The usual script for baseball at Blair Field is good pitching. Cal Poly Sunday starter Bryan Granger came through but his bullpen let him down. LB Sunday starter freshman David Hill did not come through but while the homefolks waited for the offense to wake up his bullpen did. Hill got rocked for three runs over the first 2.1 innings while Granger pitched five hitless frames. Then the gritty kids from East LB put two crooked numbers up (four runs in each of innings six and seven) enroute to a 9-5 victory and a 2-1 series win. That result knocked the Mustangs (28-13, 8-7 Big West Conference) into a fifth-place tie with UC Santa Barbara.

The big blast for the Beach came from senior Juan Avila for the 49ers who sit at 20-21, 9-6 Big West, and still in sniffing room for the regular season hardware. Juan’s big blast was a seventh-inning slam, (his first home run of the season). Juan’s team mate and former Nipomo High standout Jeff McNeil (he grew up seeing a lot of SLO ball) tied Cal Poly’s Denver Chavez for the game-high with three hits leading off for the 49ers.

Post game Sunday Beach skipper Troy Buckley was too giddy to look ahead to tonight, “I just want to exhale and enjoy this one for a while.” While the weekend brings a visit to Cal State Fullerton the Tuesday test is LMU who was bloodied and bowed by Portland (16-28, 8-10 WCC) last weekend in a three game sweep. All weekend LMU had chances, On Sunday the Lions scored first only to have its lead erased. Senior Matt Lowenstein contributed a RBI-single into centerfield to plate senior Colton Plaia in the second inning to hand LMU a 1-0 lead, but the advantage was erased in the third with a bases-loaded walk and the recent misery continued. Meanwhile Buck pushed the right button when he relieved Hill with sophomore left-hander Nick Sabo who had a heck of a week and was named the Big West Pitcher of the Week after helping the Dirtbags win in two games against ranked opponents.

Getting the start on Tuesday against No. 7 UCLA, Sabo rose to the challenge with his best start of the season. Matching a career-high with five innings pitched, Sabo earned the win over the Bruins, scattering three hits with no runs allowed in an 11-1 rout at UCLA. Then on Sunday against No. 18 Cal Poly, Sabo entered the game in the third inning in relief with the bases loaded and one-out with the Dirtbags trailing 3-0. With a shallow fly ball and a popout, Sabo got Long Beach State out of the inning and threw three more scoreless innings as the Dirtbags rallied to defeat Cal Poly 9-5. Combined, Sabo threw 8.2 scoreless innings last week against two ranked teams, allowing just five hits while holding the Bruins and Mustangs to .172 hitting and became the first Dirtbags player to win a weekly honor from the Big West this season. Of course Sabo has a tough Tuesday opponent in the Lion’s senior left-hander Matt Florer who was named Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week according to Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. The left-hander has also garnered West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Week honors. He had a no hitter vs Northridge last Tuesday.

The other Beach diamond entry also won a series against a ranked foe when Niner softball won two of three over league leading and #14 Hawaii. It was a crucial series and featured the stellar play of Shayna Kimbrough and Erin Jones-Wesley, who were selected the Big West Softball Field Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively. Shayna scored seven runs and drove in three more to account for one-third of Long Beach State’s offense. Erin earned two wins for 10 innings over two games and limited the potent Rainbow Wahine offense to just four runs. In game one of Saturday’s doubleheader, a 14-7 victory, Jones-Wesley came on in relief of starter Christian Carbajal who had allowed four early runs. Jones-Wesley yielded just two hits and two runs in her stint while striking out eight. For the week, Jones-Wesley went 2-0 with a 2.80 earned run average.

OTHER HAPPY NEWS—The ladies of tennis got another Big West tourney title and beat the school we now call “UC AL” (that would be University of California At Large) since they got the sympathy selection for men’s volleyball despite losing to the Beach in the conference semis, and now more of the same for a finals loss in tennis. Sadly the pool of men’s volleyball teams is too small to have more than a final four so they at-large spots are virtually non-existent (can you say one.)…With the college game on pace to set a record for fewest home runs and a 40-year low for scoring and batting average “The game isn’t the same,” Clemson coach Jack Leggett said this week.

“It’s not as exciting is leading the push to put a more lively ball into play…The switch to toned-down metal bats in 2011 has led to an offensive decline greater than many expected. Leggett is leading an effort to adopt the ball used in the minor leagues. That ball has flat seams and a harder core, which he says makes it conducive to greater flight than the college ball. No change could be made until the 2015 season… Finally, that baseball that traveled into Rec Park from the bat of Juan Avilla Sunday afternoon was returned by an excited, freckle-faced grade schooler from Seal Beach—David Olcomendy. The footnote came with my question “how did you get there so quick to get that ball?”  His answer, “well my dad and I were sitting out there in those free seats!”  Somebody sell them some tickets.—DR. DAN