The young people these days have a lot of expressions that puzzle older people. One of them is the concept of a “do-over” but that is very much on the mind of Long Beach State baseball as they get another chance as they begin a second season Thursday through Saturday with still a chance to  win a ninth Big West championship. The team was given a generous preseason shot by the league’s coaches who said the Dirtbags should finish about third.  The Beach will face the middle of the BWC pack in 12 of its next 13 games starting with inconsistent Cal State Northridge, then Pacific, UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara in their first four conference series.  That should set up or crush up the 49er hopes for this season.

The Matadors come in with an overall record of 11-12, but of late have been one of the better teams in the basin. CSUN has won five straight, including an 8-4 win over San Diego Tuesday after sweeping Utah Valley in four games over the weekend. LBSU meanwhile lost on the field and in the umps room last weekend when they were swept by Cal State Fullerton last weekend, dropping a 6-0 game on a two-hit shutout by the Titans’ Thomas Eshelman, before giving up a late 5-1 lead on Saturday and falling in a controversial one-run contest Sunday 2-1. The Niners actually scored the tying run in the ninth but the boys in blue said the Dirtbag runner left third base too soon.  Such has been life on the Niner diamond this season. The bright spot last weekend, and for most of this season, has been stocky slugger Ino Patron who led the team with four this and five RBI on the weekend, with a double and a triple. 

For CSUN their freshman All-American LHP Jerry Keel has led the staff, posting a 2-1 record with a 2.38 ERA and 26 strikeouts while pitching on Friday, while freshman Calvin Copping has been a solid second starter. Offensively, Nate Ring and Miles Williams split the top honors, with Ring hitting .341, while Williams has seven home runs and 23 RBI despite hitting just 221 on the year. Long Beach State leads the all-time series between the clubs 69-58, and won last year’s series on the road behind a Big West Player of the Week performance by Josh Guerra. As usual LBSU spells pitching and the Niners will present the same rotation out this weekend for the third week in a row– Shane Carle, Jake Stassi, and David Hill. The team SID says this, “ Carle in particular has been outstanding, locking down the Friday night role for Long Beach State, posting a 1.64 ERA with 29 strikeouts and nine walks over 38.1 innings while holding opponents to a .190 batting average. Carle ranks in the Top 10 in the conference in all of those categories. Jake Stassi has had two straight starts of seven innings pitched as the Saturday starter after moving from the bullpen. Against Wichita State, Stassi struck out six while allowing just one run, and gave up just a single run last Saturday against Cal State Fullerton. Finally, freshman David Hill had a solid outing against the Titans on Sunday, throwing a career-best 6.2 innings while allowing just two runs despite taking the loss in a 2-1 defeat.”

The numbers look like this: CSUN Matadors (11-12, 0-0) at Long Beach State Dirtbags (9-15, 0-0); Thursday, March 28 – 6PM; Friday, March 29 – 6PMand Saturday, March 30 – 2PM Probable Starters: Thursday – Jerry Keel (2-1, 2.38 ERA) at Shane Carle (1-3, 1.64 ERA); Friday – Calvin Copping (2-2, 2.63 ERA) at Jake Stassi (1-1, 3.13 ERA) and Saturday – John Salas (1-3, 3.54 ERA) at David Hill (0-2, 4.62 ERA). The Beach has a record of 8-7 in games at Blair Field. The Dirtbags went 15-9 in Big West play last season and finished in third place, two games behind conference champion Cal State Fullerton. Michael Hill leads Long Beach State with a .329 batting average in 23 games and has three doubles, four triples and a home run. Jeff McNeil is hitting .313 and has started in every game for LBSU. He ties for second on the team with 10 RBIs and is the team leader with four stolen bases. As a whole, the Long Beach State pitching staff is holding its opposition to a .259 batting average but (sadly) has given up 31 unearned runs on the year. Following the series with Northridge, Long Beach State will travel to Pacific for a three-game series the next weekend.

DUSTING THOSE LOST EGGS–Despite starting conference play ninth in team batting average, the Dirtbags have had some bright spots offensively. Junior Michael Hill is leading the league with four triples this season, and is fifth in the Big West in slugging percentage at .521, adding three doubles and a home run while topping the Dirtbags lineup with a .329 batting average. Just behind him is junior Jeff McNeil, who leads the Dirtbags with 30 hits, tied for fourth-most in the league in a league-high 96 at-bats. Also leading a conference category is sophomore Richard Prigatano, who has eight doubles, slugging .429 for Long Beach State while batting .286, third on the team…as expected ESPN picked Beach senior hoopster James Ennis (who has been collecting regional hardware and honors all month) for their April 4 State Farm College Slam Dunk title…24 competitors, no defense required…Shawna Gordon, one of the tireless LBSU soccer stars of late will begin her pro-life with the Boston Breaker in the National Women Professional Soccer league…now if you need more par-tee then check out the volleyball affair April 9 at Mahe, men’s hoops at Old Ranch April 17 and of course the grandmommy of them all the Jewels of the Night April 27. No texting while you drink and drive, in fact just car pool and go to a game. –DR. DAN