With a body of baseball work totaling 22-24, Long Beach State baseball has finally arrived home, to stay.
For the first of seven home games, it will be the struggling Hawaii Rainbows who come in at 11-31 but are just a weekend away from a series win over Pacific. After the Rainbows weekend (6PM Friday, 2PM Saturday and 1PM Sunday) the Beach will be fighting to finish over .500 with another Tuesday visit with Pepperdine and then the closing Big West home set with UC Riverside before the three final games at UCI. If my West Virginia math is correct (I take my shoes off for that) the Dirtbags are gonna need another Tuesday W over the Waves and two of three over the Bows, Highlanders and Anteaters to stay above an “even” season.
Tuesday was a good outing for the 49ers beating Pepperdine at the U with a View 5-3. Junior Jeff McNeil led the offense with three hits and an RBI, scoring twice, while senior Juan Avila went 2-for-5 with two RBI to help in the effort. On the mound, Ty Provencher (who’s dad has the finest LBSU leather jacket in the land) pitched a career-high 2.1 innings to collect the win, and just allowed two hits.
As he was supposed to Jon Maciel earned his sixth save of the season, retiring nine batters in a row. Meanwhile Hawai’i has struggled in its first season in the Big West, but the Rainbows are 6-12 in league play this season, thanks in part to Marc Flores, who was hitting .269 with two home runs and 12 RBI this season. The teams last played in 2011, with Long Beach State winning a 4-3 decision in Blair Field when Jeff Yamaguchi had a pair of hits. Skipper Troy Buckley still has a MASH unit approach– Johnny Bekakis was ineligible, and Ryan Strufing and Kyle Friedrichs were injured from the get-go and then recent injuries (Michael Hill broke an ankle at UCLA on April 23, and Richard Prigatano was lost for the remainder of the season at Fullerton). Bad breaks for sure but there are still seven home chances for fame and fortune, well maybe fame.
NOTES ON MY NAPKIN–last weekend bumped the team’s Strength of Schedule all the way to No. 5 in the nation, according to boydsworld.com… LB faced five ranked foes in total before the beginning of Big West play. Vanderbilt and Cal State Fullerton are both in the Top 5, while UCLA, Arizona State and Arizona are all still in the rankings this week. The Dirtbags close the books against UC Irvine, ranked No. 23 by the coaches this week…
On the baseball note card is that popular barometer of success, no, not won-loss records, but attendance. The top five crowds all belong to the SEC: 1. LSU average of 10,811; 2. Arkansas, 8,251; 3. Ole Miss, 7,840; 4. South Carolina, 7,385; and number 5. Mississippi State, 7,346. Okay so you crave LBSU facts and figures…the sports gossip-eers are still grinding on what new transfers are coming in and what old transfers are going out. Thursday night numerous sources said the 49er guys hitting the road will be Tony Freeland, Deng Deng and Keala King.
On the ladies side there is a Sunday fund raising and friend raising visit from the professionals of The Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA. A profit from the 1PM preseason exhibition game at the Walter Pyramid on Sunday (between the Sparks and the Seattle Storm) is thanks to Beach legend and Sparks GM Penny Toler. Toler, the Sparks’ Executive VP/General Manager, was a star for the 49ers in the late 1980’s, leading the team to two NCAA Final Four appearances (1987 and 1988) and lots of 49er records…another busy Saturday too for Beach tennis and softball…the Saturday breakfast tennis match is between #45 LBSU and #32 Oklahoma State in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament at UCLA. The host Bruins play Army in the second match and the winners advance to Sunday…Saturday at 1PM is senior day for Kim Sowder’s Sweethearts of Swat who are still sweating an NCAA post season ticket….
More notes from baseball in the house last week was former Oakland star and former LB star and genuine good guy Bobby Crosby. He got close to making the Brewers over the winter but now is working for his agent in dealing with prospective college kids who have MLB potential…meanwhile popular Brennan Metzger is still being treated and has had some surgery recently. Send him your good wishes and mine too!…The vice presidents of LBSU will host a blue ribbon quiche and wine bye bye party for Beach president F King Alexander in the Pointe on May 20th. His next big party will probably have a more Cajun flavor in Baton Rouge where he takes over SEC heavyweight LSU…Women’s basketball will also be changing menus this summer too when they take an August basketball tour to Great Britain. Team bonding and a warm welcome from team mate Ella Clark plus lots of ABC’s (tourist slang for “another bloody castle”).
The schedule of games is still in flux but NCAA allows these deals every so many years…Former Niner and Milwaukee’s third-round pick in 2011, Drew Gagnon is improving at Class A Brevard County, Florida State League pitcher of the week (last two starts, seven perfect innings with 10 strikeouts)…he signed for $340,000, has great control and he looks to be an AA or AAA arm sometime before the fall.—DR. DAN