JUDGES, COACHES, DANCE TICKETS, AND POLITICAL CORRECTNESS

One of the judges grew up on the campus of the University of Florida, later played basketball at St. Lawrence University and still later was the CEO of a mid-major (Murray State) who’s greatest athletic glory was on the hardcourt. The other guy played every sport you could in the frigid Northeast, got a basketball scholarship to Bucknell and later coached the sport at a couple of places before becoming an all-star fund raiser at PAC 10 power Arizona State.

With the Big West reuglar season championship and tournament top seed assured, this week F. King Alexander, judge one, and Victor P. Cegles, judge two, will have their usual snail and email to sort, calls to return and meetings to attend. Indeed there are games to be played, a Thursday night payback visit from UC Irvine and a Saturday drive out to Riversid, but next week the President and the Athletic Director may or may not change the course of 49er athletic fame and fortune.

Fame being relative, the fortune of 49er athletics pretty clearly centers on the crowd count at men’s basketball games. Fans sample entrees from the entire LBSU sporting menu but the Pryamid product of the current coach simply has to deliver dollars to the overall athletic budget. Falling short there puts a damper on campus-wide friend-raising and fund-raising.

The current coach would counter that this year is different even if he stacked the deck with eight seniors who count for 70 of the 79 average points per game. On paper the team should win the conference tournament next weekend in Anahiem and punch their first NCAA dance ticket in 12 years and only the eighth in school history. The game however will be away from the stat sheet on the hardwoods. The final score, well that is a story yet to be written and the future of the current coach, with his best team ever, is yet to be judged.

ASSORTED DUST--While they have no record yet in their home conference the Big West, an argument could be made that the Long Beach State baseball team is in first place in the PAC Ten conference with a 5-1 record. The team takes an odd mid-season break until they start a seven game road trip March 9.

The Dirtbags go into the break in a good mood with their 8-4 record and slow but steady climb in the national polls. With Fullerton also doing well against the PAC Ten (7-2) this could be a year when the Big West might get up to four teams in the tourney. This argument also got some support from of all places Northridge wherelast weekend the Matadors took two of three from #9 Oklahoma State. The two West seats on the NCAA selection committee are Brian Quinn, AD at Fullerton, and Pat Murphy, head coach of Arizona State who will see the Dirtbags up close when they play March 9-11.

Last Add Names in the News. Former Niner football lineman Darryl Wright has been missing from his first base seats at Blair while rehabbing at Memorial Hospital from leg surgery and Dr. John Kashiwabara, a couple of rows farther up, is in mourning because of the soon to be extinction of his and my late and sainted mother’s alma mater’s mascot, the University of Illinois’ Chief Illiniwek. After 82 years of intimidation of opponents (intimidation by the mascot not Dr. John) the “Chief” was deemed offensive in a political-correctness ruling by the NCAA. Best wishes to all three.—DR. DAN

BEARS ARE BEST ON PAPER--BEHIND WORLEY AND ESPINOSA--'BAGS ARE BEST ON BLAIR FIELD

Tyson Ross was considered by Baseball America as a potential first-round pick in 2008, a 6-5 “power” pitcher with a sharp slider that mystifies hitters and a fastball in the 92-93 range. His mates usually backed him up with hitting at a .307 clip. Vance Worley struggled last year and lost his Sunday starting role and his hitters came in swinging at an underwhellming .257 clip. But they don’t play the game on paper and Worley and the tenacious 20th ranked Dirtbags upped their record to 7-4 coming from behind once again for a 3-1 win thanks to four RBIs from a resurgent Danny Espinosa.

Ross had shut down the 49ers for the first five innings until Espinosa, who was struggling the first month of the season (9 for 36) broke open the game with a bases loaded double to the wall in the sixth inning to give the Niners a 3-1 lead. Still hot from a three hit Tuesday against UCLA, Espinosa's RBI double in the 8th provided the insurance and a final score of 4-1. Worley threw the first seven allowing five hits, one run, one walk and six strikeouts before the closing firm of Liebel and Shaw remained perfect giving back nada in the eighth and ninth. For Vance it was his first W of the year and in the mind of a guy who has faced both Vance and Ross “he won the battle, he was every bit as good as Ross.” The commentator—Danny Espinosa. Need a second opinion, pitching coach Troy Buckley. “You know moving from Sunday to Friday against the guys we face is a big deal. He has thrown well all year and I am just glad for him that he got the win.” As far as the offense was concerned skipper Mike Weathers said he was never worried. “This team really stays up, the dugout is very good.” And Espinosa, a guy who has won awards (Big West Freshman of the year last season) looks ready to get the under .300 monkey off his back this season. “Danny has never hit .300 before. This year he is more mature, stronger and as he gets more walks and fewer strikeouts he will have really good numbers.” Today that batting average number is .326 with a team best 11 RBIs in just 11 games. And which of the two doubles that DR hit did Weathers like the most, the three run job in the sixth or the insurance 1 RBI flare in the 8th. “That swing in the eighth was perfect. He had his hands up above the ball and showed he can hit the ball to all fields.”

SPRAYING DUST--New slide rule…this year the NCAA has gone back to the old policy that a base runner can slide through a base and/or pop up without being called out…new calendar rule…in 2008 warm weather schools will have to ignore their players until the first of their 132 days of contact begins likely mid February…season will start March 1 with 56 games in 14 weeks…the contact days are split fall to spring but this year Tuesdays are 1/7 of the schedule (8 out of 56) but next year, they will be 1/4 of the schedule (14 out of 56)…can you say Big Ten…and of course some opponents can literally go underground with workouts, like those with buried facilities--Wichita State, Penn State, etc…training room stuff--hamate-bone injured Chris Nelson now leads the team with his .667 average and although the coaches are careful he seems cleared “especially on a nice sunny day” said Weathers….Manny McElroy would like to think he can start throwing again in about 10-12 days and be ready for the series at Wichita State March 16 but coaches would be happy to have him back in the rotation the following weekend when CSUF comes in…’til then coaches suggest that Andrew Liebel will be retooled as a starter…last limper line--Brandon Godfrey dropped a weightlifting bar on his foot…day to day…scoreboard news and numbers…the BWC had one of the upsets of Friday when CSUN’s ran down No. 16 Oklahoma State 9-8….unknown power Coastal Carolina remained unbeaten by whipping No. 19 TCU….in Malibu Barry Enright tossed a three-hit shutout to lead No. 14 Pepperdine past Fresno State…no such good news for UOP who remains the only BWC team with a losing record as #3 Clemson scored all eight of its runs in the fifth and sixth innings…in the Lone Star state Rice got a two run walk-off homer from Joe Savery to beat FAU and Texas used a pair of safety squeezes to whip Washington State 4-2, USC 8, Tulane 5…back in the Big West it was Santa Clara 8, Cal Poly 3; UC Irvine 7, Utah 3; UC Riverside 4, San Diego State 1 (Donnie Hume had a no/no into the 8th and lost); and, ta da, UCLA 6, Fullerton 2 as Wes Roemer fans 12 but his mates get only five hits…the series moves to Westwood today and tomorrow….more Pick on the Titans…CSUF opponents have stolen 15 bases in 18 attempts for a whopping 83% success rate...last add today’s pitchers—had Ross given Cal the lead today’s Bear starter against Cal’s crafty lefty (aren’t they all) Craig Bennigson (1-1, 0.71) would have been used up on a save…the homeboys will feature TCU transfer Omar Arif (1-2, 2.20) —DR. DAN

FLAGSHIPS UNLOAD THE ALLOY IN A KEY, EARLY SEASON NON-CONFERENCE BATTLE AT BLAIR

There is snow on the mountains, Bears on the field, and hope in both dugouts. And it isn’t even March! Welcome to college baseball fun in February and enjoy the moment because next year at this time you will be stuck with sorting your sock drawer instead of the first of two contests between The University of California and The California State University. We boldly say THE because clearly UC Berkeley is the flagship of the UC system and by every account I hear Long Beach State is the flagship of the CSU system and we love hyperbole and hype.

Braggadocio aside, the 5-5 Bears and the 6-4 Beach boys are programs with high hopes early on and a several things in common. The most frequently spoke of is the presence of two Cal transfers on the Dirtbag roster, power supply Jason Corder and accurate throwing catcher Travis Howell. Corder leads the team in home runs with three and ties Steve Tinoco with a .588 slugging percentage while Howell has six starts behind the plate and has picked six of ten base stealers. The lesser known fact, the two transfers came to Long Beach as part of the deal that sent former Niner Assoc. AD whiz and honorable left field loony, Steve Holton and popular and talented LB sports info ace Chris DeConna, to Berkeley. Both sides warmed up on Tuesday with intra-conference battles, the Beach torturing Pac 10 power UCLA 14-1 and Cal heart-breaking again to former Big West foe San Jose State in a 9-8 loss. The Golden Bears lost their third consecutive one-run game. LB on the other hand got Christmas early from UCLA who staggers into Fullerton tonight. For the most part the game was a clinic in how to rebuild the confidence of a team that lost a weekend series for the first time this season and had some battered egos to rehab. The first fix was that of Andre Lamontange who hurled a career-best 3.1 innings, fanned a career-best six and got career win #1 after coming in with an ERA at 10.12. The second repair was the hitting swoon of featured 49er Danny Espinosa who had three hits and fix number three was for LBSU set-up guy Dustin Rasco who was raked at Rice but retired all seven batters he faced Tuesday, striking out three.

TRADING PLACES DUST--…the other news note is that the Bear brain trust over-scheduled their team with dates here and at UCSB…and rather than play a split squad—the honorable thing to do—the Bears will amble up to Goleta for Sunday and Monday work…of course that circumstance, and the off week coming up, actually helps the thin Beach starting corps giving Manny McElroy some more guilt free recovery time...meanwhile back in the head shed, the LBSU athletic offices, baseball is now listed as a cash cow alongside, and sometimes ahead, of men’s basketball…so far the home baseball attendance has averaged 2029 and hoops, just 1820…The Beach versus the Bears of late has not been a fond memory for the 49ers. In 2005 Cal came in to Blair and swept the series and last year in Berkeley it wasn’t much better with LB losing two of three, “somehow they really get in to us,“ skipper Mike Weathers lamented Tuesday night…tomorrow a double header for the Beach compulsives, bases at 2 p.m. and Homecoming hoops at 4 p.m… you would be well advised to check out the lads because after this weekend the Beach boys pack their bags for a seven game road trip including a three games series at sunny Arizona State followed by three at chilly Wichita State…the Sun Devil series, (March 9-11), runs simultaneous with the Big West basketball tournament presenting a challenge for 49ers with connections to both the desert and the sea, as in the ACC or Anaheim Convention Center…basket cases tomorrow’s test is another doesn’t count contest for your first place 49ers. Saturday’s visitor is UC Davis the 4 p.m. dessert course for the Beach’s Pyramid Parking Lot Homecoming celebration…the three conference games next week do matter...one win and the BWC title is locked up…no mercy rule on the field Tuesday and none in the stands…nice guy freshman right-hander J.D. Haver, who last tossed the baseball across the street at Wilson High, had to face right-handed hitter Steve Tinoco with a gaggle of his former coaches, pals and parents looking on...Haver walked Tinoco on five pitches to load the bases and then threw two wild pitches that scored two more runs, putting the Dirtbags up 3-0 and UCLA never could get off the mat…all the walking and dosing aside, one of the better plays of Tuesday was when a bloop bunt floated past the first base side of the pitcher’s mound but the ever alert Matt Cline dived for the rock and gunned the Bruin base runner out at the plate…a key momentum killing moment while the affair was still close…Friday games of note are Cal Poly at Santa Clara, Oklahoma State at CSUN, Utah at Irvine, Riverside at San Diego State, Pacific at Clemson and of course UCLA at Fullerton…last add hurler highlights, the homeboys will feature Vance Worley who has worked hard but still has a 0-0 record (3.86 ERA) going up against Cal’s crafty lefty (aren’t they all) Craig Bennigan (1-1, 0.71 and free appetizers)—DR. DAN

SAVAGE NATION INVADES LONG BEACH IN A TOP TWENTY TUESDAY TEST

Sometimes they are Terrible Tuesdays and sometimes they are Terrific. No matter what, Mike Weather’s says 49er fans better get used to them because next season college baseball teams will have to crowd 56 games into 14 weeks when the NCAA mandates nothing before March.

Back to the present, this Tuesday features the suddenly powerful UCLA Bruins (#15-ranked and 6-4) playing a Dirtbag team that got enough style points losing a series to Rice to hang in the polls at #20 or so.
The early line on starter’s tonight is UCLA’s Matthew Drummond, a lefty the Niner fans thought was going to be a Dirtbag versus a lefty that most Niner fans have not seen before, Adam Wilk. Drummond is out of Paso Robles where he compiled a 10-1 record with a 2.10 ERA, two saves and 91 strikeouts in 67.1 innings pitched as a senior and flirted with LBSU. Wilk, a rail thin cousin of LB basketball center Andrew Fleming, had a great senior season himself at Cypress High in Buena Park, 13-1, 1.17 ERA and 118 Ks. After the first couple of innings it is hard to guess who will be in the circle for either team but both Weathers and the Bruin’s John Savage hopes the offense appears. Actually UCLA was very productive last weekend but don’t dare compare East Carolina’s pitching with that of Rice. On Sunday it was a 7-6 win at Jackie Robinson, part of a sweep that included a 9-7 Saturday victory and 6-1 on Friday. The Beach won in the 11th on Friday at Rice behind a gutty start by Vance Worley and great closing work by the right-handed rockets, closers Andrew Liebel and Bryan Shaw. The pair has not given up an earned run in eight combined appearances (2-0, three saves, 18.1 innings.). On Saturday the Niners kept it close until the seventh and then on Sunday the LB pitching and defense was nearly perfect--only three hits and zero errors. The offense however melted down--the Bags struck out nine times and lost a gamble in the ninth trying to score a runner from first.

SPIN DUST-- Looks like the hoop-side home boys will go dancing somewhere in March, either the Big Dance if they win the Big West tourney or the little dance, the NIT, if they win the regular season but stumble on the way to their first tourney title since 1995. Most recent scenario came this morning when ESPN NCAA bracket guess has LB vs. Washington State in Sacto…comment from my favorite alumni lawyer Mr. C. Smith, “On paper, a LB-WSU game would have the potential to be a 59-58 defensive struggle like the LB-AF game. Alas, the NCAA continues to insist that the games be played on hardwood and not paper.”…of course many locals remember a 1993 game when Seth Greenberg went up against a slow, plodding Big Ten team and lost in stall-ball against Illinois…that 1993 LB squad had two up tempo guys in future pros Lucious Harris and Bryon Russell. Can you say Nixon and Johnson?...now some notes on two super fans….former Niner football lineman Darryl Wright is missing from his first base area seats while rehabbing at Memorial Hospital from leg surgery…and Dr. John Kashiwabara (farther up, in the middle and a University of Illinois Med School alum) is mourning, after 82 years of intimidation of opponents the soon to be extinction of the UI mascot Chief Illiniwek…intimidation by the mascot not John although he was once the winning coach of an military basketball team in the Far East…the Chief was deemed “offensive” in a PC battle with the NCAA…concession crisis. I only report this stuff but the Sunday game with Texas at Blair left most of the 1,961 fans starving for more than runs. No BBQ and only two windows of the snack bar working mean two inning lines. Fast forward to Saturday’s basketball game with Hawaii with the biggest crowd of the season and the concession stand ran out of the pricey bottled water. At least Blair has beer if you are willing to wait…Our weekend wrap-up comes from web whiz Coeus: Cal Poly 5, Washington 4 (SWEEP!); Fullerton 9, Arizona 2 (CSF 2-1); Hawai'i 9, UCSB 2 (UCSB 1-2); Pacific 7, Nevada 6 (Pacific 2-1); San Francisco 5, UC Riverside 3 (UCR 2-1); UC Davis 3, Santa Clara 2 (UCD 2-1); UCI 11, Houston 5 (SWEEP!); Washington State 6, CSUN 1 (CSN 1-2)…the BWC has a winning record against big conferences—the Big 12, CUSA, Pac 10, WAC and WCC…Back to arms, Niner AD Vic Cegles has got a new arm to put the arm on new and old funding prospects…Dave Benedict, newly named Senior Associate Director of Athletics…since March of 2006 he helped Scottsdale Healthcare raise a record $17.1 million through annual, major and planned gifts...Benedict began his career in collegiate athletic fundraising in 1996 as a Development Assistant under Vic at Arizona State and brought in over $5 million for various Sun Devil athletic facilities…last add cross town connections…several Bruins and Dirtbags have area ties, UCLA’s J. D. Haver played across the street at Wilson, both UCLA’s Tim Stewart and LB’s Danny Espinosa are Mater Dei alums, Bruin Paul Schmidt and LB’s Bobby McMurray played for Mesa CC, Bag OF Zach Barger and Bruin pitcher Brant Rustich are Grossmont guys and UCLA’s Blair Dunlap hangs in Mission Viejo with 49ers Jason Corder and T.J. Mittlestaedt…the Dirtbags will have opened the season with 12 straight games against top-25 opponents…UCLA opened taking two of three games from No. 23 Winthrop, got swept at perennial power Miami, won a Tuesday against Riverside before sweeping East Carolina last weekend—DR. DAN

BACKWARDS, FORWARD, DREAM WEAVER, HOMECOMING AND HOOPS

If the first three baseball series with USC, Texas and Rice were fittingly called a Murderer’s Row, this weekend’s two game set with the University of California is not exactly a walk in Recreation Park. Last Sunday’s contest with the Owls was a microcosm of the Dirtbag dilemma. While the LB pitching and defense was nearly perfect--only three hits and zero errors--the team struck out nine times and lost a gamble in the ninth trying to score a runner from first.

Cal’s weekend at home with UNLV mirrored the Niners at Rice; the Bears won on Friday and like LB lost the next two. Both teams played Tuesday games, LB hosting UCLA and Cal visiting San Jose. The Beach versus the Bears of late has not been a fond memory for the 49ers. In 2005 Cal came in to Blair and swept the series and last year in Berkeley it wasn’t much better with LB losing two of three. This time it is a Friday night Saturday afternoon affair and you would be well advised to check out the lads because after this weekend the Beach boys pack their bags for a seven game road trip including a three games series at sunny Arizona State followed by three at chilly Wichita State.

The Sun Devil series, (March 9-11), runs simultaneous with the Big West basketball tournament presenting a challenge for 49ers with connections to both the desert and the sea, as in the ACC or Anaheim Convention Center.

DANCE FLOOR DUST—Looks like the hoop-side home boys will go dancing somewhere in March, either the Big Dance if they win the Big West tourney or the little dance, the NIT, if they win the regular season but stumble on the way to their first tourney title since 1995. Best case scenario a #13 seed in Sacramento against a slow, plodding Big Ten team. Whoops, that’s what happened when Seth Greenberg lost in stall-ball against Illinois in the 1993 LB NCAA outing despite having up tempo guys like future pros Lucious Harris and Bryon Russell. Can you say Nixon and Johnson?

Weekly Weaver report. If you were paying attention Jered foreshadowed his just disclosed bicep issue last month at the Lead Off Dinner, saying vaguely that “when everything is okay” he looked forward to a season having already earned his big league locker. What nobody did say was that JW might be on the cover of MVP Baseball neither he nor Blair Field is in the game. It was produced after his college days when as one web wag said he was with the Los Angeles Dirtbags of Long Beach State. “I missed out right in between. The college game came out right after I left, and now EA lost the license to make the pro game.”

Basket cases. This Saturday is another doesn’t count contest for your first place 49ers. Saturday’s visitor is UC Davis the 4 p.m. dessert course for the Beach’s Pyramid Parking Lot Homecoming celebration. The three conference games next week do matter. One win clinches the regular season title and the assurance of some sort of post-season.

Concession crisis. I only report this stuff but the Sunday game with Texas at Blair left most of the 1,961 fans starving for more than runs. No BBQ and only two windows of the snack bar working mean two inning lines. Fast forward to Saturday’s basketball game with Hawaii with the biggest crowd of the season and the concession stand ran out of the pricey bottled water. At least Blair has beer if you are willing to wait.—DR. DAN

LIKELY HEROES, UNLIKELY HEROES, FIRST PAYDAYS AND GOING OFF THE CHARTS

When the arm chair experts imagined this week in Long Beach State baseball they expected that head Coach Mike Weathers would have a frown on his face. After all his team would be packing their bags for a trip to pre-season top-ranked Rice after two straight weekends full of the blue bloods of college baseball, Southern Cal and Texas. Between them these two schools had 53 College World Series appearances and 18 championships. So what is the Weather report for this weekend?

Surprisingly it is really upbeat, more than partly sunny. “We are very positive about what we have done so far but I do have one problem.” Aha, now the confession of a troubled mind. “Yes, you know we can only take 27 players on this trip and only 25 to conference games.” So after shocking series wins over both the Trojans and the Longhorns the Dirtbag contributing players’ number 31 and that means four lads are getting left behind. “It is a tough job but that’s why they give it to me” Weathers smiled, perhaps hoping that the competition for playing time will keep his cardiac kids over-achieving, at least in the minds of the Dirtbag doubtful.

MIXED DUST—With every spring sport underway, the 49er faithful were scattered across the landscape and the TV channels. Tops on TV was the remarkable run of first year player and Long Beach Alum John Mallinger who stayed on or near the top of the leaderboard at the Bing Crosby in Pebble Beach. He finished a surprising third with a $347,000 pay day and invites for the rest of the PGA tour events this year.

Next up on the TV list was the men’s basketball game at Santa Barbara for those who didn’t take that champagne-fueled booster bus. After a Thursday win at Cal Poly the Gaucho game was vital to staying on top of the Big West or at least in the top two who earn byes to the conference tourney semi finals. The result--LBSU got another buzzer beating big shot from Aaron Nixon, ripped the heart out of UCSB 68-67 and likely saved some sofas from going ablaze in Isla Vista, a favorite student prank. The lads play Hawaii in an ESPN Bracket Buster game Saturday night in the Mid.

The big news about women’s tennis isn’t that they continue to win but that insiders say that if the proposed Student Rec Center fee increase is passed that the dumpy current complex will be replaced with new courts and actual stadium type stands. The new complex would be off Palo Verde behind Engineering and near the new parking buildings. The 28th ranked Beach swingers improved to 3-1 overall and 2-0 against Big West foes. They play at SDSU Friday and host Riverside Saturday.

Back to bases, last weekend’s excitement was courtesy of a couple of unlikely heroes. Friday night the Beach won in the bottom of the ninth when Bobby McMurray (for two years on the injury list) knocked in two runs to tie the contest and then Danny Espinosa, latest in a line of great Niner infielders (can you say Chris Gomez, Bobby Crosby, Troy Tulowitzki and Evan Longoria) had the game-winner. Saturday’s unsung hero, Brian Capon, got his first college hit in the 10th for the series clinching victory.

That brings us to our closing quote which comes from LBSU Distance Coach Matt Roe speaking of Long Beach State senior runner Jimmy Grabow who clocked the seventh fastest time in the world at the University of Washington Invitational. Grabow also set the school-record in the indoor 5000-meter with a time of 13:44.04 and prompted his coach to say, “he is off the charts”.—DR. DAN

DOUBLE DOSE OF VITAMIN C CURES AGENT ORANGE AS BAGS WIN ANOTHER SERIES

When you are suffering like most of us are these days with the uncommon cold you will try almost any cure. The Dirtbag offense was coughing and sputtering for the first two and a half innings while Texas jammed out 7 runs and their third base fans began needling the locals with “how do you like it now” (reflecting on Friday’s fantastic 49er comeback win.) So what did the Dirtbag Doctor order? A two part dose of Vitamin C.

The first dose came from big Jason Corder who homered twice, breaking the shutout with a solo shot as part of a five-run third and then another big fly in the sixth to close the gap to 8-7. With remarkable relief by Andrew Liebel and Bryan Shaw, the Niner pen fed the Horns nothing but scoreboard doughnuts while waiting to find another offensive opportunity. In the seventh the Dirtbags has a flurry of base runners but only got the tying run. In the ninth it looked like history would repeat with another 9th inning walk-off win but the rally stalled after Masuda singled to center and swift Allen Woods came in to pinch run. Jason Tweedy then was assigned to sac but did it so well and Woods ran so fast that both guys were on without an out. Brandon Godfrey then tried three times to bunt but as you know after three tries you are out. Still with a runner on second you could hope for Cline or Perry to knock him in but nada for the ninth. Eerily similar to the Friday night comeback, the bottom of the 10th started out like there would be a bottom of the 11th. The leadoff hitter Jason Corder worked the count but grounded out first to pitcher covering. The hero of 24 hours earlier, Bobby McMurray fanned for the second time on the day leaving the chilled and stirred to hope that somehow Danny Espinosa could get it going. Well he almost made it going and gone when his rocket to dead center hit the base of the wall at the 400 ft. mark--a stand up double. The Horn book on hitters had a page or two on Shane Peterson so with a base open Augie offered the intentional walk. Unfortunately for the visitors there was no page on the third of three LB catchers, and our second Vitamin C, Brian Capon. Just as Corder made a little history with his two homer game, Capon made a little history with his first collegiate hit, and the burnt orange shirts had red faces as their beloved Bevos dropped to 2-4 overall. And The Beach won round two of their 2007 murder’s row adding a series win over Texas to go along with a series win over USC.

SUNDAY MY DUST WILL COME—Although it would be poetic to call this a heavyweight fight, most of the real heavies were in the visitor’s dugout...Texas 1-through-5 hitters combined to go 13-for-27 at the plate, with Peoples, Danks and Wheeless each logging three hits while the virtually unknown nine hole hitter Steve Tinoco led Long Beach State at the plate, going 4-for-4 with two RBI…UT insiders said that Augie’s point of emphasis for this series was getting men on base. Well his club certainly did that on Saturday with 16 hits, five walks and a couple of hit batters but when you strand 15…switching back inside the other team of note these days is men’s basketball…trying to defend their perilous hold on first place in the Big West the Niners needed another big shot from Aaron Nixon with just four-tenth's of a second left on the clock and ripped the heart out of UCSB in a 68-67 win in Goleta…that should save some sofas from going ablaze in Isla Vista…the 49ers are 17-6 still in first but being chased by their Wednesday’s road opponent, CSUF…the good news is that the three-game attendance total at the CSF-Stanford baseball series was 7,883 (2,628 average), nearly equaling the total attendance of 8,457 (769 average) at the Titans' 11 home basketball games at Titan Gym this season….and the baseball and basketball teams are a combined 14-0 at home…and now news for our visitors…over 2,000 supporters came out in force to encircle the Northcross Mall in protest of a Super Wal-Mart store planning to occupy the older neighborhood mall…back to the real world, good pitching aside the best defense of the weekend had to be the play by Longhorn Nick Peoples…as reported by the Austin American it was Friday and the Bags had runners on first and third with two outs in the first inning when “Danny Espinosa hit what appeared to be a two-run double. That was before Peoples, the Longhorns’ center fielder, took off toward right-center and, in a full dive snagged the line drive just off the ground to end the inning.”…now to Saturday scores—USC 12, San Diego 6; La Tech 13, UT-A 6; UC Irvine 7, Loyola Marymount 2; Hawai'i 4, Pacific 3; UC Riverside 11, Gonzaga 4; Fullerton 13, UNLV 4; Cal State Northridge 5, Texas-Pan American 3; TCU 12, UCF 1; Pepperdine 5, UC Davis 4; UCI 7, LMU 2; SE LA 5, Tulane 3; Hawaii 4, Pacific 3; Vanderbilt 7, Arizona State 6; Texas A & M 3, Houston 2; Miami 9, UCLA 8…our closing quote comes from LBSU Distance Coach Matt Roe speaking of Long Beach State senior runner Jimmy Grabow who clocked the seventh fastest time in the world at the Husky Invitational, setting the school-record in the indoor 5000-meter with a time of 13:44.04. “He is off the charts”. And on a very special Saturday in 49erville that goes for baseball and basketball too.—DR. DAN

NEVER-QUIT-NINERS MESS TEXAS 7-6 WTIH THREE RUN BOTTOM OF THE NINTH

Welcome to a Saturday afternoon names and numbers edition of Diamond Dust written on extra Kleenex since I kept tearing up my notes on my napkin Friday night while roaming the bleachers of Blair. Translated, one heck of a college baseball roller coaster in which the #30 Dirtbags finished on top of #7 Texas before a black, gold and burnt orange crowd of 2,015. And for the meaning of all this we got this explanation from the box of the LBSU President, “you just saw a $9.8 million dollar program beat an $80 million dollar program.”

The shortage of paper had nothing to do with the budgets above but due to the fact that every time I thought that I had the game figured out it would change. Five lead changes and three hours ten minutes later Texas is still feeling jinxed about things California. In 2004 the Nutwood Nine knocked the Longhorns out of the CWS, in 2006 Texas traveled to San Diego and lost all three games, got USD to mess with Texas in Texas last weekend and UT lost two of three. Friday night the Horns started fast and would hit three balls out of the Blair Airfield (a place which never gives up stuff like that at night) but still lost 7-6 to the courageous No-Quit-Niners. With one out in the bottom of the ninth Matt Cline stung one to short, Robert Perry, who was clothes-lined by a Longhorn linebacker at second base earlier in the game, took a dose to move Cline over. Famous Texas Ex Greg Swindell pulled his ace Joe Krebs but the next guy, Adrian Alaniz, hit pinch-hitter Brandon Godfrey to put a Bag on every bag. Corder popped up but Weathers scanned the bench and found the oft-injured Bobby McMurray who creased one to right plating a pair and leaving pinch runner T.J. Mittelstaedt at third. Some folks would have been satisfied with tying the contest up at 6-6 but the amazing Danny Espinosa worked the count full and then delivered another W for the Beach with a drive into right center. Today Texas goes lefty again with Kyle Walker (0-0, 9.00 ERA) taking on LB righty Manny McElroy (1-0, 2.84 ERA). Walker appeared in 20 games and made one start in 2006, had a 4-1 record with his best work against Big 12 opposition.

NO DOPPLER DUST—The Beach mound workers on Friday gave up the long ball by actually not much in between…Worley went six but only seven hits and then Dustin Rasco got the W with a three inning 3 K close…when Weathers was asked his plans for the Horn with the two-home run performance, Kyle Russell he quipped, “well we could hold our breath but it’s gonna rain Saturday isn’t it?”… Russell was 3-for-4 with two home runs, three runs scored and four RBI…the LB win was a favor to old Bibb Falk who’s 434 wins is third on the Horn list and the number Augie is chasing…Cliff Gustafson holds the UT all-time record with 1,427…more numbers these from Friday contests, Cal Poly 4, Nevada 2; Fullerton 5, UNLV 4; Northridge 4, McNeese State 3 (11); Hawai'i 13, Pacific 1; Pepperdine 6, UC Davis 2; UC Irvine 2, Loyola Marymount 0; UC Riverside 9, Gonzaga 3; Miami 1, UCLA 0; Vanderbilt 7, Rice 3 and USC 6, San Diego 2……almost final note, as much as the new AD likes W & L data you have the feeling he wants a serious improvement in the P & L data, as in profit and loss…if I told you that one of the Street family of ball players woiuld be facing the 49ers you might be trembling but the deed has already been done...the Street in this case is located in Malibu where Hanson Street (son of James and brother of all world Longhorn Huston and current Horn Justin) is a freshmen infielder for the Waves…he got a lot of action Tuesday taking on the foul ball duty…..next week as you know the Dirtbags travel to Houston for a series with Rice Owls and that long trip already worried the player’s girl friends before they found out that the team will be taking a field trip to meet the NASA lady astronauts…MIAs Friday were Elvis Joe and the 50/50 gang… another triple header day for the 49er faithful…after baseball Women’s hoops at 5 then home to the telly for the men’s cage match at UCSB…yesterday Long Beach State (0-2) dropped its first two games of the Kajikawa Classic softball in Arizona, getting three-hit and falling 3-0 in the season opener, before dropping a 5-4 decision to Wisconsin...the losses spoiled a debut for new Head Coach Kim Sowder, who took over for long time Coach Pete Manarino prior to the season… in volleyball Vince and Kay Beck helped LBSU snap Cal Baptist’s nine game winning streak…the visitors were the NAIA’s No. 1-ranked team …the 49ers improved to 6-5 overall, while the Lancers fell to 9-5….four 49ers posted double-figure kills, led by Norm Hutton and Daniel Fabry who had 13 kills apiece...no where is this place called the press box...film at 11—DR. DAN

'T" AS IN TEXAS, TEE TIME AND ROUND TWO OF THE TOUGHEST SCHEDULE IN THE LAND

The irony of sports is that you always seem to want what the other guy has. Texas for example has that tune “The Eyes of Texas Are Upon You” when in reality it is everybody else’s eyes that are on Texas. Changing dugouts, if you have been to the parking lot at UT’s Dish-Fork stadium you can understand why the faithful would just love to be Dirtbags. They come early, fire up the grill and pop the trunk of an antiquated antlered burnt orange caddy for a favorite beverage. The Beach crowd first experienced Austin in 1991 when Jason Giambi, Scotty Talanoa, Steve Trachsel and mates came into the Central Regional as a three seed, whipped the top seeded Horns 17-10, and made trip number two to Omaha.

Looked easy at the time but since then Texas (2005 CWS champs) has been tough on everybody, LB included. This weekend the D-bags will roll out the same rotation as last weekend, tonight Vance Worley (1.50) with six innings of one-run baseball in a no-decision against USC, and then Manny McElroy (1-0, 2.84) Omar Arif (1-0, 0.00) both of whom beat the Boys of Troy. The Horn hill toppers will be James Russell (0-1, 2.57), Kyle Walker (0-0, 9.00) and Randy Boone (0-1, 4.26). Texas (7th ranked and now 2-2) dropped two of three to San Diego and beat UT-Arlington on Tuesday. What they like to do is run, (11 of 12 in steals so far this season) particularly ahead of Preston Clark who has opened the season batting .533. The pitching has been less impressive with a 4.75 ERA but the wily Coach Augie Garrido (he has taken Texas to five College World Series in six years and is the all-time winningest coach in Division-I baseball) doesn’t panic. Let the games begin.

2-1-1 DUST--Those Tuesday treks to the Malibu always put one on edge. You never know how tough the traffic will be, how many pitchers the Beach will roll out, if the snack bar will be open, and what about the weather. And of course, who wins. The 2007 version of the annual visit to the U with a View had a number of unpredictable outcomes. The traffic wasn’t bad. Dirtbag fan, Memorial Hospital fund raiser and believe it or not, orchid expert, Thom Knight Sabaru-ed us up the 405 where miracles on miracles the car pool lane now goes way past LAX. No sweat on PCH so we get to the yard after a quick lunch. The Waves started fast behind when Eric Thomas delivered a three-run double that capped a five-run fourth inning and staked Pepperdine to a 7-0 lead. Time for a pitcher count, starter Shane Peterson and the next two guys got worked over pretty good but the next four of Buckley’s suggestions, Roberts, Markovitz, Rasco and Shaw shut the homeboys down. Seven arms in all but now the bats began to take over with some serious help courtesy of eight Wave walks. That set up the second three-run homer of the season by Danny Espinosa in the eighth inning and with the twilights last gleaming it remains tied at 7-7 until April 10…one of he puzzling aspects of LBSU is that the community crowd always out numbers the students…Pepperdine took a 2-0 lead in the second inning, rallying for a pair of runs with two outs. Peterson the victim but he would stay in the game and get two RBIs himself but then that troublesome fourth inning when they sent nine batters to the plate and scored five times to take a 7-0 lead. Peterson, who started on the mound for the 49ers, singled with two outs to drive home a pair of runs and make it a 7-4 game in the fifth. Nothing more from the blue hats and it did look dire when I stooped behind a clump of pacing parents who wistfully said “we just need a three run homer to tie them.” I laughed inwardly since the breeze had gone, the air was full of moisture and well, and then Espy earns another Espy with that improbable comeback on a very unpredictable passage to Pepperdine…as a team UT is hitting .271 but the opponents out pace them with a .308 average…a nice number for the home boys is the $60,000 in the hopper to endow a scholarship named after former Head Coach Bob Wuesthoff (1964-69), who led the 49ers to their first conference title in 1964..bring a check for LBSU’s first coach John McConnell to put in the pot…around the Big West this Friday: Fullerton is at UNLV, Irvine hosts LMU, UCSB goes to San Jose, Gonzaga is at Riverside, CSUN plays in the UTPA tourney versus McNeese, Pacific travels to Hawaii and Nevada goes to SLO…our closing quote is from UT’s Sunday pitcher and blogger Randy Boone, “Monday was our day off from practice, and after a couple classes, (Joseph) Krebs, James Russell, Todd Gilfillan and I were able to get out to the golf course and enjoy the beautiful weather. We played best ball righties against lefties, and the lefties pulled it out with a stellar back nine. I believe they shot nine over par, and we came in somewhere around +12.”…keep that focus Randy; in fact we have a tee time for you at Big Rec right behind your bullpen.--DR. DAN

TALES OF A TUESDAY, TUNING UP FOR TEXAS AND TIED UP WITH THE PEPPERS

Those Tuesday treks to the Malibu always put one on edge. You never know how tough the traffic will be, how many pitchers the Beach will roll out, if the snack bar will be open, and what about the weather. And of course, who wins. The 2007 version of the annual visit to the U with a View had a number of unpredictable outcomes.

The traffic wasn’t bad. Dirtbag fan, Memorial Hospital fund raiser and believe it or not, orchid expert, Thom Knight Sabaru-ed us up the 405 where miracles on miracles the car pool lane now goes way past LAX. No sweat on PCH so we get to the yard after a quick lunch. The Waves started fast behind when Eric Thomas delivered a three-run double that capped a five-run fourth inning and staked Pepperdine to a 7-0 lead. Time for a pitcher count, starter Shane Peterson and the next two guys got worked over pretty good but the next four of Buckley’s suggestions, Roberts, Markovitz, Rasco and Shaw shut the homeboys down. Seven arms in all but now the bats began to take over with some serious help courtesy of eight Wave walks. That set up the second three-run homer of the season by Danny Espinosa in the eighth inning and with the twilights last gleaming it is all tied at 7-7. And so it would stay, maybe for all time or maybe until April 10—depending on whom you talk to.

Pepperdine took a 2-0 lead in the second inning, rallying for a pair of runs with two outs. Peterson the victim but he would stay in the game and get two RBIs himself but then that troublesome fourth inning when they sent nine batters to the plate and scored five times to take a 7-0 lead. Peterson, who started on the mound for the 49ers, singled with two outs to drive home a pair of runs and make it a 7-4 game in the fifth. Nothing more from the blue hats and it did look dire when I stooped behind a clump of pacing parents who wistfully said “we just need a three run homer to tie them.” I laughed inwardly since the breeze had gone, the air was full of moisture and well, and then Espy earns another Espy with that improbable comeback on a very unpredictable passage to Pepperdine.

FUTURE DUST--Pepperdine returns to action on Friday when it opens a three-game series against incoming Big West partner UC Davis…now keep this a secret from Travis Howell and his Dirtbag catching corps, but the Tuesday afternoon the Texas Longhorns stole nine bases including two each by Nick Peoples, Jordan Danks and Bradley Suttle….add in a 3-for-3 day by Kyle Russell and the result was a 9-4 win over UT Arlington at The Dell Diamond in Round Rock, the temporary home of the Horns will their yard gets a multi-million dollar while you were out remodel… Russell went 3-for-3 with one double, one home run, two runs scored and three RBI as Texas evened its record at 2-2 on the season…. Texas drew first blood in the bottom of the first inning. Peoples reached on a throwing error by UTA's second baseman, stole second base, moved to third on a throwing error by the Mavericks' catcher and scored on a double down the leftfield line by Danks. With one out, Suttle singled to the left centerfield gap, scoring Danks and staking the Longhorns to a 2-0 lead….Preston Clark (who leads the Horns hitting .533) accounted for a Texas run in the third inning…as a team UT is hitting .271 but the opponents out pace them with a .308 average…expect a big Burnt Orange turnout at Blair including some of Augies old Titan pals…he graduated from Fresno State in 1961, played three seasons for the Bulldogs and earned All-Conference recognition while also taking part in the 1959 College World Series…he is one of only nine men ever to both play and coach in the CWS…Garrido's collegiate coaching career would begin San Francisco State then over to Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo before going to the F word...this from the Daily Trojan on last weekend “After the Trojans won, 2-1, in the first of a three-game series against the Long Beach State Dirtbags Friday night at Dedeaux Field, it seemed as if USC coach Chad Kreuter's goal to take two out of three games each weekend would be attainable in the Trojans' first series. But After a road loss at Long Beach State the next afternoon, the Trojans had work to do back at Dedeaux the next day. Clinging to a 2-1 lead after not scoring for four innings, the Dirtbags got started in the seventh in, put runners on the corners for Long Beach, and Kreuter made the call to the bullpen… then Dirtbag shortstop Danny Espinosa broke the game open with a three-run homer over the right-field fence…on Sunday Senior Matt Cusick, the No. 3 hitter in the lineup, came to the plate in the third inning with the bases loaded…with a full count, the Trojan section was rowdy, but Cusick grounded out to second, leaving three stranded, and dealing "a big blow to the offense," according to Kreuter…"Baseball is a game where you have to be relaxed and repetitious and stay with the game," Kreuter said. "If you try to overachieve, you will fail. Right now, I think some of us are trying to hit five-run homers. We've got to remember that it is a learning experience."…head sports teacher for LBSU might well agree…he is Niner AD Vic Cegles who sites somewhere behind the home plate screen this weekend…he and his wife Bonnie have two kids, young Vic plays baseball for Rutgers his brother Casey football at Towson State…Cegles main playing talent is basketball but insiders say that President King Alexander lights up the open gym games where the students report he “has a lot of range and likes to shoot”…a one on one hoops with Cegles has not happened so far we hear…around the wild west SLO beat Fresno State 6-3; Sacramento State loses again thus time 16-10 to Pacific; San Jose State 6 @ San Francisco 1; Southern California 5 @ Loyola Marymount 2; Arizona 6-Utah Valley State 2 ; New Mexico 15 @ Texas Tech 13; Texas State beats next weekends host Rice 3-2 and this weekenders Texas whipped Texas-Arlington 9-4...last adds, dinner on Wednesday night for your scribe will be with the scholar athlete dinner where my Director’s Circle membership gets me at a table with my assigned student, third baseman Jason Tweedy, who drove in a pair at Pepperdine himself…final note, as much as the new AD likes W & L data you have the feeling he wants a serious improvement in the P & L data, as in profit and loss…so bring a friend or three to Blair this weekend and we will let hoops sort themselves out—DR. DAN

DIRTBAGS FACE A FUTURE WITH OPTIMISM, PITCHING AND BELIVE IT OR NOT, HITTING

The hot stove league worried all winter about the 2007 Long Beach baseball team. Would they come to work this spring with a hangover from a 29-27 no-post-season depression last year? How much would they miss the big bat of Evan Longoria (Tampa Bay, 3rd pick overall) and the pitching talents of Andrew Carpenter (Philadelphia, 65th overall pick) Jared Hughes (Pittsburgh, 110 overall pick)? Is there any chance of clubhouse chemistry with something old, something new, something borrowed and a fresh coat of paint that is Blair Field Blue? And, oh yes, a murder’s row schedule that has been called the toughest in the nation.

One weekend done and one murderer down the Dirtbags just might surprise themselves and their fans because they play like a team. In the series win over #25 Southern Cal the Niner coaches used 21 different faces on Sunday and that game was typical of that old, new borrowed bit. The old was the grizzled sophomore shortstop Danny Espinosa who drove in three runs and speedy senior Robert Perry notched his third-straight multi-hit game. The new guys on the mound were winners also. Omar Arif (1-0), who pitched the first four shutout innings Sunday and Manny McElory (1-0), who retired 14 of 16 batters in the Saturday win.

The other good news was that the promising returnee Vance Worley pitched to one over the minimum over the first five and two thirds innings struck out six, walked none and gave up just four hits in a no decision Friday. Looks like a rotation and add in the excellent closing work of Andrew Liebel, (4.1 scoreless innings) Adam Wilk and Bryan Shaw and the only question remaining was the bat work who coming in seemed like the “Lost” offense.

Now this next stat won’t bring this weekend’s visitors from Texas to their knees but the Beach boys did ring up 10 runs in the last two games while the Longhorns lost two of three to San Diego in a hitter friendly park at Round Rock. Friday they fell 6-5, outlasted the Toreros 13-8 Saturday and then went quietly on Sunday losing 4-1. Murderers still (ranked in the top five and picked to win the Big 12 Conference) After the Horns see the wide open tarmac of Blair Airfield they may import those TV characters Sawyer, Kate and Jack to look for their own “Lost” offense. Game times are 6:30 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.

HOOP DUST-Making news on the front page and the sports page, the Niner men’s basketball team (15-6 and minus two starters and one coach), routed Big West rivals Northridge and Pacific but now have to travel to Cal Poly and UCSB with a tenuous hold on first place. The Gaucho contest on Saturday night is a TV affair and the bright lights usually bring out the best in Beach shooters like Aaron Nixon and Kevin Houston.

The struggling women’s basketball team will host those opponents but have to stand on their head to see their name on top of the BWC list. They are tied for last and a humbling 5-18 overall.

Wrapping up the rest, tennis (2-1) host CSUN on Saturday, softball opens their season in the tough Arizona State tournament, women’s water polo starts their season in the UC San Diego tourney and men’s volleyball hosts Cal Baptist Friday night.

Our closing quote comes from CSTV’s Eric Sorenson who pointed out that he has found only two college yards that serve beer, Tulane and Long Beach. “C'mon people, a dog and suds is as much a part of baseball as pine tar and spitballs. His second complaint, “I hope some of the officials who decided to jack with the baseball season start date are forced to sit at a regional in Baton Rouge or Austin when the temperature and humidity are both 100”.--DR. DAN

SAWYER, KATE AND JACK LOOK FOR THE NINERS "LOST" OFFENSE

Something old, something new, something borrowed and a fresh coat of paint that is Blair Field Blue. It’s the home opener for Long Beach State baseball and you will need the rest of this scorecard to figure out who’s who for what the experts say are the Bounce Back Beach Boys. The crack Blair Field crew spent Friday morning steaming sidewalks and touching up the bright blue trim while their main tenant boarded the bus for SC in SC last night. Final score there was a disappointing 2-1 but the lads that bounce out of the first base dugout today are an interesting mixture of at least the old, new, and borrowed.

The old are guys like Robert Perry who had two hits and Allen Woods who twisted a single through Southern Cal’s Hector Estrella for the Dirtbags one and only RBI plus an impressive Vance Worley who went six, fanned six and left with a no-decision. The new are Jason Tweedy, Taylor Krick, T. J. Mittlestaedt and the borrowed are transfers like the next two LB pitchers, today’s Manny McElroy (Bakersfield CC) and tomorrow’s Omar Arif (TCU) plus a pair of defectors from the Cal Bears, Travis Howell and Jason Corder. Once again the Niner defense was fine; Espinosa, Cline and Brandon “No M” Godfrey did their job but that eerie silence of the aluminum continued with a mere four hits and eight strikeouts, a number of them of the backward K variety. Today the Boys of Troy will give the stitched round thing to Brandon Buxbaum who had a mere eight appearances as a 2006 junior, pitched six innings but is 6-6 and the visitors want to give their ace Tommy Milone another day since he worked on Tuesday. The Niner ace may well be Mr. Worley who gave up a mere until the sixth inning when Nick Buss lined a two-out single to center, followed by Green’s RBI triple to right to tie the game at 1-1.
Green had a 2-for-4 day for the second straight game and now has three RBI on the early season.

MIXED DUST—If you think that three LB games in one day is a record, you miss by one. Today you can get to four contests…after baseball you run to the Pyramid for the TV tilt with Pacific, get a Lucious Harris autograph while they take down the baskets and put up the net and then when the whipping is secure over Pacific VBs then Men's Ice Hockey faces UNLV at 9 pm on the frozen pond that is Glacial Gardens in Lakewood…today’s Bag hurler Manny McElroy was a JUCO All-American last season, going 10-1 with a 1.97 ERA and was very effective in snuffing their Pro Alums last Saturday…tomorrow you can get to SC for a noon start or prep for your Super Bowl party at home and watch their live video webcasts…the SC baseball SID is Jason Pommier called the Mel Torme of web broadcasters when he does “selected road games”…Weathers told the media that "Our guys have a little chip on their shoulders, and hopefully it pays off (in their play). This team has tried to work harder and smarter due to what we did last year,"…similar patience might be needed for Beach softball who was a pretty nifty 31-22, 13-4 Big West last year will be without 2006 Big West Pitcher of the Year Michelle Turner this season for academic reasons…the 49ers will look to returnees Melissa DeMarco and Lacy Tyler as well as newcomers Kelly Cross and Bridgette Pagano to lead the way in the circle and senior Kourtnee Gervasi, juniors Jessica Beaver, Jonae Perez and Lacy Tyler, as well as sophomore Breezy Goad at the plate...hopefully Turner’s baby sister will book up and come next fall as planned…no official info on the men’s hoop DQs but insiders expect KJ at least to be back by the crucial at Santa Barbara game…first-year SC head coach Chad Kreuter has improved the program by padding the outfield fence and (IMHO) retiring first base coach Rob Klein who always hovered so close to the bag…49er pitcher Marcus Jones blew an ankle trying to avoid the a too close Klein some years ago on a pitcher covering play…a tip of the flask to CSTV’s Eric Sorenson who pointed out that he has found only two college yards that serve beer, Tulane and right here, “C'mon people, a dog and suds is as much a part of baseball as pine tar and spitballs. Only BYU should outlaw beer.”…second complaint, “I hope some of the officials who decided to jack with the baseball season start date are forced to sit at a regional in Baton Rouge or Austin when the temperature and humidity are both hitting 100”…Big West scoreboarding--Fullerton 11, Stanford 5; Northridge 11, Pacific 7; San Diego State 9, Cal Poly 5; Irvine 4, California 3; UC Riverside 12, Nevada 8; and Big West wannabe Sac State a 9-5 loser to LMU.-DR. DAN