EVAN COMES BACK WITH A BANG, HUGHES HANGS IN AND NINERS START BWC WITH A 7-1 WIN
Plop, plop, fizz, fizz oh what a relief it is. Forget your Alka-Seltzer (unless you are Anteater Coach Dave Serrano) the Dirtbag baseball team used a double dose of All American Evan Longoria, a game winning two run homer in his first at bat and ESPN quality defense at third, and mixed it with a gritty tightrope pitching effort by Jared Hughes to open Big West play with a 7-1 win over #36 UC Irvine. Oh yes, the W was the first for LB in a real long time and the frowns of March turned into the smiles of April.
When one of the media throng quizzed Niner skipper Mike Weathers about how much he enjoyed seeing the losing steak end he quipped “I’m just glad to be on the field at the end” referring to his ejection last weekend at CSUF. “I think the problems we had in the first three innings (when Hughes tight-roped his way around bases full of Eaters) actually helped us. We needed to be patient and not keep pressing.” That happened and then Longoria said that his teammates “began to find their tempo. I know that I was nervous going up there for that first at bat (remembering his beaning last Sunday).” If facing live pitching from strangers for the first time since Sunday made Evan anxious it certainly didn’t spill over to his defense where he and Danny Espinosa smothered the left-side ground balls that Serrano had ordered. “They were “cheating up” in the box to get a better look at my two seamer” Hughes noted and until the UCI four-run meltdown in the eighth, the ex-Titan aide guys were ready. The UCI coach was dispatched to the tunnel after a hustle play by Cline turned an ordinary flare into the outfield into an extra base. Umpire Dennis Smythe said he beat the tag at second. Serrano disagreed, discussed the call for a time, then time was up or magic words were said and the banishment. Cline eventually scored on an overdue double by Danny Espinosa which was followed by free passes to Longoria and Sean Boatwright, Tom Wolf’s infield RBI single and a sac fly by Jose Hernandez.
For the night Hughes held the Anteaters to a run on four hits, struck out five and upped his record to 5-1. Andrew Liebel had a shutout ninth.
MORE HAPPY DUST—it was Longoria's sixth homer of the year, more than all of last season, and his third in four and a half games…and if the MLBs on hand didn’t already have enough notes he dove and caught a line drive and doubled off Aaron Lowenstein at third…Espinosa also made “two really tough outs” Weathers said “then booted the easy one. But I love the guy, he’s already really good.”…another coach of note on hand was St. John Bosco’s renowned Moon Cordero who brought his players to see their alum Longoria who reminded some of the Braves of another SJ guy named Anthony Nomar Garciaparra…oh JC is also was the HS of former Niner T. J. Bruce…Carole my personal trainer, who was an all American level college volleyballer who might have had Olympic time if it weren’t for the boycott, told me that the Dirtbag key was to “get back in the ring and take another swing”
Scoreboard stuff—Hawaii Hilo 5, UCSB 4 (10 Innings); Pacific at Cal Poly Postponed; UC Riverside 3, UC Davis 2; Fullerton 2, Cal State Northridge 1… Also on the diamond today is Long Beach State softball, 15-14 after 29 non-conference games, but at Northridge ready to attempt to win their third straight Big West Title…where are theys… Erik Burkhardt back at the Beach to run the new Strength and Conditioning Center after stints at UCI and UCSB... Jason Vargas has earned that spot in the Marlins rotation…his last spring training start, five innings, two runs and six hits…he also showed his hitting skills by ripping an RBI double…’92 Dirtbag Todd Pridy is now the Napa High coach and glad to get his kids outside. “There’s only so much stuff you can do in the gym. Eventually, it is going to be sunny and everything’s going to be dry.”…Century Club had a recent rap with hoop coach Larry Reynolds who said, “We are not only on the map we are making roads!”…next year Dirtbag travel is to another set of tough towns, Wichita State, Arizona State and Rice State (a.k.a. downtown Houston)…today’s starters are Andrew Carpenter (3-2, 3.44) but a mortal 1-1 with a 5.66 ERA over his last four starts against UCI lefty Glenn Swanson (3-2, 3.38)
Closing quote from my big boss, President Alexander, “I am pleased to announce that the Princeton Review has just officially released their publication, “America’s Best Value Colleges: 2007 and CSULB ranked third in the nation when compared with the 103 top public universities”—See, happy talk rocks—DR. DAN
When one of the media throng quizzed Niner skipper Mike Weathers about how much he enjoyed seeing the losing steak end he quipped “I’m just glad to be on the field at the end” referring to his ejection last weekend at CSUF. “I think the problems we had in the first three innings (when Hughes tight-roped his way around bases full of Eaters) actually helped us. We needed to be patient and not keep pressing.” That happened and then Longoria said that his teammates “began to find their tempo. I know that I was nervous going up there for that first at bat (remembering his beaning last Sunday).” If facing live pitching from strangers for the first time since Sunday made Evan anxious it certainly didn’t spill over to his defense where he and Danny Espinosa smothered the left-side ground balls that Serrano had ordered. “They were “cheating up” in the box to get a better look at my two seamer” Hughes noted and until the UCI four-run meltdown in the eighth, the ex-Titan aide guys were ready. The UCI coach was dispatched to the tunnel after a hustle play by Cline turned an ordinary flare into the outfield into an extra base. Umpire Dennis Smythe said he beat the tag at second. Serrano disagreed, discussed the call for a time, then time was up or magic words were said and the banishment. Cline eventually scored on an overdue double by Danny Espinosa which was followed by free passes to Longoria and Sean Boatwright, Tom Wolf’s infield RBI single and a sac fly by Jose Hernandez.
For the night Hughes held the Anteaters to a run on four hits, struck out five and upped his record to 5-1. Andrew Liebel had a shutout ninth.
MORE HAPPY DUST—it was Longoria's sixth homer of the year, more than all of last season, and his third in four and a half games…and if the MLBs on hand didn’t already have enough notes he dove and caught a line drive and doubled off Aaron Lowenstein at third…Espinosa also made “two really tough outs” Weathers said “then booted the easy one. But I love the guy, he’s already really good.”…another coach of note on hand was St. John Bosco’s renowned Moon Cordero who brought his players to see their alum Longoria who reminded some of the Braves of another SJ guy named Anthony Nomar Garciaparra…oh JC is also was the HS of former Niner T. J. Bruce…Carole my personal trainer, who was an all American level college volleyballer who might have had Olympic time if it weren’t for the boycott, told me that the Dirtbag key was to “get back in the ring and take another swing”
Scoreboard stuff—Hawaii Hilo 5, UCSB 4 (10 Innings); Pacific at Cal Poly Postponed; UC Riverside 3, UC Davis 2; Fullerton 2, Cal State Northridge 1… Also on the diamond today is Long Beach State softball, 15-14 after 29 non-conference games, but at Northridge ready to attempt to win their third straight Big West Title…where are theys… Erik Burkhardt back at the Beach to run the new Strength and Conditioning Center after stints at UCI and UCSB... Jason Vargas has earned that spot in the Marlins rotation…his last spring training start, five innings, two runs and six hits…he also showed his hitting skills by ripping an RBI double…’92 Dirtbag Todd Pridy is now the Napa High coach and glad to get his kids outside. “There’s only so much stuff you can do in the gym. Eventually, it is going to be sunny and everything’s going to be dry.”…Century Club had a recent rap with hoop coach Larry Reynolds who said, “We are not only on the map we are making roads!”…next year Dirtbag travel is to another set of tough towns, Wichita State, Arizona State and Rice State (a.k.a. downtown Houston)…today’s starters are Andrew Carpenter (3-2, 3.44) but a mortal 1-1 with a 5.66 ERA over his last four starts against UCI lefty Glenn Swanson (3-2, 3.38)
Closing quote from my big boss, President Alexander, “I am pleased to announce that the Princeton Review has just officially released their publication, “America’s Best Value Colleges: 2007 and CSULB ranked third in the nation when compared with the 103 top public universities”—See, happy talk rocks—DR. DAN
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