Stanford Takes Series From Dirtbags

The Dirtbags had one win this past weekend in their three game series against the Stanford Cardinals baseball team.

The Cardinals jumped on the Dirtbags early Friday night, scoring two runs in the first inning. The Dirtbags came back quickly scoring two runs over two innings on RBI base hits from TJ Mittelstaedt and Derek Legg.

The Dirtbags would fail to produce any more offense the rest of the game, and after giving up a run in the fifth inning, lost the game 3-2.

Game two Saturday night was another close loss for the Dirtbags. Jake Thompson pitched a gem going 8.2 innings with eight strikeouts on six hits. Cardinal pitcher, Jordan Pries, matched Thompson with an eight inning outing, striking out nine and giving up two runs.

Thompson was one out away from a win whena walksetup up a two run homerun for a 3-2 Cardinal lead. TJ Mittelstaedt tied the game 3-3 in the bottom of the inning, but the Cardinals would get a run in the tenth edging a 4-3 victory.

It was a different story Sunday as the Dirtbags scored five runs in the second inning defeating the Cardinals in a 10-5 win.

Brennan Metzger, Kirk Singer and Jonathan Jones each had solo home runs in the game.

This past weekend games put the Dirtbags at 20-23 on the season, but because Stanford is out of Conference the games didn't count in league standings. In league the Dirtbags are 7-8.

Dirtbag Academic Achievement

According to the Daily 49er's story, sophomore Dirtbag outfielder, Brennan Metzger, was elected to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team. It is made up of four conferences including: Big West, Pac-10, West Coast and the WAC conferences.

Metzger, a San Marcos, Calif. native, is hitting .340 this year with 17 doubles and an interesting stat, been hit by 17 pitches.

The requirements for this honor require the student to be a sophomore or above with over a 3.3 G.P.A. after playing in more than 50 perecent of the year's games.

Metzger is a criminal justice major and has a 3.79 G.P.A.

Professional Alumni- Jason Giambi

Major League Baseball first basemen, Jason Giambi, was born on January 8, 1971 in West Covina, California.

Giambi played varsity baseball for South Hills High School, posting a career .386 batting average and helping lead his team to the finals his senior year.

After high school, Giambi attended Long Beach State as business major and played first base for the Dirtbag baseball team. In his freshmen year he was voted the Big West Conference's Freshmen of the Year in 1990 with two all-league honors. In his junior year, he was elected to the 1991 All-College World Series team where they took home the bronze medal.

Giami made his MLB debut in 1995 for the Oakland Athletics. His career with the Athletics spanned from 1995 to 2001 culminating in a monstrous year in 2000 where he won the American League MVP. Giambi led the league that year in on base percentage and walks, while hitting .333 with 43 home runs and 137 RBIs.

Between 2002 and 2008, Giambi put up big numbers with the New York Yankees after signing a 7-year $120 million contract. In 2005 he hit his 300th career home run off of Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim relief pitcher Esteban Yan as he continued to be a dominant power force in baseball.

Giambi's number began declining halfway through his contract with the Yankees due to injuries and his ties with MLB's steroid investigation. Giambi testified in the 2003 to a grand jury stating he used steroids between the years 2001 and 2003. In a press conference in 2005 he openly apologized the fans for his actions and urged more players to do so, ultimately saving the legitimacy to his career.

Giambi was one of the few baseball players to come forward about using steroids. In a way it allowed for him to continue his career. Giambi was not ran out of baseball because he admitted his mistake, and now after a brief return stint to the Athleticss last year, plays first base for the Colorado Rockies.

Another Tough Weekend

The Dirtbags had another losing series this past weekend as they took on the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Mustangs.

Friday's game was Long Beach State's only win taking a 12-8 win over the Mustangs. Steve Tinoco had an exceptional performance with a three run home run topping off a season high four RBI night.

Andrew Gagnon tallied his fifth win in a seven inning stint striking out seven and giving up one earned run.

Saturday's game didn't turn out as well for the Dirtbags as the Mustangs jumped on Dirtbag starting pitcher Jake Thompson early, scoring four runs in the second inning. A collection of hits by the Mustangs in the fifth had them a 6-0 lead until the Dirtbags scored a run in the bottom half. The sixth saw two more Mustangs runs, but the Dirtbags answered back stringing a three run rally bringing them to the closet deficit they would see the rest of the game in their 8-4 loss.


It was Sunday's loss that would sting the most for the Dirtbags. The game lasted for over four hours as Joey Terdoslavich put on a stellar performance at the plate going 4-for-7 with a home run and three singles.

Going into the bottom of the ninth, The Mustangs had an 11-9 lead over the Dirtbags. Late-inning heroics on a two run RBI double from TJ Mittelstaedt brought the game to extra innings.

However, after jumping ahead in both the tenth and eleventh innings, the Dirtbags failed to execute plays and two errors resulted in their 16-15 loss.

After this weekend, the Dirtbags are still in the middle of the Big West Conference standings with a 7-8 record in league. Overall the Dirtbags have a .500 win percentage with a 20-20 record as according to the Big West website.

UC Riverside Takes Series

The Dirtbags played a three game series this past weekend against Big West Conference rival UC Riverside.

With a 3-4 record in the Big West Conference standings, the Dirtbags were looking to at least bring themselves back to .500 in league, placing them in the middle of the hunt for playoffs. UC Riverside had the same agenda entering the weekend with a 4-3 record.

Long Beach State's weekend started off on a sour note as a walk off base hit by UC Riverside's Justin Shults did them for a 8-7 loss Friday night.

After heading into a tied game in the bottom of the six, UC Riverside took a demanding lead after a pair of home runs, three walks and two RBI singles had the Dirtbags trailing 7-2.

With their backs against the wall, the Dirtbags began to rally in the eighth with two RBI hits by Devin Lohman and Joey Terdoslavich cutting the lead to 7-4. Followed by a four hit ninth, the Dirtbags managed to complete a five run comeback over two innings only to have their heroics canceled out by UC Riverside's walk off win.

A notable performance in the game was by Kirk Singer who went 5 for 5 with two RBIs, a double and a stolen base.

The Dirtbags returned on Saturday looking for vengeance after their tough loss the night before.

In an 8-5 victory, the Dirtbags had nine extra base hits,with three coming from Brennan Metzger, tying a school record.

Jake Thompson took an 8-3 lead into the ninth inning, where two runs had him removed from his complete game bid. Trent Jemmet came in and closed the door on UC Riverside with runners on the corners, recording his first save of the season.

Kirk Singer also hit his second home run of the season.

Sunday's final game turned into a slug fest, with UC Riverside hitting four home runs in the 7-5 Dirtbag loss.

Trailing most of the game, the Dirtbags loaded the bases twice with two outs in both the sixth and seventh innings. Capitalizing on mistakes they were able to pull within two runs after a first career home run by Jordan Casas, but still came up short of a win.

The Dirtbags have one more road game this week as they travel to UCLA for a one game series and then return to Blair Field for a series against UC Santa Barbara this weekend.

Professional Alumni- Evan Longoria

Today's Dirtbag alumni is third basemen, Evan Longoria, of the Tampa Bay Rays.

Longoria was born on Oct. 7, 1985 in Downey, Calif. He attended St. John Bosco High School where he lettered on varsity baseball for two years. After playing shortstop for one year at Rio Hondo Community College he was offered a scholarship to Cal State University Long Beach.

Longoria had to make the move to third base because shortstop had been taken by former Dirtbag Troy Tulowitzki. According to the Boston Globe, Longoria had an MVP summer season with the Chatham A's in the Cape Cod League before sharing Big West Player of the Year honors in 2006 with CSULB.

Longoria was called the "best pure hitter" by Baseball America in the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft where he was selected third overall by Tampa Bay Rays.

After a quick stint in the Minor Leagues, Longoria made his Major League debut on April 12, 2008 against the New York Yankees where he got his first hit and RBI. Two nights later he got his first home run.

Longoria ended up with a .272 batting average with 27 home runs and 85 RBIs in 2008, earning him the American League Rookie of the Year according to MLB.com. He also set a rookie record with four home runs in a post season series.

Longoria enters the 2010 season with a career .277 batting average with 60 home runs and 198 RBIs. He is also featured on the cover of 2K Sports Major League Baseball 2K10, a video game released on March 2, 2010.

Las Vegas Luck Gets Dirtbags Series

The Dirtbags traveled to Las Vegas, Nev. this past weekend to take on the University of Las Vegas's Rebels.

The Dirtbags entered the series on March 19, with a losing 7-9 record.

Long Beach State came out strong Friday night scoring 17 runs in their 17-8 victory over the Rebels according to the Daily 49er. Led by Steve Tinoco's four hits and Joey Terdoslavich's second home run of the season, the Dirtbags had 19 hits and 13 RBIs. TJ Mittelstaedt also tied a Long Beach record with his 16th career triple.

Another slugfest ensued Saturday as the Dirtbags had a 10-1 victory over the Rebels. TJ Mittelstaedt broke the career triples record with his 17th career triple as Jake Thompson allowed only one run with five strikeouts in 7.2 innings. The win brought the Dirtbags to a 9-9 record.

The Dirtbags luck would run out however as they fell to the Rebels in a 2-1 loss on Sunday. Branden Pinder pitched a strong seven innings giving up no runs and striking out a career best six hitters. An RBI hit in the second inning by TJ Mittelstaedt had the Dirtbags up throughout the game.

In the bottom of the ninth, reliever David Brown managed to get the first out, but after a hit batter, a walk and two singles the game was tied. A wild pitch from Brown and an error by second basemen Derek Legg, ended up giving the Dirtbags their loss.

The series put the Dirtbags at a 9-10 record on the season. They are currently second to last in the Big West Conference standings with games against Hawaii and Oregon State this week that will bring them up to conference play.

Professional Alumni- Jered Weaver

Starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Jered Weaver, is today's professional alumnus.

Weaver was born was born on Oct. 4, 1982 in Northridge, California. He has an older brother named Jeff Weaver, who is also a Major League Baseball player. According to Weaver's bio on MLB.com he attended Simi Valley High School and after graduation was accepted into Cal State University Long Beach.

While at CSULB Weaver had a successful 37-9 career record, posting in his last season a 15-1 record with an 1.62 ERA with 231 strikeouts and 21 walks in 144 innings. In 2004 he was awarded College Baseball's Dick Howser Trophy along with the Roger Clemens Award, two top college baseball honors. Weaver was also on the cover of EA SPORTS's MVP 07: NCAA Baseball which came out on Playstation 2 back in 2006.

A 2004 article for the Los Angeles Times described a young Weaver as a pitcher who, "batters with a fastball between 89 and 94 mph, a sharp slider and an improving curveball all thrown with the same three-quarter arm delivery. He also has a fiery streak that is revealed with a fist pump or yell after a strikeout that ends an inning or a long at-bat."

In the first round of the 2004 Major League Baseball Draft Weaver was the selected 12th overall by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. After months long of negotiations he finally signed with the club before the May 2005 deadline in what was the longest holdout in draft history. Only 361 days later, Weaver made his major league debut on May 27, 2006 against the Baltimore Orioles where he earned his first win after throwing five strikeouts in seven shutout innings of work.

Weaver's success continued in 2006 where he went on to win his first nine decisions to start his career, tying the American League record held by Whitey Ford. He ended his season with a 11-2 record and a 2.56 ERA finishing fifth in the years Rookie of the Year award standings according to baseball-reference.com.

In 2009 Weaver was given the first Nick Adenhart Pitcher of the Year award, which honors his teammate and close friend Nick Adenhart. Adenhart was tragically killed in a car crash back in spring 2009 after pitching a no decision shutout in his season debut.

Weaver enters the 2010 season with a career 57-27 record with 546 strikeouts and a 3.73 ERA. This offseason he reached a $4.265 million deal to avoid arbitration next year and is slotted to take over as the Angel's ace with the departure of John Lackey. Weaver told MLB.com about taking over as the number one starter, "Sure, I'd love to have that role. But I really don't like to think about it. I just try to improve every year, and this year is no exception."

Weaver recently pitched an inning on Jan 30, 2010 at a Dirtbag Alumni scrimmage. He was accompanied by Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, another former Long Beach alum.

Dirtbags Take Two, Third Still Undecided

The Dirtbags traveled to Arizona this past weekend for a three game series that turned into a two game series due to rain on Sunday. Despite the weather, the road trip was successful in bringing two victories, leaving the Dirtbags with a .500 win percentage.

According to the Dirtbag game recap, on Friday February 26 the Dirtbags went down by four runs in the first inning. However, this deficit was soon erased as the Dirtbags answered back with two runs in the ninth inning to overtake Arizona 8-7. Jonathan Jones had a successful night going 4-for-5 with a double, two runs, an RBI and a stolen base.

The Dirtbags also won a blowout 10-3 victory on Saturday. Steve Tinoco was 3-for-4 with three RBIs in the game.

Professional Alumni- Troy Tulowitzki

Due to road games and schedule conflicts I can not attend every Dirtbag game this season. To fill in the gaps between games I will be writing a segment that highlights Dirtbag alumni who have made it to Major League Baseball. This week's alumnus is Troy Tulowitzki.

According to his bio on MLB.com, Tulowitzki was born on Oct. 10, 1984 in Santa Clara, Calif. He graduated from Fremont High School in Sunnyvale, Calif. earning varsity letters in both baseball and basketball. Tulowitzki batted .519 with 24 home runs his senior year, making him league MVP for the season.

Tulowitzki's success continued in college. According to The Sports Network Tulowitzki had a career batting average of .310, with 20 home runs, 117 RBIs and a .962 fielding percentage in 117 games at Cal State University Long Beach. Tulowitzki was selected to All-Big West twice and earned Most Outstanding Player honors at the All- Regional Tournament in 2004. Tulowitzki was the seventh overall draft pick to the Colorado Rockies in the 2005 MLB Draft.

Tulowitzki made his major league debut on August 30, 2006 against the New York Mets and went hitless in four at bats. On the following day, Tulowitzki got his first major league hit off Oliver Perez of the New York Mets.

Now heading into his fifth major league season, Tulowitzki has proven himself as a premier shortstop. Over four season's Tulowitzki has a career batting average of .283, with 65 home runs, and 243 RBIs.

Tulowitzki recently returned to Long Beach State for an Alumni Baseball Scrimmage with Los Angeles Angel of Anaheim starting pitcher Jered Weaver. He also threw out the first pitch at the Dirtbag's season opener on Feb. 19.

Mission Statement

This blog is dedicated to covering the Cal State University Long Beach Dirtbag Baseball Team.

For this spring semester, news regarding scores, stats, schedules, tournaments, and former Dirtbag players will be posted to this site regularly.

This blog will give the Dirtbag fan another source to read about as well as discuss their favorite team.

Thanks for visiting.

Season Starts This Friday

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- The Dirtbags start their 2010 campaign in search of redemption after a disappointing 2009 which handed them their first losing season since 1989.

With a record of 25-29 last season, The Dirtbags can start the year out right by beating Pepperdine University on February 19th.

The game starts at 6:30 pm at Blair Field and according to LBpostsports.com will welcome back former Dirtbag and Colorado Rockies Shortstop, Troy Tulowitzki , to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.

The Dirtbags will have to battle this 2010 season with four games against rival Cal State Fullerton and closing out the season with a three-game series against UC Irvine, both who made trips to the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament last year.