished and the fact that (with a timely double play) he faced just one over the minimum in the Niners first complete game of 2006.

Now back to the smiting department, part of Carpenter’s ability to set the cruise control was the nice crooked number the Beach boys put up in the second. That would be a five spot highlighted by a three run Hawaiian punch homer delivered by freshman catcher Kip Masuda. Compared in the press box to CSUF’s Hawaiian catcher Kurt Suzuki, Masuda wanted to be a Dirtbag for a long time so much so that he paid his own way to a summer camp and despite standing just 5-11 and a bit under 180 hit a ball out of Blair. That earned him an invite and Saturday’s work earns him another start today, the first time this season that he has had to work back to back. “I’ll be ready, I just need to get a little more sleep” and maybe some more of that great campus cafeteria chow, (seems that the team’s jokester invites the fellows over to dinner on campus.) Carpenter for one loves Masuda’s enthusiasm. “He’s great to play with, keeps me loose and when he isn’t in the game he keeps the bench going.” A Dale Carnegie in cleats, it seems almost wasted to have a guy like that running around the bases.

DUST PARTICLES—Another great day by Evan Longoria who went 3-for-4 as part of an 11 hit day…Brandon Godfrey and Masuda and surprise second baseman Matt Cline all had two hits and Longoria could have had a 4-4 day except for a bunt down third that got too much air….with a green light, Longoria saw the Flame third baseman Bryan Nolte playing way deep and had a notion….Carpenter looks like a strong nominee for back to back Big West pitcher of the week …the net set continues to shine as Niner tennis picked up the team's seventh straight win shutting out #54 Denver and playing indoors where I figure Hannah Grady, direct from Merry Old England, likes to play…more campus notes, men’s hoops held a 72-51 lead with 10:01 left in the game but squandered that and needed overtime to win…the ladies of hoop beat UC Davis while UCSB lost to UC Riverside and men’s volleyball rebounded with a sweep of UCLA…Where are they—Jim Cordova, the hard working ticket manager at LBSU, has just changed box offices for the same position at San Diego State…Scoreboarding: Nevada 4, Pacific 3; Cal 4, Santa Barbara 2; UC Riverside 13, Cal State Northridge 8; UCI 12, San Diego State 1; Fullerton 3, UCLA 1; Santa Clara 7, Cal Poly 5; Tulane 9, Pepperdine 4; Fresno State 7, Stanford 5; Rice 3, Nebraska 2…last add Sunday, Mr. Worley was the hard luck loser in a 2-1 chiller to Oklahoma…today he tangles with a fellow freshman, UI-C’s lefty Don Phillis…closing quote--”In baseball the suspense is built into the game, in other sports they have to add tension by putting up a clock”--Justin Wells, LBSU grad student, philosophy professor and pop culture expert—DR. DAN

HUGHES HAS A GREAT EIGHT TO TURN OFF THE FLAMES IN 5-3 VICTORY

The hardest working man in show business, James Brown of the Famous Flames, used to tour the Southern "chitlin circuit" with the group's first hit single "Please, Please, Please". Like their musical counterparts The Illinois-Chicago Flames are touring the south and southwest while avoiding temps around 18F with a wind chill of, oh never mind. Anyhow that’s why the Flames start the first six weeks of their season on the road, in Arizona last weekend, here and now, Mississippi next weekend and eventually at home on March 24th. Facing the hard working Friday night Niner, Jared Hughes, these Flames begged for mercy the first eight innings of their baseball game with Long Beach State last night.

UI-C clearly struggled during Hughes’ masterful performance (he’s now 3-0) as he hurled eight scoreless innings, retiring seven in a row, fanning 9 and facing just two over the minimum through eight. A darn near perfect evening to that point but you know kids and their dreams of a complete game. Heading into the final frame with a 5-0 lead, his pitch count passed 100, the Flames kept pressing, the LB infield lost some of their crispness and things would end up at with the # 17 Niners winning the opener of this three game set 5-3. Using a wicked two seam sinker and spotting his fast ball with accuracy (no walks and but one hit batter) Hughes had his best outing of 2006. "I felt really good out there. I was really balanced and focused," said Hughes. "I was able to put all three of my pitches where I wanted to and I was able to establish myself early. I think the main thing was that I was getting my breaking pitches over for strikes, and that kept them guessing," he told the media throng (me and the Daily 49er writer). Bryan Shaw came on in the ninth to get the save. The D Bag hit parade was led by Brandon Godfrey (two RBIs), Danny Espinosa, two hits and in fact the first seven LBs had at least one hit including Evan Longoria who went 1-3 with a RBI and a walk. Andrew Carpenter, with his miniscule 1.89 ERA over 19 innings, goes for the Beach boys today while the Flame thrower will be lefty Joe Skinner (14.4 ERA over five innings).

SUNNY SIDE DUST--The baseball program is in the process of endowing a scholarship named after former Head Coach Bob Wuesthoff (1964-69), who led the 49ers to their first conference title in 1964. The seven-man committee of former players and coaches, led by LBSU’s first coach John McConnell has already raised $60,000 en route to $150,000 over five years. Those interested can call (562) 985-4662 for more information…this series with UI-C was engineered in part by the Bag’s sports psych guy Dr. Ken Ravizza who has contacts in the windy city…Sean Boatright has a back that isn’t right and with the cool temps will likely sit this weekend…Tom Wolf however was just given his fifth year of eligibility so the depth is still there…meanwhile red hot Pepperdine is dealing with an injury of its own…center fielder Adrian Ortiz (team-best .414 and four steals) is still suffering from a left wrist injury he sustained against LBSU a week ago Tuesday…where is that Austrian witch doctor when you need him….scoreboarding—Pepperdine 6-Tulane 2; Lamar 8-Michigan State 1; UC Irvine 4-SDSU 2; CSUF 7-UCLA 2; Rice 14- St, Johns 7; UC Davis 2-Oregon State 1…more indoor misery from the Mid, Niner volleyball loses in four but out of town Long Beach picked up the biggest win in women's tennis history with a 5-2 victory at # 22 Oregon on Friday afternoon….the win was the sixth in a row for the 49ers...where are theys—former Niner assoc. AD Dan Radakovich talked about academics and wore a Capital One Bowl watch as Georgia Tech's introduced him as their new athletics director…GT had recent problems with academic performance of athletes and coaches who continue to cook their resumes….Rad was LSU athletics director Skip Bertman's top lieutenant since 2001…he spent one year as athletics director at American University, associate athletics director in charge of financial operations at South Carolina for six years and a senior associate athletics director at LBSU from 1989-94…how about a home and home, I’ve got the Jet Blue tickets…expect UI-C to battle today…last year in the Lincoln Regional the Flames dropped two close games against tough competition - 8-6 against Nebraska, and 9-7 against North Carolina…and kudos to our pal and season ticket holder Dr. John Kashiwabara, the LBCC team doc 1956-1988, who goes into the Viking Hall of Fame next month…last add where’s--two former D-Bag pitchers will play in the World Baseball Classic…Team Italy will use Astros reliever Mike Gallo and Angels farmhand and Italian Olympian Kasey Olenberger against the field including the USA--DR. DAN

FRIDAY NIGHT: BUTANE, BLANKETS IN THE BOXES, FLAME THROWERS ON THE FIELD

TGIF and back to fun and games on Federation Drive. High school football aside, in the spring time Friday nights signify the start of a college baseball series, win two or three every weekend and make plans for the post-season party circuit. This weekend the opposing dugouts will be populated by the visitors from the Horizon conference, the Illinois-Chicago Flames and the finally back at home Dirtbags of Long Beach.

Befitting the importance of these Friday night fights, both sides will send stars to the circle. For Long Beach it will once again be Jared “The Headhunter” Hughes who leads the team in wins (2-0) but also in walks, (9), hit batters (4) and radar gun readings. His pre-season pub was great but out-of-nowhere Andrew Carpenter has been the most effective Niner but more of that tomorrow. For UI_C the standout is without question the Minnetonka Monster, Zach Peterson. For his work last weekend in snuffing perennial toughie Creighton, the third-year starter was rewarded with a spot on the College Baseball Foundation National Honor Roll. Peterson pitched seven shutout innings against the Bluejays, allowing only four hits and giving up a mere walk before the Flames won the game in the 10th inning, 3-2, on Jake Carr’s RBI single.

Carr is just part of the punch that the Flames bring to town, the other slugger of note is IC senior outfielder Bart Babineaux, an escapee from LSU country (New Iberia, La) who was named the Horizon League Baseball Player of the Week after batting .400 (6-for-15) with seven RBI in four games in Mesa, AZ, (spring training home of the Chicago Cubs). He also posted a .667 slugging percentage with a double and a home run. Babineaux earned All-Horizon League Second Team last year batting .317 with six homers and 42 RBI in the Flames' league championship and NCAA Regional campaign. For the homeboys they return after Friday and Saturday freeze-outs at Rice University’s Coca Cola Classic Hughes got the W over Lamar before Carpenter frosted then #2 Rice. The hitting hero predictably was Big West Player of the Week Evan Longoria, now at .438 the year with enough free passes (11) to take the family to movies for a month, are part of an outstanding .609 on-base percentage.

ROAD DUST- At the risk of having to pay royalties to Johnny Carson’s estate, I have to answer the sporting question from last weekend’s baseball journey deep in the heart of Texas, “How Cold was it?”…Wayne Graham, the distinguished long time coach of Rice came up into the press box (72 degrees, wind chill of 72) following Long Beach’s 4-1 win over his formerly second-ranked Owls and said, “Well there is good news and bad news--the bad news is that we got beat, the good news is that I got to come up here.” Jim Gilligan, for 29 years the skipper at Lamar, who the Dirtbags whipped 11-6 on Friday, told the umps, “if I say anything out of line just toss me quick, it’s damn cold.”...correcting what you may have read, the on-campus Rice weather station had the temps at 35, and Weather’s said it was really tough on outfielders exposed to the wind and mist…the box scores said that these games were played before 2,547, make that 200 fans and 2,347 unused tickets…Carpenter (1-0, 1.89) goes Saturday before improving Vance Worley works the Sunday dance...UI-C has a pair of lefties for the rest of their mound duty…the Beach boys got up to # 17 in Collegiate Baseball …Peterson leftovers….last year the Minnetonka, MN native went 10-1 with a team-best 3.31 ERA and has not lost since March 21, 2005…at USC a pretty good Hawaii team will have a chance…they are 9-2, coming off a three-game sweep of Loyola Marymount and have a five-game winning streak…. Fullerton plays a split three-game series versus UCLA this weekend, tonight at Jackie Robinson Stadium with the next two on Nutwood…then UCLA comes here on Tuesday night…if the Beach can get to the Flame’s Peterson he will join a list of excellent fallen pitching foes, USC closer Paul Koss, Cal’s Brandon Morrow, USC’s Ian Kennedy and Rice’s Joe Savery…the hitting remains a issue, but the LB web site notes that the pitching keeps ‘em close…nine of the 10 Dirtbag decisions have been within three runs. Three of the team’s four losses have been by a single run….the line-up shuffle will continue although Longoria’s turn at leadoff will stop for the moment…the battle for first is on… the senior Scooter Bradley is batting .444 over seven games and three starts with five RBIs and his partner Brandon Godfrey is batting .333 in his seven starts….nice problem to have…film at 11-DR. DAN

CHILLING TALES FROM TEXAS AND HIGH HOPES FOR HOOPS

At the risk of having to pay royalties to Johnny Carson, I have to answer the sporting question from last weekend’s baseball journey deep in the heart of Texas, “How Cold was it?”

Wayne Graham, the distinguished long time coach of Rice came up into the press box (72 degrees, wind chill of 72) following Long Beach’s 4-1 win over his formerly second-ranked Owls and said, “Well there is good news and bad news--the bad news is that we got beat, the good news is that I got to come up here.” Jim Gilligan, for 29 years the skipper at Lamar, who the Dirtbags whipped 11-5 on Friday, told the umps, “if I say anything out of line just toss me quick, it’s damn cold.”

Despite temps in the 30s and 40s (and wind chill you don’t want to know about), the assembled teams (LBSU, Rice, Lamar and Oklahoma) got in their three games in chilly Houston. For the Niners coming out with two wins put the bounce back in the spikes of Beach baseball as they return to Blair Field for just their third home game of the season this Friday when Illinois Chicago starts a three game series, the front end of a seven game homestand.

The weather will definitely be better aand the acutal crowd count too. The Houston box score said that these games were played before 2,547, 200 fans and 2,347 unused tickets. Not a big turnout but for a Niner bunch coming in on a three game losing streak they got the James Bond martini treatment, chilled by the weather and stirred by the Weatherman, aka, Coach Mike Weathers. He moved all star Evan Longoria to the lead off spot, dropped leadoff Robert Perry to the eight hole and ran a bunch of his seldom used troops in and out all weekend. Great hitting won the Friday affair, a season high in hits and runs, and great pitching sprung the upset of host Rice on Saturday. On Sunday Weather’s used lots of new talent in the 2-1 loss to Oklahoma. Just the tonic that the Dirtbags needed to get the season back on track.

MIXED DUST—The hottest team on campus is
Beach tennis who rolled to a quick 7-0 win over Hawaii, their fifth straight, and put the net ladies in a good mood for a rough road trip this weekend to face # 23 Oregon, # 46 Denver and Portland.

Bck to the bases, there were more than a few towels and blankets stolen, from, er, ah, borrowed from, Houston area hotels over the weekend but the stolen bases, along with great bunts and sacs were keys to this turn-around-weekend.

Major League scouts were huddled in attendance watching Longoria who hit well all weekend but they also were impressed with Scott “Scooter” Bradley, who was 5-for-8 in his two games. He had two runs scored and three RBI on Friday and along with the mound mastery of Andrew Carpenter impressed everybody.

Speaking of making good imporessions on the road, how stunning was the Beach men’s basketball win over Manhattan, a team with twice the RPI playing on their home court.
Larry’s kids had seven players score in double figures, shot .515 from the field and also got the job done at the free throw line, hitting 30-of-34 foul shots.
Mary’s kids, the ladies basketball team, looked great in beating Cal Poly and awful losing to UCSB. If both Santa Barbara and LB win out they will share the Big West title. The Beach has two games left, Northridge tonight (Thursday) and next week at UC Irvine. The Gauchos must win at CSUF and Riverside this weekend then twice at home the following week to set up a share of the hardware.

Last add famous names, Eva Longoria, Desperate Housewife, and Evan Longoria, not so desperate Dirtbag, were the sound bites for the ESPN2’s Cold Pizza show on Monday. Gosh, might be nice to have her come by to throw out the first pitch, with a baseball that is.—DR. DAN

THE CARPENTER BUILDS A CAGE FOR THE OWLS AS LB READIES FOR OK

There were more than a few towels and blankets stolen, from, er, ah, borrowed from, Houston area hotels on Saturday but it was the stolen bases that were not given back in the Dirtbags turn-around-weekend. Combine the timely thefts and the pitching of Andrew Carpenter and the Beach for a maybe ready for a sweep deep in the heart of Texas.

For the purists it was a match-up of teams ranked somewhere between 11 and 15 in the case of Long Beach and 2 and 5 for Rice. The contest was played out in 41 degree weather before 2,547 (all but about 250 of that count were unused tickets.) The key for the Beach was holding the potent Rice offense to just five hits on the way to a 4-1 win over the Owls on day two of the Coca-Cola Classic Tournament at Reckling Park.

The hottest pitcher on the Beach bench is clearly Andrew Carpenter who worked fast, scattered three hits over seven innings, fanned eight and walked just two. The heir apparent to the 2005 saving graces, Neil Jamison and Brian Anderson, Donnie Hume squashed the Owls over the final two and earned his third save of the season. The D Bags struck for a pair of runs in the top of the third inning after Perry worked a walk from all world Owl Joe Savery, swiped second, and then moved on when Chuck Sindlinger beat out the sac attempt. That brought up the top of the order and these days that means Evan Longoria. He singled down the right field line and then stole a base himself. The next run came the hard way, via a double play but it still counted.

The Owls answered with a run in the bottom of the fourth but the Beach came back with a run in the top of the fifth via a Boatright RBI and an unearned run in the eighth off some Owl blunders and good sac and bunt work for the Beach. Rice, the 2003 National Champions, fell to 5-2 with its first home loss. Savery and last week’s national hitting awardee Aaron Luna went a combined 1-7 and the number 5 hitter Jordan Dotson who came in hitting .429, got backward Ked his first three at bats with what Rice Coach Wayne Graham called “an excellent, big time slider. When you can work the whole strike zone like he does and get that slider going at 85 and 86 you have a very fine pitcher. Tell those guys I’d like to make a trade for him.”

SUNDAY MY DUST WILL COME—That new guy on the top may stay there…Longoria had two hits as the leadoff but the personification of the Dirtbag spirit was Chuck “Splash” Sindlinger who brought up a rooster tail of water making a key defensive stop of the season to rob Luna…in the fifth Chuck led off with a bang up the middle, swiped his second bag of the day, dove into third on Longoria’s fly out to right and then hustled home when Boats beat out a close (and contested by the Rice braintrust) play at first…that up the LB lead to 3-1 and chased Savery from the mound back to his DH spot…today the test is Sooner baseball, now 6-2 and on the rebound from a 8-2 loss to Rice on Friday….OU got the bats going Saturday against Lamar with an 11-4 win, pounding out 17 hits… “It was nice to see our offense get back into the swing of things tonight,” OU head coach Sunny Golloway told his web site… “Not only was our offense solid, but Steven Guerra pitched a great game and our defense was its normal self.”…the pitching match-up for the breakfast ball noon start will be a guy familiar to Long Beach hitters, P.J. Sandoval who played with some of the lads in that Western Baseball summer league with the So Cal Fire…he prepped at with Boats at Trabuco Hills and then moved to Saddleback JC…this year he’s 1-1 with a 5.62 ERA…the opposite number is Vance Worley who faced SC (team over came a shaky start) and Cal (team did not)…his best outing was against the Pro Alums but that one doesn’t count…next week the Niners get back to the friendly confines to play Illinois-Chicago, not a household name but a pretty fair team…the Flames played at the Collegiate Classic at HoHoKam Park in Mesa (Spring training home of the Chicago Cubs)…UIC split with Air Force and beat Creighton…closing quote from the Weather man, “Andrew carried us today, he gave us a chance and that is what you need when you play a top team like this at their place”—DR. DAN

FANS ARE CHILLED BUT DIRTBAG BATS WARM UP TO SEASON HIGH IN 11-6 WIN OVER LAMAR

The engineers of those two baseball trains heading in different directions met at the Rice University station yesterday and rolled the dice. Mike Weathers rolled his lineup all around, moving his pre-season All American Evan Longoria into the leadoff and dropping his normal leadoff Robert Perry into the eight hole. Jim Gilligan, he of 29 years as the Lamar leader, went to his bull pen to try a left hander on a slumping Dirtbag lineup. Final score, the shuffled up Long Beachers 11 and the guess again Cardinals 6.

In the books it will look like number 15 Long Beach got their metal back in motion and pounded out 16 hits to end a four game win streak for Lamar and break a three game slide of their own. The Bags (now 5-3) started the scoring with a pair of runs in the top of the first, with newly minted lead off guy Evan Longoria hitting the first pitch of the game over the left center fence off starter and loser Allen Harrington. Danny Espinosa then singled to right, moved to third on Sean Boatright's double down the left field line and scored on an infield ground out by Tito Cruz. A bunch of LB errors, including a shaky outing by winner Jared Hughes, let Lamar hang around for a while but in the third the 49ers extended their lead to 4-1 after PH Chris Lopez and Cruz both singled and hitting hero Scott “Scooter” Bradley, (who was 4-for-5 with two runs scored and three RBI), doubled down the right field line to drive in both runners. The Bags pushed the lead back to three runs, 6-3, with two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning thanks to Bradley, another Struble stroll (three in the game) and a Chuck Sindlinger bang. Too close for comfort at that time the Beach put up a five spot in the sixth and then just tried to stay warm while the closing firm of Liebl, Shaw and Malott finished the work. Hughes (2-0) picked up the win for the 49ers, allowing five runs, two earned, on seven hits with one strikeout in six innings pitched but hit a batter, and muffed a couple of chances off the mound. “We want our pitcher’s to field but if they have to go very far to their left or right they should leave it to the infielders,” sayeth pitching boss Troy Buckley.

DOPPLER DUSTING: Hitting boss Mike Weathers defended his move of Longoria to leadoff noting that he had previously moved all stars Troy Tulowitzki and Bobby Crosby up to keep, “the other guys from pitching around them,” The results were impressive a season-high in runs (11) and hits (16) plus every starter had at least one hit…plus the newly patient Niners worked ten walks…Rice comes into the game today at 5-1 and are ranked as high as #2 nationally... they are picked to win Conference USA in their first year in the league... gone are the first round pitching trio , but Rice has a great shortstop Jose Rodriguez (.345), the team’s returning home run hitter and Mr. all-purpose Joe Savery (.382, 43 RBIs), who tosses today…Wayne Graham’s club went 45-19 last year and just missed Omaha, losing to Tulane in the Super Regionals... Savery was last year’s Freshman and WAC Pitcher and Player of the Year…last night Rice senior righty Eddie Degerman was dominating holding Oklahoma to no runs on one hit, fanning 11 over seven innings…Owl Greg Buchanan went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI and today’s Owl pitcher Savery had a couple of stinging hits down the line…he usually doesn’t swing in the games he throws…the Beach goes with Andrew Carpenter who was “solid” against Cal last Saturday, going 7 strong, one run on five hits…his ERA is 2.25 and no doubt Oklahoma will look on enviously since he verbal-ed to the Sooners before their coaching shakeup….the town is filled with the Bling Boys of the NBA running up room prices while the temps drop…maybe to 40 today at game time… After three weeks of the 2006 season completed, all eight Big West teams have compiled a winning percentage of .500 or above, with Pacific leading the way with a percentage of .833…scoreboarding: USC 10, Kansas 1; CSUF 13-UCI 7; SLO 11-SDSU 2; Southern Miss 6-Wichita State 5; Washington 7-CSUN 3…stay warm—DR. DAN

RARE ROAD DUST: DIRTBAGS TRY TO REBOUND AROUND THE RAINDROPS

One team has lost three in a row and travels to cold and blustery Houston for redemption. The other team just swept three last weekend and comes to town seeking an exclamation point in the polls.

Following a 3-game sweep of Texas-Pan American, Lamar enters this weekend’s Coca-Cola Classic at Rice’s fancy Reckling Park trying to shake up the pollsters by beating No. 15 and slumping Long Beach State.
Like the Dirtbags, Lamar (4-2) also plays Oklahoma and No. 4-ranked Rice (4-1) in this party. For the Cards they face the Niners for the first time but aren’t afraid of anybody, especially after a 21-9 win over the Sooners earlier this season. Jared Hughes gets the Friday nod for pitching guru Troy Buckley but the Beach bats are beginning to be the question mark for the Niners. After the USC series and 7 runs last Friday at Cal, the Bags offense has virtually disappeared. Lamar soph Allen Harrington, plucked from the pen with a 2.79 ERA and 2 saves, starts for the Cards. LB’s JH is 1-0 with a 4.35 ERA.

The Lamar bats are led by junior Ryan Baker who may be the best hitter in the nation. He leads the team in batting with a .680 average with nine runs scored, two doubles and 10 runs batted in. He hit .636 with five runs scored and five RBI in the three-game sweep of UT Pan Am. He has hit safely in all six games this season. The other live aluminum comes from senior C.J. Ebarb, 2nd on the team in hitting with a .500 average with six runs scored, three doubles, two home runs and a team-leading 12 RBI. He hit .556 with a double, two 3-run home runs and nine RBI in the series last weekend. Lamar is hitting .363 as a team with 61 runs scored (10.17 pg), 81 hits (13.5), 17 doubles (2.83) and five home runs. Cardinal hitters have walked 24 times and struck out 37 times. The pitching staff has a 4.68 team ERA with 59 strikeouts and 26 walks in 50.0 innings pitched, and are limiting opponents to a .233 batting average. After the fast start by LB against Southern California, Long Beach State dropped two of three at California and is coming off a 3-2 loss at Pepperdine on Tuesday. Brandon Godfrey now leads the team in hitting with a .400 batting average with a double and four RBI. Sean Boatright is hitting .308 with six runs scored, five doubles, two home runs and seven RBI. LBSU is hitting .300 as a team with 33 runs scored (4.71), 65 hits (9.28), 15 doubles (2.14), two triples and four home runs. The 49ers have walked 25 times and struck out 35 times. The pitching staff has a 3.60 team ERA with 25 strikeouts and 18 walks in 60.0 IP. Defensively the Niners have been solid breaking in new talent up the middle in shortstop Danny Espinosa and centerfielder Robert Perry. Mentally, the team has been in a bit of a slump, runners getting picked off, swinging early in the count and not playing their patented little ball very well. With Rice and Oklahoma coming up under these same gray skies the Bags will have to find their own sunshine to get back on track.

SMALL PRINT DUSTING FOR THOSE WITH GREAT EYESIGHT-This is the first of two trips by the Beach trying to mess with Texas…Against Cal in Berkeley the Beach boys survived the Friday game and then gave up leads on Saturday and Sunday to lose the next two... In hoops, Larry Reynold’s resume got some polish with a win over Fullerton and the lads are East this weekend for a bracket buster game at Manhattan…the Titan win pretty well sewed up a first round BWC bye…softball beat UCLA 1-0 and the lady hoop Niners won 74-59 at Cal Poly last night… plug for my free room and board…my sister Betsy asked how the Dirtbags were doing I explained that Cal hit six baseballs over the fence and the Waves beat us with a two run bomb…she suggested that next time Coach Weathers have his outfielders stand on top of the wall… closing quote comes from former Dirtbag now Milwaukee Brewer Chris Demaria. He’s 25 now, gets a pro paycheck, but still plays fantasy baseball at home. Chris told the Daily Breeze that he did his mock draft before leaving for big league camp. So what happens if Demaria trots in from the bullpen only to face a guy on his fantasy team? "It's a fun way to look at a lot of the pressure you face in the big leagues"—DR. DAN

RIDING THE BLACK AND GOLD ROLLER COASTER AND MESSING WITH TEXAS

Sports fascinate fans because of the highs and the lows. The back and forth, the now you see it and now you don’t. The 49ers experienced all that last weekend and likely will continue on that course the rest of this year.

Our evidence starts with Dirtbag baseball, trying to mess with Texas this weekend at the Rice tourney in Houston. Against Cal in Berkeley the Beach boys survived the Friday game and then gave up leads on Saturday and Sunday to lose the next two. In hoops, Larry Reynold’s resume took another hit when the home boys gave up a late lead to woeful UCSB in front of the crowd of the year, 2956 at homecoming. The Beach goes East this weekend for a bracket buster game at Manhattan then back to the Big West wars hoping to hold on to a first round bye.

The road for the ladies of hoop is shorter but perilous. Thursday night they play at Cal Poly who is in the get-a-BWC-bye hunt themselves and then visit the dragon’s den at Santa Barbara Saturday at 5 p.m. Gasoline strapped scaredy cats can watch that one on Fox Sports West. What Gaucho team will show up is still in question. The home girls hope that it is the team that has lost ten times this year including a Saturday’s shocking 64-56 loss by the 10-time defending Big West Conference champions to UC Davis. Ironically the Aggies have beaten the top four teams in the conference and if it wasn’t their probationary year would be the regular season champs.

NOTES ON MY NAPKIN—As you read this your correspondent is in Texas for that Coca Cola Classic baseball series and a visit with my oil and energy rich family. My sister Betsy asked how the Dirtbags were doing I explained that the Cal Bears hit six baseballs over the fence. She suggested that next time Coach Weathers have his outfielders stand on top of the wall. I’ll pass it on; meanwhile get that fresh shrimp on grill.

Closer to home, good guy Joel Block is leading a campaign in the memory of local youth coach Nick Bruno who was killed in an auto crash in December. Funds will go to the family and donations can be directed to Joel at 562-310-5465. Coach Bruno taught his players to respect opponents, teammates and even the umps.

WHERE ARE THEY- Stephanie Tokarz, a 6-foot-4 volleyball transfer from Long Beach State, is enrolled at Wichita State and will be in Shocker lineup this fall. Her new coach is ecstatic. "We always ranked her as a top player, a top recruit," Coach Chris Lamb said. "She could be a great one some day; not just a college player, but at the next level. WSU missed the NCAA Tournament last season, despite its MVC title, 28-3 record and a No. 25 ranking. The snub earned WSU a lot of national attention, sympathy and apparently a new recruit.

Our closing quote comes from former Dirtbag now Milwaukee Brewer Chris Demaria. He’s 25 now, gets a pro paycheck, but still plays fantasy baseball at home. Chris told the Daily Breeze that he did his mock draft before leaving for big league camp. So what happens if Demaria trots in from the bullpen only to face a guy on his fantasy team? "It's a fun way to look at a lot of the pressure you face in the big leagues"—DR. DAN

…

D-BAGS USE HOME COOKING TO FRY THE TROJANS WHILE HOOPS HOPE TO RIGHT THE SHIP

They are throwing a homecoming party this weekend at the Beach and for the basketball teams they hope that the friendly confines will be chicken soup for the soul and a bandage to stop the bleeding.

In a week where the U will likely name a new Athletic Director, the CEOs of HOOP, men’s coach Larry Reynolds and women’s coach Mary Hegarty, need to freshen up the resume and correct a course that has them falling out of a first round bye in the Big West basketball tourney.
From second to a nervous fourth for the men’s team and from unbeaten to a loser of two straight for the ladies, Beach basketball had hopes of getting an easier dance card in the BWC party next month. Considering difficult future 49er schedules both teams are in need of a reversal of fortune.

On Thursday night the Niner men take on Cal Poly and then on Saturday the Beach ladies tip it up against Pacific at 3 p.m. followed at 5:30 by the men versus UCSB. The following weeks have the men traveling to Manhattan and UCI and the women at Cal Poly and Santa Barbara, key contests for seedings in the BWC tourney March 8-11. For homecoming info contact Nancy Becker at 562/985-7022 and for who’s going to win, call my Uncle Guido in Vegas.

BASE DUSTING—As tough as last week was for the LB basketeers and men’s volleyball (losing to Penn State), the sun shined on the Dirtbag baseball team as they broomed Southern Cal with a three game sweep, all of them featuring some come from behind magic. Uncertain about offense, the young Niners got hits from 12 different players, banged the Trojan pitchers at a .354 clip and rolled out another outstanding arsenal of pitchers. This weekend the Weather men travel to Berkeley for three games against Cal.

Behind the orange curtain, Niner nemesis #5 Fullerton gave up untimely home runs, balks, and errors in losing three straight to unranked Stanford while #1 ranked Texas was swept by San Diego. Sometimes the ball ain’t round.

Back to the Bags, the Beach boys got offensive production up and down the order and off the bench when 10 Niners had two or more hits with freshmen shortstop sensation Danny Espinosa 6-13, hitting .462, driving in four runs and perfect in the field. Let’s see, Bobby Crosby then Troy Tulowitzki and now Espinosa, can you say LBSU is Shortstop U?

EX-Rated News Dept…The San Diego Padres of San Diego are happy with their Dirtbag connection, first-round pick Cesar Ramos and sixth-round selection, Neil Jamison. At Eugene, OR Neil was lights-out in 25 appearances and then took it up a notch at Fort Wayne, with 12 strikeouts and five walks in 10 innings. His blood lines include father, Tom who played baseball at Santa Clara and mother, Kathy, a softball player at San Diego State…next EX is an assistant from the original 1989 D Bag bunch Dave “Mousetrap” Malpass who was just named the major league advance scout for the Cleveland Indians…Malpass is the guy who came up with the term Dirtbags when his infielders came back into the locker room after collecting a lot of soil from Whaley Park…

CLOSING QUOTE: On hand all weekend was the new King of the Beach (President Alexander) who even survived his visits with the left field loonies who of course sit in the right field stands. Friday night was a record crowd, a hundred pro scouts and the debut of the new Blair Field Fog Machine, or so the visitors thought. “SC says Fight On and the umps said Play On.”—DR. DAN

DIRTBAG HITS (VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE) JUST KEEP A’COMING AS BAGS START TWO AND OH!

Welcome to the great outdoors where it really is shaping up to be a super Sunday and that beats time served in the old barcalounger. This optimistic report comes courtesy of Dirtbag baseball who worked over Southern Cal pitchers for 15 hits yesterday, two of them home runs, a 9-6 win and a perfect two zip start to 2006.

Friday night the wise guys around Blair were cautiously optimistic praising Ian Kennedy and Jared Hughes (“they are better than good”), admiring the shortstopping of freshmen Danny Espinosa, and discussing the Weather report, both the climate (foggy) and the coach (Mike). Today the Beach nuts are giddy, unbeaten out of the chute, impressed with Troy Buckley’s mound men (just four earned runs in the first 18 innings) and this offensive effort against a team that was this close to Omaha last year. The slugging skippers of the Good Ship Dirtbag are Evan Longoria (4-7 in games one and two) and of course the Popeye that bats behind him, Sean Boatright (4 RBIs). Boats, on the DL until Wednesday, delivered the go-ahead runs Saturday with a two-run homer in the 8th off SC’s ace closer Paul Koss in a trading-leads contest before a mere 1066 at Dedeaux. LB got two in the first, fell behind 5-3 in the third, tied it up 5-5, fell behind 6-5 and then put up two runs in each of the 8th and 9th to win a series (after the 4-2 Friday W).

That raises the possibilities of a broom game today featuring LB’s true freshman Vance Worley who was the top pitching draft prospect in northern California in 2005 and would likely have been drafted in the first couple rounds if not for an elbow strain his HS senior year. USC is TBA, sorting through a couple of their own freshman arms. The Trojan’s Saturday problem started with two outs in the top of the eighth, when Evan Longoria was plunked and Boats, with a 1-2 count, blasted a fly ball off the top of the center field fence. Shayne Peterson, Mike Malott (who got the W) and Brett Andrade (his first save) kept the Boys of Troy quiet after the fifth. The surprise offense came from unlikely sources, journeyman catcher Tito Cruz (3-for-5) and spindly soph Jose Hernandez (2-3 and a RBI).

SUNDAY MY DUST WILL COME—The other LB entries had a rotten day yesterday, giving the new King of the Beach (President Alexander) a does or reality…in ladies hoops Fullerton’s Andrea Adams scored a season-high 19 points and the Titans survived a shot at the buzzer for a 62-61 upset of league-leading LBSU at Titan Gym…at Stockton four Pacific players scored in double figures to lead the Tigers to an 87-78 win over the Niner gents…and at Penn State the Nits used a big blocking advantage to upset our No. 3-ranked MVB team 30-22, 21-30, 30-20, 30-27…the only cheery note is that both CSUF baseball (#5) and Texas (#1) both got whipped and are 0-2 to start their road to Omaha…CSUF reliever Bryan Harris balked in the winning run for the Cardinal as the up-Titans were downed 6-5 in game two of their series at Sunken Diamond…in San Diego three fielding errors and a nine-strikeout effort by USD pitchers Matt Couch and Josh Romanski handed Texas a 6-0 shutout loss…by the way I am hosting an all you can eat Super Bowl pizza party for the contest between the Ospreys and the Steelers--BYO B and P…that MPSF volleyball race will go to the wire…Pepperdine and BYU split in Provo and LB split at Penn State...with the record crowd Friday night this is a great series for the Beach in the cash box and the box score…it may be that SC has issues at third, and second…at second how good of a traffic controller is Blake Sharpe, could he have directed the traffic for rightfielder Roberto Lopez on those foggy popups…and at third big stick Matt Cusick is a tad slow covering bunts…Niner coach Tim McDonnell getting bonus commercials on the web casts sponsoring the KWRM “call to the bullpen”…the two teams used seven pitchers on Friday night and 9 yesterday afternoon…early season arms control I guess…Tim is pumping his book “The Process” , an excellent read for young players…Saturday scoreboarding--Pacific 14, Santa Clara 6; UC Irvine 10, California 4 (series at 1-1); CSUN 14, Nevada 0 (2-0 CSUN); Stanford 6, CSUF 5 ((10)) (series 0-2 for Titans; Cal Poly 3,San Jose State 2 (series 1-1); UC Riverside 7, San Francisco 0 (series 2-0 UCR); UC Davis 3, Sac State 1…asked Troy Tulowitzki if he felt that after Bobby Crosby and himself is the Beach becoming Shortstop U with the nice early play of Espinosa….”he’s very solid, very relaxed”…same compliment from the Weatherman who said he “stays under control”…and the fog fuss has some merit since UCLA suspended their game but the time to do it was after the fifth before the Beach got those three runs—DR. DAN

BASEBALL’S BACK, HOT MOUND ACES AND COLD BEER ON TAP

Welcome back to a season-opening-football-free session of notes on our napkin where we promise to not mention the NFL, chip or dip until at least the seventh inning stretch on Sunday.

Back to the present, ain’t it great to be just three days into February and we got game. That wow comes from the best pitching match-up in the land with SC’s Ian (Ike-like) Kennedy and Jared (Weaver-like) Hughes. Officially the visitors are No. 17/18 and the home boys are somewhere between 16 and 22. LB has five starters from 2005 that went 37-22 before stumbling at home in a Regional that included the Boys of Troy. The Niner brain trust is led by Mike Weathers (157-84 in his fifth season) and a somewhat shuffled coaching staff with the subtraction of Don Barbara (now at Sac State) and the addition of former Dirtbag Jon Strauss. Mr. Hughes blossomed last season after settling some control issues and like Kennedy is on the 2006 Roger Clemens Award Watch List He was 8-3 with a 2.83 ERA last season but locals are still smarting over the note that SC swept the 49ers in four games last season. Like the Beach USC was picked to finish second in their conference behind Oregon State (Niners second behind the CSUF). Kennedy has been the Trojans' No. 1 starter for two seasons, a returning All-American and his press guys say is a “lock as a first-round selection in the 2006 draft.” He has a career 19-5 record with a 2.70 ERA and 278 strikeouts.

The mystery however is the guys behind Hughes and Kennedy, will speedy leadoff guy Robert Perry go nuts on the base paths, does Cape League and pre-season All American Evan Longoria make the visitors feel desperate, and after 80 pitches who comes in from either pen to finish the contest? The Beach rotation is Hughes, then Carpenter then Whorley (he of five shutout frames against the alums last weekend.) The Trojans secret weapon is “Hammering” Cyle Hankerd who batted .383 (44-for-115) with nine dingers and 36 RBI last summer. The edge at closing goes to the experience of SC’s Junior Paul Koss (4-1, 2.81 ERA and 14 saves last year.) In the other dugout LB lost the best closing tandem in the land when Brian Anderson and Neil Jamison took the money and ran. Auditions begin tonight.

NAPKIN DUSTING--Kennedy led country with 158 Ks before his Team USA summer duties and throws four pitches for strikes…the question is how much juice does he have and how long will Mike let Ike work…back to LB from the warm sands of Cocoa Beach, FL my first stop was the Leadoff Dinner featuring Astro bull-penner Mike Gallo who told the 2006 Dirtbag bunch the secret to winning big in the Big West. “Every time I pitched in a big game, like when we won at Stanford, I just imaged all those hitters were wearing Fullerton uniforms.”…big crowd tonight because of Niner giant Hughes-- 6-7 and a headhunter of batters leaning over the dish--and Trojan matinee idol Kennedy…expect more radar guns in the stands than the CHP on the 405…tuning up last weekend, the Niners roughed up their pro alums behind the bats of Desperate Dirtbag Longoria (3-for-5 with 2 RBIs) and Santa Clara transfer/leadoff speedster Perry (2 hits, 2 runs)…two sensational freshmen led the mound work, Sunday starter Whorley was nails for half the game and Scott Turmail pitched three no-hit, shutout innings to mop up…Andrew Carpenter will be the Saturday starter…last season he was 8-2, 3.15 for Sac City…true freshman Worley was the top pitching draft prospect in northern California in 2005 and would have been drafted in the first couple rounds except for a bum elbow in late season….on the foam front, the good news is we are pouring…LBSU rents this off-campus field unlike the Pyramid seating

EX-Rated News Dept…The San Diego Padres of San Diego are happy with their Dirtbag connection, first-round pick Cesar Ramos and sixth-round selection, Neil Jamison. At Eugene, OR Neil was lights-out in 25 appearances and then took it up a notch at Fort Wayne, with 12 strikeouts and five walks in 10 innings. His blood lines include father, Tom who played baseball at Santa Clara and mother, Kathy, a softball player at San Diego State…next EX is an assistant from the original 1989 D Bag bunch Dave “Mousetrap” Malpass who was just named the major league advance scout for the Cleveland Indians…Malpass is the guy who came up with the term Dirtbags when his infielders came back into the locker room after collecting a lot of soil from Whaley Park… and more Ex-factor from Sacto…“It's great, I love it here,” former Niner asst. Don Barbara said of Sac State. “It's different here, but it is a good different. Being in the WAC is a great opportunity for us to make a name for Sac State.” ..last add other new guys, names to watch include SS Danny Espinosa from the CIF state champions; and freshman lefthander Shane Peterson who the SIDs swear you will see as a “two-way player in the mold of former Dirtbag Jason Vargas”…that would be nice…last add, Dust Direct email via dmbarber@grantwriters.com—DR. DAN