Jamison,
Dirtbags trumped by Titans
By Daniel Frias
On-line Forty-Niner
While
it is not the Los Angeles Dodgers versus
the San Francisco Giants it is one of college
baseball’s most heated rivalries. Fifth
ranked Long Beach State hosted fourth ranked
Cal State Fullerton for the first time this
season in a three-game series this past
weekend at Blair Field.
The Dirtbags (18-9) looked impressive in
the first game Friday night when they came
back to beat the Titans (24-6) 3-2 in front
of 2,130 fans.
The 49ers were down 2-0 heading into the
seventh inning when Mike Hofius’ sac fly
scored teammate Adam Heether and moved Troy
Tulowitzki to third. The next batter Todd
Jennings hit another sac fly and Tulowitzki
tagged up from third to tie the score 2-2.
In the bottom of the eighth inning 49er
Tim Hutting was hit by a pitch to lead off
the inning. He stole second base and advanced
to third on a sac bunt by teammate John
Bowker. Heether scored Hutting in on a sac
fly to give the Dirtbags a 3-2 lead heading
into the ninth. Reliever Carlos Muniz then
shut out the Titans to get the save and
the victory for his team.
49er All-American Abe Alvarez struck out
nine batters in seven innings pitched and
allowed two earned runs on seven hits.
“He did a great job of keeping us in the
game when we were not doing anything,” 49ers
second year Head Coach Mike Weathers
said. “He’s [Alvarez] a competitor. He dug
down deep and did a great job of keeping
us in the game. This team doesn’t crack.
I’m proud of the way we hung in there.”
In game two on Saturday the 49ers were without
Alvarez and went with freshman Cesar Ramos
(1-4, 4.09). Ramos pitched 4.2 innings and
was lit up by the Titans, who are one of
the best hitting teams in the nation with
a team batting average of .339. Ramos gave
up five hits and five runs before junior
Scott Shoemaker came in and gave up two
more runs on three hits in his two innings
of work.
Titans pitcher Dustin Miller pitched seven
scoreless innings and allowed only three
hits as the Titans shut out the Beach 7-0
to take game two.
Game three on Sunday showcased Jered Weaver,
who was one of the first eight players to
be invited to try out for the United States
National team this summer, against Titan
Ricky Romero who was making his second start
of the week.
Weaver pitched five full innings and gave
up two earned runs on seven hits. The Titans
took a two-run lead in the top of the second
when leftfielder Danny Dorn hit a triple
to bring in teammate P.J. Pilittere who
was 2 for 3 with a run scored. Dorn scored
the second run when Weaver threw a wild
pitch under his catcher’s legs.
The Dirtbags came back and scored four runs
in the bottom of the second to take a 4-2
lead. In the bottom of the sixth 49er freshman
Troy Tulowitzki hit a ball deep to center
field that became the only home run of the
series.
“I was looking for a fastball,” Tulowitzki
said, who was 4 for 5 with one RBI and 2
runs scored in the game. “I got one and
swung. We have a big field and usually when
you hit a ball hard it doesn’t go out. I
got it high enough and luckily there was
some wind blowing and got it out.”
His homer was his second of the season and
gave his team a 5-2 lead. The Dirtbags,
however, could not hold on to the lead.
Before Sunday the team was 15-0 when leading
a game after the seventh inning.
Coach Weathers changed pitchers in the bottom
of the seventh and that proved to be fatal.
Bo Ashabraner who pitched 1.2 innings and
gave up no runs or hits and struck out one
was replaced by sophomore Neil Jamison.
 Jamison
proceeded to load up the bases in the eighth
with no outs and hit a batter to bring in
a run and make the score 5-3. Carlos Muniz
came in to spell Jamison with the bases
juiced and was rocked for four runs in the
inning as the Titans took a 7-5 lead and
the game. The Titans stole the series from
the Dirtbags 2-1.
“Our strong point is our bullpen,” Weathers
said. “Most of the time they get the job
done. Today wasn’t what we wanted. They
let us down.”
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