Dirtbags
face Stanford in Super Regional
By Oscar Gardner
Summer Online Forty-Niner
 Two
more wins separate the sixth ranked 49ers
from their long awaited trip to Omaha, Nebraska,
and the College World Series final eight
tournament, a trip that has eluded them
since their appearance in 1998. The Dirtbags
didn’t let down the record 10,974 fans that
crowded Blair Field over the three-day weekend
of the first ever NCAA Regional hosted by
the Dirtbags. “Packing them in………. the Beach
didn’t disappoint,” said Niall Adler, assistant
director of sports information.
Earning victories over the Pepperdine Waves,
6-1 and two convincing wins of 7-2 over
the University of Washington, this was the
first time CSULB has swept through a regional
series in ten years.
The Dirtbags, led by Big West Coach of the
Year Mike Weathers, and co-pitchers of the
year Jered Weaver and Abe Alvarez will head
up north to face the Pac-10 champion, fourth
ranked Stanford Cardinal (44-15) at Sunken
Diamond Field. The past three years the
Dirtbags and Cardinal have faced off in
regional play with the Cardinal winning
all three meetings in Palo Alto, on their
way to the College World Series. Including
last year’s 8-4 defeat in the regional title
game.
The Cardinals are led into this weekend
by co-Pac-10 player of the year, senior
catcher Ryan Garko. Garko has been chosen
as one of three finalists for the Johnny
Bench award, given to the top catcher in
the nation. He also leads the team in batting
average with .417, a slugging percentage
of .747, and 18 homeruns. Other players
to watch for are outfielders, junior Carlos
Quentin with an impressive batting average
of .386, and sophomore Danny Putnam holding
a .349 batting average.
The Dirtbags have made it to regional play
13 of the past 14 years, although Omaha
has been out of their reach for the past
five seasons.
In this best of three match up over the
weekend there will be ten players who were
selected in the first day of the Major League
Baseball Amateur Player Draft on Tuesday.
The Dirtbags will showcase an impressive
six picks in the first thirteen rounds,
including second round selections Alvarez
and catcher Todd Jennings. The Boston Red
Sox picked up Alvarez and the San Francisco
Giants took Jennings. Two other 49ers were
selected in the eighth round, pitcher Bo
Ashabraner went to the Cleveland Indians
and infielder Tim Hutting went to the San
Francisco Giants. The Milwaukee Brewers
took third baseman Adam Heether in the eleventh
round and closer Carlos Muniz went to the
New York Mets in the thirteenth round, respectively.
Due to the timing of these games there is
no planned school organized trip up to Stanford,
so far. “No word on organized trips going
up, everyone is basically out of school,”
Niall Adler said. Although if looking for
a friendly face in the sea of Cardinal red,
don’t be surprised to see our University
President Dr. Robert Maxson in the stands.
“He’ll be there, we booked a hotel for him,”
said Julie Allen, secretary of the athletic
director.
The winner of the Stanford/Long Beach series
will face the winner of the North Carolina
(42-21) and South Carolina (42-20) series.
The College World series is set to start
next Friday, June 13. This weekend’s games
will be played Friday at 7:05 p.m., Saturday
at 5:05 p.m., and Sunday at 3:05 p.m. (if
necessary). The games will be televised
on ESPN, ESPN 2, and ESPN syndicates.
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