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More Insight On Home Opening Series

Dirtbags hosting St. Mary's

Ramos gets the call in LBSU's home opener.

By Bob Keisser
Staff writer

Jered Weaver is gone, biding his time until he signs a contract with the Angels, and so is left-hander Jason Vargas. But the 2005 Dirtbags appear just as stout on the mound as they were in 2004 when Weaver and Vargas were two-thirds of the weekend rotation.

The Dirtbags won two of three games from Arizona State last weekend, with the three starters returnee Cesar Ramos and newcomers Cody Evans and Marco Estrada allowing five runs in the series and the three late-inning specialists in the bullpen throwing six shutout innings.

Estrada had the best outing, allowing one run in six innings, and Neil Jamison, Brian Anderson and Steve Hammond combined for six shutout innings of relief. The Dirtbags might have swept the series if not for a rain and lightning storm in Game 2 that led to a 90-minute delay. The Dirtbags led 5-1 at the time behind Evans before the weather ended his day.

The Dirtbags (2-1) will be looking for more of the same this weekend when they open their home season at Blair Field against Saint Mary's. Ramos will work tonight's game (6:30 p.m.), followed by Evans on Saturday (2 p.m.) and Estrada on Sunday (noon).

"We know what Cesar can do, Evans threw well until the lightning and Estrada was excellent," Dirtbags coach Mike Weathers said. "There's room for improvement but they can only get better."

The first series was early confirmation of a trend during winter workouts, that the Dirtbags have good depth on the mound. Besides the trio in the rotation, Weathers got good work from Santa Clara transfer Jared Hughes, last year's closer Jamison, Hammond and last season's midweek starter Brandon Villalobos.

"It's a nice problem to have," Weathers said. "Neil deserves a start and he built up the innings in the offseason, and Hughes is probably the odd man out until we start playing on Tuesdays. Things will play out as we get deeper into the season, but for continuity's sake we'll stick with this trio."

It says something about the 49ers' pitching that Weathers has been getting calls from junior college coaches who had heard a bad rumor that Hughes, who is considered a starter only, was looking to transfer. "There's no truth to it," he said. "He's here and he's going to get to pitch."

Other promising notes from the first weekend was solid hitting, led by shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, who went 7for14 against the Sun Devils, and Evan Longoria, who had five RBI. Coming off a season in which Brad Davis caught most of the innings, Weathers was also pleased by the work behind the plate of Tito Cruz and Chris Jones.

Sean Boatright suffered a hamstring pull in Tempe and his replacement, freshman Jose Hernandez, went 4 for10. Boatright should be back no later than the San Diego State at the end of the month.

This will be the season opener for Saint Mary's. The Gaels went 14-41 last season. They will start redshirt Kevin Trouchez tonight and Joel Fountain on Saturday, with Sunday's starter still to be determined.