Weaver,
Tulowitzki garner Big West honors
By Todd Leland
On-line Forty-Niner
 National
recognition keeps piling on for Jered Weaver
and the third ranked Long Beach State baseball
team.
Riding the success of a 35-14 overall record
and sitting atop the standings in the Big
West conference the Dirtbags got more good
news early this week as Weaver was named
Collegiate Baseball’s co-Player of the Week.
The 49ers also swept the Big West conference
awards as Weaver was named Big West Pitcher
of the Week, while shortstop Troy Tulowitzki
was named Big West Player of the Week.
 Weaver’s
last outing may have been the best of the
season. Last Saturday he faced the high-octane
bats of UC Riverside and all but silenced
the Highlanders offensive attack. After
a shaky start, a leadoff home run, Weaver
went on to retire 24 of the next 27 batters
he faced while tying a career high mark
of 13 strikeouts.
UC Riverside went into the contest as the
leading offense in the Big West, fourth
nationally, and managed only four hits and
two runs off the All-American righthander.
With the victory Weaver, a sophomore, picked
up his third Big West Pitcher of the Week
award and the national player of the week
honor. Weaver shared the national award
with fellow co-player of the week winners
third basemen Jay Iannoni of Vermont and
Northern Iowa outfielder Adam Boeve.
On the season Weaver has an 11-3 record
with a 2.21 ERA and 116 strikeouts in 101.2
innings of work. In addition, Weaver has
walked only 15 batters this season which
amounts to almost an eight to one strikeout
to walk ratio.
Joining Weaver as Big West Player of the
Week was Tulowitzki. The freshman was a
juggernaut at the plate last week as he
drove in 10 runs to help the 49ers defeat
27th ranked Pepperdine and sweep 18th ranked
UC Riverside.
During the stretch Tulowitzki went 7 for
15 for a .467 batting average with two home
runs. One of his home runs was a grand slam
that put the Dirtbags up 6-0 in the opener
against the Highlanders. His second home
run was a two-run shot that gave The Beach
a 6-2 lead in game three versus UCR.
Tulowitzki is batting .260 this season with
five home runs and a team-leading 37 RBIs.
The conference player of the week honor
is a first for the freshman shortstop.
Tulowitzki and Weaver will lead the 49ers
this weekend as they start to wrap up their
regular season with games against Cal State
Fullerton and University of Miami.
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