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The 2005 All-Conference Awards are out for the Big West Conference. The release is here [pdf]. The LongBeachState.com story is here. Eight Dirtbags have been honored.

1st Team All-Conference:
Troy Tulowitzki, shortstop.
Cesar Ramos, starting pitcher.
Neil Jamison, relief pitcher.

2nd Team All-Conference:
Evan Longoria, third base.
Sean Boatright, outfield.
Jered Hughes, starting pitcher.

Honorable Mention:
Marco Estrada, starting pitcher.
Brian Anderson, relief pitcher.

That's Rich Lederer's (The Baseball Analysts) take on the Jered Weaver signing. Rich has posted extensively on Jered.

The Dirtbags fell from 11th to 12th in the final regular season Baseball America rankings, and held at 15th in Collegiate Baseball and 16th in Sports Weekly/ESPN.

The Beach's Strength of Schedule (SOS) is now 3rd best in NCAA Division I baseball, their Iterative Strength Rating fell from 6th to 7th, and their RPI held at 17th. (All of these stats are courtesy Boyd'sWorld.com).

This from Eric Sorenson at CollegeSports.com:

Toughest Regional: Long Beach

If you go purely by Boyd Nation's traditionally close RPI rankings, the Beach get no breaks in having No. 16 RPI'd USC and No. 34 RPI'd Pepperdine joining them at Blair Field. SC brings in one of the nation's top aces in Ian Kennedy and top slugger in Jeff Clement. Pepperdine brings in its no-fear attitude that nearly carried it to a regional upset over eventual national champion Cal State Fullerton last year.

From the Long Beach Press-Telegram:

The Angels and heralded draft pick Jered Weaver ended a year of acrimonious negotiations in stunning fashion Monday night when the Long Beach State All-American lowered his asking price at the 11th hour and agreed to terms on minor-league contract with a signing bonus for a club-record $4 million...

Weaver and the Angels reached an accord, pending a physical, just an hour before the 9 p.m. deadline for the club to sign him or lose his rights...

Here's stories in other papers:

Steve Bisheff in the Orange County Register
Baseball America
Los Angeles Times

Here's SEBaseball.com's Saturday update of their Regional Projections, including games from yesterday. The full projected bracket is here. Here are their projections for Regionals in the far west:

Long Beach Regional
Host: Long Beach State
1. Long Beach State
4. Central Michigan *

2. Arizona State
3. Oklahoma

Bracketed with:

Corvallis Regional
Host: Oregon State {8}
1. Oregon State *
4. BYU *

2. Pepperdine
3. Cal Poly

And:

Fullerton Regional
Host: Cal State Fullerton {2}
1. Cal State Fullerton **
4. Harvard **

2. Stanford
3. Loyola Maramount *

Bracketed with:

Coral Gables Regional
Host: Miami
1. Miami
4. Maine *

2. Alabama
3. Florida Atlantic *

And though not in the west, but including the Arizona Wildcats:

Houston Regional
Host: Rice
1. Arizona
4. Oral Roberts *

2. Rice **
3. Louisiana-Lafayette

Bracketed with:

New Orleans Regional
Host: Tulane {1}
1. Tulane *
4. Southern **

2. Mississippi State
3. South Alabama *

They are also showing the Univ. of Southern California as a #2 seed at a Baton Rouge Regional hosted by LSU.

* Probable automatic bid.
** Clinched automatic bid.

...read his comments here.

From the Mercury News:

This time, shortstop will enjoy draft day

TULOWITZKI LIKELY TO BE 1ST-ROUND PICK

By Darren Sabedra

Mercury News

Troy Tulowitzki remembers the last time he was eligible for the baseball draft. He waited and waited, but no one called.

There will be no such letdown this time.

Tulowitzki, a former Fremont High standout who has become a blue-chip shortstop at Long Beach State, could be one of the top five picks in the baseball draft next month. MLB.com projected him to go third, to Seattle.

"He has endless potential,'' said A's shortstop Bobby Crosby, a former Long Beach State star who talks with Tulowitzki several times a month. "He's the same type of guy I was in college. He came into Long Beach a little raw, but you could tell he had a great work ethic.''

Tulowitzki arrived at Long Beach State in 2002, one year after the A's drafted Crosby in the first round, and he soon began drawing comparisons to his predecessor.

"Troy as a junior is a little stronger than Bobby was, physically,'' Long Beach Coach Mike Weathers said. "But other than that, they're very, very similar -- their range, their arm strength, their fielding, their passion for the game, their knowledge of how to play.''

As a freshman in 2003, Tulowitzki led Long Beach with 44 RBIs. As a sophomore, he drove in 44 runs and was named to the Big West's first team. This season, he has a team-leading seven home runs, plus 25 RBIs, though he was sidelined for 20 games because of a broken hand.

The injury occurred two weeks into the season and required surgery. Naturally, Tulowitzki wondered if he had crushed his draft chances.

But by then, he was already a belt-high fastball on everyone's radar.

Long Beach State began its season a week earlier than most teams, at tradition-rich Arizona State. With a large gathering of pro scouts looking on, Tulowitzki went 7 for 14 in the three-game series.

"Everybody flooded into Tempe, and Troy just went off,'' Weathers said. "He had a great weekend and set the tone for his draft year.''

Since his return from injury 30 games ago, Tulowitzki, who is 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds, is hitting .328 and has a .603 slugging percentage.

"Every once in a while I'll get some shooting pains through there, and my fingers are a little numb still,'' he said. "But it doesn't affect me batting or in the field.''

Few things have affected Tulowitzki. A standout pitcher at Fremont High, he didn't allow arm trouble his senior year to derail his future. He simply spent more time playing infield and hitting.

When he flew under the draft radar out of high school, in part because he played for a low-profile program, he turned his attention to college.

"For not getting drafted, he probably had about eight to 10 colleges that wanted him,'' recalled his dad, Ken. "I've always thought, and a lot of parents probably think this about their own child, but I've always thought he's been one of the better ones on his team.''

Weathers calls it a fluke that Tulowitzki did not get drafted three years ago.

Tulowitzki took over Long Beach State's shortstop role full-time five weeks into his freshman season, bumping Tim Hutting (now in the Giants system) to second base.

"He's been a good one, boy, and he's going to be a very, very good professional,'' Weathers said.

Tulowitzki played two sports in high school, leading Fremont's basketball team to the Northern California semifinals his senior season. After that run, he rejoined the baseball team and took his customary spot atop the mound. But he tried to do too much, too soon.

"I just started throwing my hardest, and that's when I got hurt,'' said Tulowitzki, who was 15-1 as a junior. "Right then, I said, 'I don't want to mess with this.' ''

It worked out in the end. Tulowitzki signed with Long Beach State, which wanted him as an infielder, and has become friends with the player who knows exactly what he is going through.

Crosby met Tulowitzki while working out at Long Beach State.

"He's a good kid, and I like the way he goes about his business,'' Crosby said. "He's not cocky. He's confident in himself, and he knows his capabilities.''

Tulowitzki describes Crosby as an "awesome mentor,'' noting that last year's American League rookie of the year has told him what to expect in the minor leagues.

"The first thing he said is that being a high draft pick, you're going to get ragged on a little bit by some of the older guys,'' Tulowitzki said. "They'll call you 'Franchise' and 'Bonus Baby' because you have the money. But he says the best thing to do is go along with it.''

Tulowitzki will find out for himself this summer. First, though, he hopes to lead Long Beach State to its fifth College World Series title.

"The most important thing for me right now is to stick with my teammates and go as far as we can go,'' he said.

SEBaseball.com has updated their Regional Projections (i.e., guess) today, including games from yesterday. The full projected bracket is here. Here are their projections for Regionals in the far west:

Long Beach Regional
Host: Long Beach State
1. Long Beach State
4. UNLV *

2. Arizona State
3. Oklahoma

Bracketed with:

Corvallis Regional
Host: Oregon State {8}
1. Oregon State *
4. Army **

2. Pepperdine *
3. Cal Poly

And:

Fullerton Regional
Host: Cal State Fullerton {2}
1. Cal State Fullerton **
4. Harvard **

2. Southern California
3. St John's

Bracketed with:

Knoxville Regional
Host: Tennessee
1. Tennessee
4. Jacksonville State *

2. North Carolina State
3. Miami Ohio *

And though not in the west, but including the Arizona Wildcats:

Houston Regional
Host: Rice
1. Arizona
4. Quinnipiac *

2. Rice *
3. Missouri

Bracketed with:

Waco Regional
Host: Baylor {6}
1. Baylor *
4. Texas-San Antonio *

2. Virginia
3. Arkansas

* Probable automatic bid.
** Clinched automatic bid.

Dirtbags southpaw, and Friday starter, Cesar Ramos is a semi-finalist for the Roger Clemens Award - won last year by former Dirtbag Jered Weaver. Here's what the award foundation's release had to say:

The 10 pitchers include lefthander Ricky Romero of Cal State Fullerton, the defending NCAA champions who currently occupy the top spot in Baseball America's Top 25 college baseball poll. Second-ranked Tulane is represented by lefthander Brian Bogusevic, righthander Dallas Buck represents third ranked Oregon State, while righthander Cesar Carillo is the top starter for fourth-ranked Miami. They join righthander Mike Pelfrey of Wichta State, who was also a semifinalist for the first Clemens Award, righthander Lance Broadway of TCU, righthander Luke Hochevar of Tennessee, righthander Ian Kennedy of USC, lefthander Cesar Ramos of Long Beach State and righthander Max Scherzer of Missouri.

The article on LongBeachState.com is here.

In a recent article on SEBaseball.com, Mark Etheridge interviewed Charlie Carr (Florida State), the Chairman of the NCAA Division I baseball committee (no link to the story - in the paid area). Here's what Mr. Carr had to say about how the teams that make the tournament are analyzed, and selected to host:

"The first thing we look at is obviously record, then quality wins, quality losses if there is such a thing, our NCAA RPI rankings as our rankings are a little different than the other two out there, recent losses whether its how they have done down the stretch the last ten or twenty games, the teams record vs Top 25 teams, the teams record vs Top 50 teams, their Conference RPI, Conference Strength of Schedule," said NCAA Baseball Committee member Charlie Carr, who was in town to watch the ACC Baseball Tournament, "But none are more important than the other."

So what goes into selecting the regional sites? Is it the bid or are there other factors?

"Bidding use to be the most important part of the decision but it no longer is. There are several factors including the same ones used for selecting teams, we have 40-50 schools with bids out and they must at least bid a minimum of $35,000."

If there is to be a 3rd Regional in the far west (in addition to Oregon State and Fullerton, who appear to be locks to host), it likely comes down to USC v. Long Beach State. On the factors Carr discusses, here's how they compare:

                     USC           Long Beach State
Record               35-18         36-20
RPI                  .594 (#16)    .593 (#17)
Last 10 games        7-3           4-6
Last 20 games        12-8          12-8
vs. Top 25 RPI       9-5           7-8
vs. Top 50 RPI       13-11         10-10
Conf. RPI            .551 (#4)     .544 (#5)

The RPI I use is from Boyd's World. It is generally very close to the official NCAA RPI, which it doesn't see fit to publish. UC Irvine's RPI is just outside the Top 50 (at #53). The Dirtbags went 2-1 against them, and USC 1-1. Texas Tech is 52nd in RPI, and USC was 1-0 against them. These games may factor into games vs. Top 50. I didn't compare conference strength of schedule, but the Pac 10 likely edges out the Big West in this category - but not by a lot.

The Beach has the edge in quality wins. They won road series against 3 highly ranked teams - ASU, Baylor and Wichita State - taking 2 of 3 in each. And they won the only series lost by Fullerton this year, winning 2 of 3 at home. USC went 3-0 against the Dirtbags, but lost series against Stanford, ASU, Arizona and Oregon State. I, too, am unsure what a quality loss is.

Long Beach State may still overtake USC in RPI. The Trojans have 3 games left, at home against Stanford starting tonight. Fullerton, a team the 49ers played 6 times, has 3 at UC Riverside this weekend. Fullerton wins significantly improve the Beach's RPI. LBSU is only .001 behind USC, so it won't take much to jump over them.

...to my post here. USC has, indeed, placed a bid to host. With Arizona definitely out of the hunt for a likely 3rd (and likely last) west coast Regional site, that Regional will probably go to either Long Beach State or USC. Dedeaux Field at USC seats 2,500, about 1,000 few than Long Beach. The Dirtbags have a proven track record selling the tickets, so the Beach wins on the revenue considerations. I will not be surprised, at all, if the Regional is at Blair Field, with USC as the #1 seed and Long Beach State the #2 (by virtue of the Trojans sweep of 3 games against the 49ers this season).

This from the Long Beach Press-Telegram:

Long Beach State's hopes of hosting a NCAA baseball regional at Blair Field next week got a boost Wednesday when Arizona, ranked in the Top 10 most of the season and currently in second place in the Pac-10 Conference, withdrew its bid to host.

The UA athletic department has been facing a financial bind and the officials felt they couldn't stimulate enough ticket sales to make the bid feasible. They announced their intention to bid in early May in hopes of generating pre-sales, but the response was minimal.

"If we have a regional and no one shows up at a time when our athletic department is laying people off, it doesn't add up," Arizona coach Andy Lopez told the Arizona Daily Star.

Arizona drew a crowd of 4,500 for a game against Texas early this season but averaged around 1,100 a game for the season, and hoped-for crowds at important Pac-10 series didn't materialize.

Baseball America, the most reliable source in college baseball, projected this week that the Dirtbags would be one of the 16 first-round hosts.

In a 4 hour, 39 minute marathon last night, the Dirtbags fell to USC 5-4 in 11 innings. [LongBeachState.com Story - Box Score]. This from the LongBeachState.com story gives the "flavor" of the game:

The four hour and 39 minute game combined for 30 hits and 27 left on base, as 39 players were used in the contest. The game also saw eight runners thrown out on the bases patches, four by the outfielders, including three by LBSU leftfielder Danny Mocny and two each by the team's catching cores. Both teams also combined for five errors.

In taking the loss, the Beach fell from 16th to 17th in RPI. Here's the top 25 psuedo-RPIs current through this morning as calculated by Boyd's World (no official RPIs are released by the NCAA until after the season):

           Division I   Overall
Rank Rating   W   L      W   L    Team    

1    0.625   48   9     48   9   Tulane
2    0.624   43  13     43  13   Texas
3    0.622   41  16     41  16   Mississippi
4    0.617   39  16     39  16   Georgia Tech
5    0.615   37  20     37  20   Baylor
6    0.614   40  13     40  13   Cal State Fullerton
7    0.614   38  16     38  16   Miami, Florida
8    0.613   40  16     40  16   North Carolina
9    0.612   37  20     37  20   Clemson
10   0.611   40  15     40  15   North Carolina State
11   0.609   39  18     39  18   Florida
12   0.606   44  12     44  12   College of Charleston
13   0.602   41   9     41   9   Oregon State
14   0.599   45  12     45  12   Coastal Carolina
15   0.598   38  19     38  19   Louisiana State
16   0.595   35  18     35  18   Southern California
17   0.593   36  20     36  20   Long Beach State
18   0.593   32  24     32  24   Auburn
19   0.589   37  19     37  19   Arkansas
20   0.588   48  16     49  16   Florida State
21   0.587   31  22     31  22   Arizona State
22   0.585   30  25     30  25   Georgia
23   0.585   38  19     38  19   South Carolina
24   0.584   34  21     34  21   Vanderbilt
25   0.582   46  13     46  13   Nebraska

And here are game results from yesterday for top 25 RPI teams:

Dirtbags (#17) 4, USC (#16) 5
Tulane (#1) 8, Alabama-Birmingham 6
Oklahoma State 10, Texas (#2) 4
Mississippi (#3) 3, Alabama 1
Georgia Tech (#4) 9, Wake Forest 8
Baylor (#5) 2, Kansas 1
North Carolina State (#10), Miami (Florida) (#7) 1
Florida State (#20) 3, North Carolina (#8) 2
Virginia 8, Clemson (#9) 1
Florida (#11) 9, Arkansas (#19) 8
Furman 9, College of Charleston (#12) 7
Mississippi State 9, LSU (#15) 2
South Carolina (#23) 12, Tennessee 2
Texas Tech 5, Nebraska (#25) 3

From USA Today:

Before conference tournaments give way to the NCAA postseason next week, let's pause to recognize the student-athletes who have been named 2005 Sports Weekly All-Americans...

Relief pitcher

Neil Jamison, Sr., Long Beach State - As the closer for the staff that carries Division I's lowest ERA according to the May 15 NCAA statistics, Jamison (4-0) has not allowed an earned run this season, which is a span of 25 2/3 innings and 11 saves. He was an eighth-round selection by the Mets in 2004.

He's written up on LongBeachState.com here.

This from Baseball America:

Projecting The Field Of 64

By Will Kimmey
May 24, 2005

The hosts look pretty standard here in our projected 64-team field, with 14 No. 1 seeds earning host duties.

The No. 2 seed hosts both are interesting. College of Charleston has gone 44-11 overall, 27-3 in dominating the Southern Conference for a second straight year. Internet RPI models rank the Cougars in the top 10, and the program submitted a large financial bid to serve as a host at 6,000-seat Joe Riley Ballpark in Charleston, which doubles as the home of the Class A RiverDogs.

I read elsewhere that they bid at least $100,000.00.

Arizona seems like a logical enough host choice as it will finish first or second in the Pacific-10 Conference and has been ranked in the Top 10 most of the season. However, fans haven't flocked to Jerry Kindall Field at Frank Sancet Stadium to watch the Wildcats, so coach Andy Lopez decided to submit a regional bid with a smaller financial guarantee so that the school would not lose money.

That might not be enough to win a host site on the competitive West Coast, where Arizona State, Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, Oregon State and Stanford all are competing to bring a regional to campus. That brings Rice into play. The Owls have proven a fine host at Reckling Park the last few seasons.

Notably absent from the list of schools bidding is the Univ. of Southern California. Stanford is 39th in RPI, which would seem to place them at the rear of the pack. In my opinion, the Beach comes out ahead of ASU. The Dirtbags have a higher RPI, are likely to finish 2nd in the Big West Conference while the Sun Devils will finish 3rd or (more probably) 4th in the Pac 10, and Long Beach State won the head to head series in Tempe. ASU has also just lost 3 series in a row.

Mark Etheridge at SEBaseball.com has a slightly different take on the western Regional picture:

Arizona did not submit a bid to host a Regional and will look to win their way to Omaha on the road. They did just that last year. Without the Wildcats, there is a shortage of western teams who have earned a host spot. Oregon State is going to host. Fullerton is going to host. Long Beach State is next in line. After that, Arizona State is fading and Southern Cal is just a notch below the host clubs in facility and in resume. They may just get two hosts but I suspect there will be three. I would be shocked at four Western host spots without Arizona.

It seems more likely that Arizona did submit a bid, as Will Kimmey reports, since he seems to have specific information about the bid. Neither directly say that USC did not submit a bid, but both seem to dismiss USC as a host.

Here is how Baseball America sees the brackets:

National seeds indicated in parentheses
Projected host sites in bold
* Projected automatic bids

New Orleans                  Charleston, S.C.
1. Tulane* (1)               1. Tennessee
2. South Carolina            2. College of Charleston*
3. UNC Wilmington*           3. Virginia
4. Southern*                 4. California                
Fullerton, Calif.            Houston, Texas
1. Cal State Fullerton* (2)  1. Arizona
2. Stanford                  2. Rice*
3. Oklahoma                  3. Vanderbilt
4. Harvard*                  4. Illinois*
Corvallis, Ore.              Long Beach, Calif.
1. Oregon State* (3)         1. Long Beach State
2. Missouri                  2. Southern California
3. Cal Poly                  3. Pepperdine*
4. Army*                     4. Nevada-Las Vegas*                 
Lincoln, Neb.                Tallahassee, Fla.
1. Nebraska* (4)             1. Florida State
2. Arkansas                  2. Alabama
3. Creighton*                3. Wichita State
4. Illinois-Chicago*         4. Troy*
Atlanta, Ga.                 Oxford, Miss.
1. Georgia Tech* (5)         1. Mississippi
2. Winthrop                  2. North Carolina
3. Auburn                    3. Michigan
4. Georgia Southern          4. Jacksonville State*                 
Gainesville, Fla.            Miami
1. Florida* (6)              1. Miami
2. North Carolina State      2. Southern Mississippi
3. Florida Atlantic          3. Miami (Ohio)*
4. Quinnipiac*               4. Marist*
Austin, Texas                Clemson, S.C.
1. Texas (7)                 1. Clemson
2. Texas Christian           2. Coastal Carolina*
3. St. John's*               3. East Carolina
4. Rhode Island*             4. North Carolina A&T*

Baton Rouge, La.             Waco, Texas
1. Louisiana State (8)       1. Baylor
2. Louisiana-Lafayette*      2. Arizona State
3. Northwestern State*       3. Mississippi State
4. Maine*                    4. Oral Roberts*

The 56th, and last, game of the 2005 regular season is set for this evening at USC (a makeup for the game rained out earlier this year). The LongBeachState.com release is here in html, and here as a pdf file.

The likely starting pitchers will be rhp Cody Evans (0-2, 3.14) for the Beach, and rhp Richard Aquilar (1-0, 4.50) for the Trojans. Coach Mike Weathers has indicated he intends to use the bullpen "generously". This will be Aguilar's 1st start of the season - he's pitched 12.0 innings in 11 appearances, he's walked 4 and struck out 6, and opponents are batting .319 against him. Cody has made 11 appearances, 6 of them starts, pitching 28.2 innings. He's walked 14 and struck out 14, and opponents are hitting .307.

Here's the LongBeachState.com scouting report on USC:

USC enters the midweek affair (before playing Stanford to close out the season), with a .288 team batting average, .975 fielding percentage and 4.01 team ERA... the Trojans, despite losing two of three to Pac-10 Champion Oregon State this past weekend, have won seven of their last 10... All-American catcher Jeff Clement after a slow start is batting a team-best .358 with 43 runs and 44 RBIs to go along with a team-best 11 homers, wille Bill Hart is batting .308 with 37 runs... Paul Koss is the ace out of the pen, producing 10 saves to go along with a 3.13 ERA as the Trojans are 29-0 when leading after six innings... opponents have had a tough time at Dedeaux Field this year, as USC bolsters a 17-4 mark at home... USC won two games earlier this year against the Dirtbags, as Friday's game was rained out.

Here's an interesting twist. SEBaseball.com for the last few weeks has been projecting a Long Beach Regional (with the Dirtbags as the #1 seed) paired for a Super Regional with a Corvalis Regional (with Oregon State as the #1 and national seed). In their May 24 projections, they now predict a Long Beach Regional with Arizona as the #1 seed, the Beach at #2, Oklahoma #3, and UNLV #4. They now pair it with an Oxford Regional with Ole Miss as the #1 and national seed.

This is an interesting call, given that Long Beach has the #16 RPI currently, while Arizona sits at #29.

The Arizona Diamondbacks have called up former Dirtbag Josh Buhagiar from extended spring training to the Class A South Bend Silver Hawks.

Here scouting reports on Dirtbags in the draft from Baseball America (no link - paid area - number before name is their ranking in the State of California):

On Dirtbags pitching in general:

Long Beach State has produced more premium pitching prospects in the last two drafts than any college in the country. With a 2.30 team ERA, this year's staff may be the most effective yet.

On Troy Tulowitzki:

1. TROY TULOWITZKI, ss (National Ranking: 4)
School: Long Beach State.
Hometown: Sunnyvale, Calif.
B-T: R-R. Ht.: 6-3. Wt.: 205. Birthdate: Oct. 10, 1984.
Previously Drafted: Never.
Scouting Report: Tulowitzki compares favorably to Bobby Crosby, his predecessor as shortstop at Long Beach State who was a first-round pick in 2001 and the 2004 American League rookie of the year. They're about the same size and have similar speed and bat speed at the same stage, but scouts say Tulowitzki is a better athlete and should be a better player. He has more arm strength and range, and more power to all parts of the park, while Crosby was more automatic on routine plays and had more pull power. Crosby helped Tulowitzki by showing scouts that players built like Crosby and the 6-foot-3, 205-pound Tulowitzki can be effective everyday shortstops. Tulowitzki has also won over scouts with his approach to the game. He plays with exceptional intensity and an unrivaled passion for the game. He broke the hamate bone in his hand and missed 20 games early this spring, and the 49ers slumped in his absence. He has no holes in his game and all his tools are close to big league-ready. He is a top defender who has adjusted well to the speed of the game. He has an above-average arm and good footwork, unlike as a freshman when he relied on his raw arm strength. He has added 35-40 pounds since enrolling at Long Beach, giving him a stronger body and the chance to be an offensive shortstop. He now projects to hit 25-30 homers a year in the big leagues. He has just 19 in three years at Long Beach State but plays his home games at Blair Field, one of the best pitcher's parks in college baseball. He hit four with a wood bat last summer for Team USA, tied for the team lead. Tulowitzki is regarded by most teams as a safe pick who almost certainly will return the investment a team makes in him.

On former Dirtbag Jered Weaver:

2. JERED WEAVER, rhp (National Ranking: 7)
School: None.
Hometown: Simi Valley, Calif.
B-T: R-R. Ht.: 6-7. Wt.: 205. Birthdate: Oct. 4, 1982.
Previously Drafted: Angels 2004 (1)
Scouting Report: Weaver was an early favorite to be the No. 1 pick in the 2004 draft, but he fell due to signability issues and will find himself back in this year's pool if he doesn't come to terms with the Angels, who selected him with the 12th pick. He has until midnight May 31, the start of the closed period, to sign. Weaver is represented by Scott Boras, who contends the Angels agreed to give Weaver a deal in the neighborhood of the $10.5 guaranteed major league contract Mark Prior received from the Cubs as the second pick in 2001. The Angels say otherwise, and have reportedly offered a standard minor league contract with a $4 million bonus - which would be the largest bonus for a 2004 draftee but far short of what Boras was seeking. As a junior in 2004 at Long Beach State, Weaver posted numbers - 15-1, 1.62 with 213 strikeouts in 144 innings--that were roughly equivalent to Prior's spectacular 2001 season at Southern California. But Weaver's stuff is a step below Prior's. As a junior for the 49ers, Weaver was an intense competitor with an excellent feel for his craft. He could throw strikes with precision--in, out, up, down. He was so advanced in all areas of pitching that scouts said he could hold his own in the big leagues immediately. Like everyone at Long Beach, Weaver pitched off his fastball, which was clocked as high as 95 mph. He normally threw it at 91-92, but even at that speed it looked like 95 because of the deception in his delivery and his ability to locate it. His curve is just average. He throws two kinds of sliders, one with greater depth. While his brother Jeff, a 1998 first-rounder of the Tigers who now pitches for the Dodgers, is a sinker/slider pitcher and generates more armside movement with his pitches, Jered uses his whole repertoire much better. Because of the protracted holdout, Weaver hasn't pitched in almost a year. His only activity has been working out with a personal trainer and throwing bullpens at Long Beach State in April and May. He had not faced live hitters, so teams aren't sure whether he's the same guy with the same stuff and command.

On Cesar Ramos:

8. CESAR RAMOS, lhp (National Ranking: 33)
School: Long Beach State.
Hometown: Pico Rivera, Calif.
B-T: L-L. Ht.: 6-1. Wt.: 175. Birthdate: June 22, 1984.
Previously Drafted: Devil Rays 2002 (6).
Scouting Report: With three starters who have been drafted in the top two rounds the last two years - Abe Alvarez in 2003, Jered Weaver and Jason Vargas in 2004 - Ramos has struggled for attention at Long Beach State. He was an effective No. 3 starter both years [Cesar was actually the #2 starter last year], going 18-8, 2.51 after entering the program as a sixth-round pick out of high school. This year, Ramos has taken over the No. 1 spot in the 49ers rotation and become the winningest lefthander in school history, surpassing Alvarez, who has already debuted in the big leagues with the Red Sox. Both pitchers have similar styles, but scouts say Ramos uses his stuff better than Alvarez. Ramos has excellent command of four pitches and walked 13 in his first 116 innings this spring. He's not overpowering with a four-seam fastball that sits at 85-88 mph and touches 90. His two-seamer has even less velocity, but more movement. But he's sneaky fast, throwing on a downhill plane with pinpoint accuracy. He has a knack for burying his fastball under the hands of righthanded hitters. He also has an effective slider and curve, and a serviceable changeup he uses early in the count. Ramos is frequently compared to Cal State Fullerton lefty Ricky Romero, who should be the first lefthander drafted this year. Romero has better stuff across the board, but Ramos has better command and is more consistent. He could be one of the rare lefthanders drafted in the first round with a below-average fastball.

On Neil Jamison:

Senior RHP Neil Jamison (39) passed up an opportunity to go pro last year when he rejected an eighth-round offer from the Mets. He may not have hurt himself by returning to Long Beach for his senior year. As one of the nation's premier closers, he didn't allow an earned run in his first 24 innings this year. He saved 11 games, posted a 4-0 record and had walked just two batters while striking out 21. He is loose and athletic with two quality pitches: an aggressive 88-92 mph fastball and a 79-82 slider with depth. He has a feel for a changeup, but rarely used it in his current role. He has the makeup to close and could be effective in that role in the low minors, but projects as a big league set-up man because he doesn't have a pitch to put away quality lefthanded hitters. As a senior sign, he'll be attractive to a team that values performance over raw stuff.

On Marco Estrada:

RHP Marco Estrada (72) posted a 7-2, 2.32 record with 101 strikeouts in 101 innings as Long Beach State's Saturday starter. He has four solid pitches, with a fastball that touches 93 and the best curveball on the staff. But at 6 feet with little downhill plane, he is not expected to be picked before the sixth or seventh rounds.

Other Dirtbags listed without scouting reports:

101. Steve Hammond, lhp, Long Beach State U.
107. Sean Boatright, of, Long Beach State U.
140. Chris Jones, c, Long Beach State U.

Boyd Nation (Boyd's World) is out with his annual guess on the tournament field, seeding, and venues. He sees Long Beach State as 1 of the 16 #1 seeds. But in his opinion the Dirtbags and USC Trojans are the only #1 seeds who will not host, with each going to either a Regional hosted by #2 seeds Rice or Florida State.

Boyd's World is out this morning with updated psuedo-Ratings Power Index rankings (RPI - the NCAA doesn't publish the "official" RPI) and, despite losing 2 of 3 to Cal. State Fullerton, Long Beach State jumped from 19th to 16th. The RPI is one major factor used by the NCAA to decide which teams will be Regional hosts and #1 seeds (there are usually 2 or 3 Regionals hosted by a lower seed). With 16 Regional sites, jumping to the top 16 in RPI is big. Boyd's World will be updating the RPIs daily, now through May 29 (here). The Regional hosts will be announced on Sunday, May 29, on ESPN2 (bottom line) at 12:30 p.m. Pacific. The full 64 team field, and the seedings, will be announced on ESPN2 on Monday, May 30, at 8:30 a.m. Pacific, during the Road to Omaha Baseball Selection Show.

In addition to the Dirtbags #16 RPI, they are also in the top 16 of all 3 major Division I college polls, plus the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Assn. rankings. Here's how the Beach sits:

11th in Baseball America
15th in Collegiate Baseball
16th in Sports Weekly/ESPN
14th in NCBWA

Long Beach State is also 6th in Iterative Strength Rating (ISR), Boyd's World's alternative to the RPI, and has played the 5th strongest schedule in D-I baseball.

The west coast (including Arizona) is likely to have either 3 or 4 Regional sites. Fullerton and Oregon State are locks for 2 of them, in my opinion. Each has a top 16 RPI, and each is at least a co-champion of their conference (Big West and Pac 10, respectively - both power conferences in baseball). The host for the other 1 or 2 sites comes down to Arizona, USC and Long Beach State (I believe ASU, by losing 2 of 3 to Arizona, dropping to #20 in RPI, and by sitting in 4th place in the Pac 10, is out of the running). I believe 3 games will have a lot to do with which school or schools is/are chosen:

Dirtbags at USC tomorrow.
Cal. at Arizona, 2 games, Friday and Saturday.

The game at USC may prove critical. The Trojans have already won both of their games against the Beach this year, and another victory will give them a sweep. In addition, their RPI is #18, so they are breathing down the Dirtbags neck. They are also 3rd in the Pac 10, behind Oregon State and Arizona.

If Arizona sweeps it's 3 game series against Cal. at home, the Wildcats will be co-champions of the Pac 10. Otherwise, they will finish in 2nd place. The result of the 3rd game will not be a factor in host site selection, with the announcement being made about the time that game begins. Arizona sits high in the polls, but has a #29 RPI. If they beat Cal. the 1st 2 games, my bet is they host - since Pac 10 champions usually host. But if they falter, that RPI may hurt them.

Given what transpired later on Sunday, the highlight of the afternoon was Long Beach State Prof., and big time Dirtbags fan, Brenda Vogel (pictured), throwing out the first pitch at Fullerton's Goodwin Field. I'm not sure, but I think a few Titans fans jaws hit the deck when Brenda took the mound in a black Dirtbags outfit, threw her first pitch (for a strike, of course), then proceeded to the Long Beach dugout to high five the entire team. It seems some of her professorial friends at Fullerton secured the honor for her. It was classic!

Here's the links:

Friday: Dirtbags 2, Fullerton 7:
LongBeachState.com Story
Long Beach Press-Telegram
Fullerton Website
Box Score

Saturday: Dirtbags 5, Fullerton 1:
LongBeachState.com Story
Long Beach Press-Telegram
Fullerton Website
Box Score

Sunday: Dirtbags 0, Fullerton 10:
LongBeachState.com Story
Long Beach Press-Telegram
Fullerton Website
Box Score

The good: The Dirtbags split their 6 games with Fullerton, 3-3, on the season.
The bad: Losing the series 1-2, and the shot at winning the Big West title.
The ugly: Fullerton's baserunning! I've never seen 3 baserunners in scoring position picked off in the same 3-game series. Until now!

Bob Keisser at the Press-Telegram is fairly pessimistic about the Dirtbags hosting a Regional. I agree with him that a series win at Fullerton would have given the Beach a lock on hosting, and I also agree with his dim view of the NCAA committee's bias against western teams. But I am encouraged by the amazing number of upsets in Division I baseball this past weekend, several of which benefit Long Beach State in RPI (#19 before the Fullerton series) and the rankings. Here are some of the key series (with RPIs in parenthesis - courtesy of Boyd's World):

Miami (#3) was swept at Clemson (#14).
Baylor (#4) lost 2 of 3 at home to Missouri (#57).
Georgia Tech (#5) lost 2 of 3 at North Carolina (#9).
Arizona State (#15) lost 2 of 3 at Washington (#71).
Auburn (#16) lost 2 of 3 at home to Alabama (#32).
Arkansas (#17) was swept at home by Ole Miss. (#6).
Louisiana-Lafayette (#20) lost 2 of 3 at Western Kentucky (#227).
Southern California (#21) lost 2 of 3 at Oregon State (#12) - not an upset, but important to LBSU's hosting prospects.
Vanderbilt (#22) was swept at home by Florida (#13).

In this mix, losing 2 of 3 at Fullerton (#8 in RPI, and either 1st or 2nd in the polls) doesn't inflict as much damage as it otherwise would. In fact, I suspect that the Dirtbags' RPI will actually move up a slot or 2 (or at worst hold at #19) when updated RPIs are published by Boyd's World later today or tomorrow. I'll let you know.

The updated Baseball America rankings are out, and Long Beach State falls just 1 slot, from 10th to 11th.

Despite yielding 16 earned runs to Fullerton, Long Beach State retains it's #1 position in team earned run average (ERA) in NCAA Division I, at 2.42. Nebraska remains 2nd, at 2.48.

On the series loss to Fullerton, 2 games to 1, the Dirtbags fell from 13th to 15th in the Collegiate Baseball rankings.

...in this hometown newpaper piece.

This one in the Long Beach Press-Telegram:

D'bags, Titans to tussle

By Bob Keisser
Staff writer

Normally, this is the last act a la Shakespeare, this bloodletting known as the Dirtbags (35-17, 13-5) versus the Titans (38-12, 13-2), beginning tonight at Goodwin Field, usually placing the final dagger in the ribs of one team or the other.

But thanks to a quirk in the 2005 Big West Conference schedule, it isn't. The Dirtbags and Titans both have 13 wins, but Fullerton three less losses because they still have one more Big West series left after this weekend, at UC Riverside.

Meaning, the Dirtbags need to sweep the Titans to guarantee themselves a share of the league title and the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. If the Dirtbags win two of three, Fullerton will have to win two of three from UC Riverside next week to clinch the title.

"It's unfortunate, because the one thing you always knew is that it would come down to the last series between us, so it's odd that we're not going to be done," said Titans coach George Horton. "Usually, we're talking about who wins the league and national implications and regionals being on the line."

All those things are still relevant, of course.

Fullerton is ranked No. 1 and seems guaranteed to host a regional. The Dirtbags are ranked No. 10 and winning the series would likely moved them up a notch and make it very hard for the NCAA committee to deny them the chance to host.

Taking two or three games this weekend, after winning two of three at Blair in the nonconference series early when Fullerton was also No. 1, would give them a 4-2 record against the No. 1 team, which could also be enough for the Dirtbags to get one of the eight national seedings.

The Dirtbags' preparation for the series mentions not a word of this. Putting other goals and desires on the same plate as the Titans would be a distraction, so Mike Weathers has just been preparing his team to play good baseball and let that take care of things.

"We can't win all three games at once," closer Neil Jamison said. "We have to go in and take it one game at a time. Win Friday, put it behind us and prepare for the next test."

Weathers expects good games, something that is about an 85 percent certainty based on the closeness of the series since it went legit in 1989. He thinks it will come down to "pitching, defense and luck," something you can't prepare for but can always use.

The Dirtbags took two of three in late March. Cesar Ramos outdueled Ricky Romero in the opener, 3-2, Fullerton outlasted the Bags in a rare sloppy Game 2, 5-4, and Jared Hughes tossed a four-hitter in winning Game 3, 3-1.

Troy Tulowitzki returned for that series after missing 20 games because of a broken left hand. This weekend, Horton will be down a few key bodies. Felipe Garcia still has his foot in a cast from a small break, infielder Bobby Andrews has a hamstring injury and pitch Ryan Schreppel (5-0, 1.97) is slowly easing himself back into the mix after missing more than a month with a knee injury.

Horton considered starting Schreppel, but figured that would be rushing him so he'll use him out of the bullpen as needed before starting him next week week at UC Riverside.

"Both teams are playing well, but neither of us are killing anyone," Fullerton won two of three from Poly but scored just seven runs for the weekend; ditto for Long Beach last week.

DIRTBALLS: The pitching matchup tonight will be the same as in March, Cesar Ramos (10-5, 2.02) facing Ricky Romero (10-4, 2.60). Game two Saturday will be Marco Estrada (7-23, 2.32) against Wes Roemer (5-2, 3.02), and Jared Hughes (7-2, 2.42) Sunday against Scott Sarver (8-2, 4.14). … Fullerton has won 12 of its last 13 and is hitting .309, led by Sergio Pedroza (.341, 12 homers, 46 RBI) and Brett Pill (.338, 8-42). … The Dirtbags continue to lead the nation in pitching with a 2.24 ERA. … Jamison's appearance last week made him just the second player with 100 appearances in his career, and his next save will make him No. 2 all-time on the school list. … Tonight's game will be on KVMD, Saturday's on CSTV and Sunday's on Fox college Sports. … The Dirtbags visit USC Wednesday in a makeup game and their last regular season game of the season.

is out. Read it here in html, and here as a pdf file.

From the BA College Weekend Preview (be sure to take a look at their page - nice photo of Tulo:

College Weekend Preview: May 18-21

by Will Kimmey
May 18, 2005

The first time Troy Tulowitzki put on his Long Beach State hat, someone called him Crosby Jr. The reference was to Bobby Crosby, his predecessor as Dirtbags shortstop who won 2004 American League rookie of the year honors with the Athletics.

Tulowitzki admits the comparisons to a 2001 first-round draft pick were flattering at first, but he wanted to sculpt his own image rather than live up to someone else's. The junior has accomplished that task during his college career, though he's met and befriended Crosby along the way. Most scouts add that Tulowitzki also has surpassed him.

"He's better than Bobby Crosby," a National League scout said. "He could play in the big leagues right now. He can hit, hit for power and he's the whole package defensively with a plus-plus arm."

That skill set and an impressive 6-foot-3, 205-pound frame could vault Tulowitzki into the first five picks of the draft. He credits Crosby, with whom he speaks over the phone twice a week, for helping him hone his game with tips that include learning to read grounders and to make decisions on coming in quickly, waiting back or darting into the hole to pick them. The rest of the credit goes to Tulowitzki's natural athleticism and his own work ethic.

"He's got serious range, first-step quickness; he can cut the angle down," coach Mike Weathers said. "I don’t think he can play his way out of the position like some guys talk about because of his size.

"Most of the plays I am amazed about, the balls up the middle, he runs through a ball to his right and comes in and throws off balance as good as I've ever seen. That play to me is what separates him from most shortstops."

Weathers also raves about Tulowitzki's grind-it-out mentality and leadership abilities. Tha