Dirtbags Baseball - Long Beach State 49ers

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Monday, February 13, 2006

Dirtbags Drop Series Against Cal, 2-1

Friday, February 10, 2006: Dirtbags 7, Cal 6
LongBeachState.com story. Box Score. Cal Website. Long Beach Press-Telegram. Daily Breeze. Napa Valley Register.

Saturday, February 11, 2006: Cal 3,Dirtbags 2
LongBeachState.com story. Box Score. Cal Website. Daily Breeze. Long Beach Press-Telegram.

Sunday, February 12, 2006: Cal 4, Dirtbags 1
LongBeachState.com story. Box Score. Cal Website.

The series: Baseball America's Top 25 Tracker.

After sweeping USC, the Dirtbags lost their 1st series of the season at Cal, 2-1, and now stand at 4-2 on the year. The opening contest saw the Beach jump out to a 3-1 lead in the 2nd. After Cal tied the game at 4 in the 5th, the 49ers put 3 across in the top of the 6th. Final score, 7-6 Dirtbags. Centerfielder Robert Perry was the offensive star, going 4 for 5, with 2 RBI and a run scored. Three other Dirtbags collected 2 hits each: Sean Boatright, Brandon Godfrey and Tito Cruz. Sean and Tito both had doubles. Scott Turmail got the win, going 1.2 innings, giving up no runs, no walks and a single hit, after Jared Hughes' early departure (4.1 IP, 7 hits, 4 runs, 3 earned, 3 walks, 1 K, 1 HBP). Donnie Hume got his 2nd save (1.2 IP, no hits, 1 walk, no runs).

The story Saturday and Sunday, for the most part, was that the Dirtbags cooled at the plate. Against USC, the Beach had 21 runs on 34 hits. Friday against Cal, it was 7 runs on 13 hits. Over those 4 games, the average was 7 runs on 11.75 hits. For Saturday and Sunday against the Bears, combined, the Dirtbags scored just 3 runs on 13 hits. The frustration peaked on Sunday, as Long Beach State collected 8 hits, and 4 walks, yet scored only a single run while leaving 9 runners stranded.

Andrew Carpenter's effort on Saturday was wasted, as he went 7.0 innings, allowing just 1 run on 5 hits. He struck out 2, while walking 1. Brett Andrade came on in relief in the 8th, facing the minimum. But in the 9th, the Bears hit back to back homeruns for the 3-2 victory.

Coming into the season, the bullpen was one of the biggest question marks. Despite the blown save on Saturday, the relievers have performed well thus far. In the loss on Sunday, Shane Peterson and Bryan Shaw both came on for an inning and held Cal in check to give the 'Bags a chance to come back. Neither allowed a run or hit. Six games into the season, the bullpen as a group is 3-1, with a 2.21 ERA, allowing 5 earned runs over 20.1 innings (and 4 saves against 1 blown save).

The Dirtbags fall back to 19th in the Baseball America rankings (from 17th), and to 15th in the Collegiate Baseball poll (from 12th). National Collegiate Baseball Writer's is not yet updated, and ESPN/Sports Weekly (the coaches poll) is not yet updating to in season polling from its pre-season poll.

posted on 2/13/2006 by Jeff Agnew

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