By Michael Bower
On-line Forty-Niner

The Dirtbags’ bats coming out of hibernation was only a matter of time helping take some pressure off the pitching staff.
 
Josh Buhagiar went 5-for-5 to lead a 17-hit attack by the 49er offense as the Dirtbags posted an 11-5 victory Tuesday over host Loyola Marymount (22-20).
 
Buhagiar saw his average climb to .333 as the fifth-ranked Dirtbags got a little revenge against the Lions who banged out 18 hits en route to an 11-6 victory over The Beach earlier in the season.
 
The win puts the Dirtbags on a five-game winning streak and improves the team’s record to 27-12.
 
The offense has now strung together back-to-back games with double digits in the hit and run columns as they defeated Cal Poly 10-1 on Sunday.
 
“I think we kind of set a standard early in the year with the competition that we played,” assistant coach Troy Buckley said about the offense. “We were just looking for more quality at bats.”
 
The 49ers are getting those quality at bats at the right time as three offensive threats are sidelined with injuries. Senior Tim Hutting will be out for at least one month with a posterior cruciate ligament injury to his knee. Sean Boatright is out for the year with a back injury and Travis Udvarhleyi has been in and out of the lineup with a groin injury.
 
“You got some guys in the middle of the lineup that were threats so you are going to lose some production their,” Buckley said about the injuries. “But we reiterated to our guys that you have to be ready to play when somebody goes down.”
 
Hutting was hitting .358 and was tied for the team lead with 22 RBIs when he went down on April 6. Boatright was hitting .259 and Udvarhelyi was hitting .310 when they went down.
 
With all that in mind the Dirtbags have still managed to pick up the pace on offense by adding a new spark plug to the leadoff spot in Todd Jennings. Jennings went 3-for-6 with a solo home run and a RBI double.
 
“He was in a good place when he went to [the leadoff spot] and he has just thrived since being there,” Buckley said.
 
Every starter but one contributed at least one hit as Mike Hofius and Chris Hanson added two hits apiece. Chuck Sindlinger, who has had more playing time since Hutting’s injury, also contributed two triples.
 
“Everybody on our team is going to help us at some point,” Buckley said. “If guys don’t believe that then it’s going to show because they won’t be prepared.”
 
Scott Shoemaker tallied up his first win on the mound as a Dirtbag as he threw a career-best five innings giving up three runs and six hits.
 
The Dirtbags jumped all over Lions’ starter Jeff Stevens. The offense chalked up six runs in the first two and one-third innings to chase Stevens out of the game.
 
Josh Whitesell did not fair much better as he surrendered five runs in the next two and one-third innings.
 
“We swung the bats good and took advantage of mistakes like good teams do,” Buckley said.
 
The Dirtbags are currently trailing first-ranked Cal State Fullerton by a game in the Big West Conference. The 49ers are 7-2 with losses to Cal State Northridge and UC Irvine. The Titans are currently in first place with an 8-1 record.
 
The Dirtbags head back to conference play when they travel to UC Santa Barbara for a three-game series this weekend. The Gauchos are currently 1-8 in conference play and 18-21 overall.

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