Tuesday, March 02, 2010

STADIUM DUST: SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW AND WOOD BATS AND CHOPSTICKS FOR ME AND YOU

Last weekend the win-hungry Trojans of USC and the success- shorted Dirtbags of Long Beach State headed off for diamond work. USC was playing twice at home and one just up the freeway at Dodger Stadium while the Beach boarded the big grey dog for a ride into the desert and a three game Tucson test at Arizona. Results—well the bus leaguers from the Beach won twice over the Wildcats with a third game rained out. The Boys of Troy lost all three outings, 6-4 to Oklahoma State, 10-1 to Vanderbilt and 6-1 to their Westwood cousins UCLA... Tonight somebody’s going to put on the happy face again.

No video evidence of the Niners twin killings of the Cats but lots of video, and repeated incessantly on Prime Ticket, of how the UCLA Bruins beat SC 6-1 and knocked out ace Kevin Couture in the second inning after taking a line drive off his throwing hand. Good news for the Cardinal and Gold is Kevin suffered only a minor sprain and either he or Jodan Hershiser, a man mountain at 6-8-245 (son of…) will get the start. Meanwhile LB has their Sunday starter Brandon Pinder rested and ready but Chad’s lads are a little tired in the bull pen and have New Mexico in this weekend.

The curiosity for the Beach boosters will be the hitting, dismal out of the shoot a 1-3 and chipper now at 3-3. The resurgent offense was lead by senior first baseman Steve Tinoco who picked the Big West Co-Player of the Week slugging 8-for-10 with five RBI and three walks when UA dared to face him. His double was the game-winner against the Wildcats on Friday, capping a ninth-inning comeback in an 8-7 win. His prize was the first such honor for the Bag offense since 2008. Meanwhile down south both of the Big West bad guys, Fullerton and Irvine struggled. Fullerton went 1-2 for the second straight weekend (both at home), losing a home series to TCU for the second straight season and UCI losing 3 of 4 in a tourney down South.

BEST OF THE DUST-- the Dirtbags are in a nine game home stand if you include the exhibition with Waseda University of Japan tomorrow. After that almost shocking two game sweep of Arizona (8-7 and 10-3) , this weekend brings more of PAC 10 play against visiting Washington Friday through Sunday and then a Tuesday visit from San Diego State… a huge turnout for the funeral of CSULB Admissions and Records whiz Sharon Clark included a tip of his cap from the Snowman, “That woman was the original Dirtbag in her office and at the ball park…when I took the job in 1989 we came in practically empty and had to build a whole team…and we must have sent her a hundred transcripts to look at”…both she and my dear friend Dr. John Kashiwabara sat midway on the right side and surely the good guys leave us too soon…For both box office and booster pride LB needs a big turnout in the stands and on the court when Dan Monson’s team hosts Riverside Friday night. Four thousand free tee shirts for the last, and most important, basketball game of the year...international notes…insiders say that if women’s coach Jody Wynn is able to land a very promising British basketball talent who visited the campus last weekend, an assist should go to Ms. Hannah Grady, the academic and athletic all star, who is bigger than life on her banner at the tennis center, and a couple of current team members who shared a cup of something with the talented prospect…The mad scientist that is interim men’s volleyball coach Andy Read came up with this magic last weekend…he starting Bruin Beaters for the Beach consisted of Conor Eaton setting, Kirk Francis at libero, Dean Bittner at opposite, Dan Alexander and Antwain Aguillard in the middles and Jimmy Baughman and Tommy Pesotlesi on the outsides. Coach Read picked his spots with the “double-sub” move, sometimes inserting Srdjan Nadazdin for Conor and Mike Klipsch for Dean for three rotations and sometimes utilizing only Serge for blocking purposes…the wizard keeps working…tomorrow’s visitors from Waseda University have a history that exceeds even USC…the Japanese collegians started playing in 1901 and are on another exhibition tour along with other members of the Tokyo Big Six University League…their primary rival is the Meiji University club but another Japanese college team in that league, Rikkyo, two hit the Troys in a 9-0 loss last Wednesday and the visitors used wood bats.—DR. DAN

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