Dirtbags
shelled by UCLA in Westwood
Baseball:
The baseball team was drubbed by the Bruins
after crushing Cal State Northridge in the
Big West Conference opening series.
Kenny Maiques
Brandon Villalobos
By
Michael Bower
On-line Forty-Niner
After
a weekend of dusting off the bats and pounding
the Cal State Northridge Matadors for 45
runs over three games, the Dirtbags scored
just one run against the UCLA Bruins Tuesday
at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
Freshman
pitcher Brandon Villalobos didn't get out
of the first inning as the Bruins bashed
out 15 hits including three home runs in
an 11-1 route of the No. 5 Dirtbags. The
11 runs are the most the Dirtbags' (23-9,
3-0 Big West) pitching staff has given up
all season.
Villalobos
(1-2) faced just six batters giving up four
runs before being relieved by freshman Kenny
Maiques in the first inning.
Maiques,
who had pitched just seven innings prior
to Tuesday's game, gave up four runs on
six hits in two innings of work before being
chased from the game in the third inning.
"[Villalobos]
just had a bad start [Tuesday]. He has started
some games before and done well so it was
just a bad start," head coach Mike
Weathers said. "[Maiques] has had a
couple of good outings. If we make a play
in the second inning then we get out of
it, but we didn't and the next guy hits
a home run."
The
Bruins (19-14), who were shutout, 3-0, earlier
in the year by Jered Weaver, built a 10-0
lead after four innings.
Matt
Thayer and Wes Whisler both drove in three
runs, as Whisler had a solo homer and a
two-run double for the Bruins.
"The
game got away from us early and there was
no way to catch up," Weathers said.
"The pitchers job is to keep you in
the game and we didn't get that [Tuesday]."
Bruin
starter David Johnson recorded his first
win of the season hurling six innings giving
up four hits and one run while striking
out five. Kevin Brophy and Kyle Wilson combined
to pitch scoreless baseball over the last
three innings for the Bruins.
The
Dirtbags were coming off its biggest offensive
explosion of the season after sweeping the
Matadors in a three-game conference series
last weekend. The Dirtbags hit .414 for
the series, and raised the team's overall
batting average 23 points to .285 in the
past two weeks.
The
Dirtbags are going to face three tough pitchers
this weekend in a key three-game conference
series against the No. 7-ranked UC Irvine
Anteaters (22-7-1, 2-1 Big West). Brett
Smith, Glenn Swanson and Chris Nicoll all
have earned run averages under four, and
are a combined 15-2.
The
Anteaters swept the Dirtbags in a two-game
non-conference series earlier in the year,
in which Jered Weaver and Jason Vargas did
not pitch for the Dirtbags.
The
Anteaters will bring their team ERA of 2.85
into Blair Field against a Dirtbag team
ERA of 2.44. The Anteaters are hitting at
the .276 clip, and have made themselves
the top candidate to dethrone the 2003 Big
West Champion Dirtbags.
"I
think it's going to be a pitcher's weekend,"
Weathers said. "I would expect the
starting pitching to set the tone almost
every game. If something happens to the
starters then the bullpen will have to do
it, but I think the starting pitching will
set the tone."
Friday
will feature the all-American Weaver for
the Dirtbags while the Anteaters will put
its ace on the hill, Brett Smith. Smith
threw seven innings of three-hit baseball
in a 1-0 win over the Dirtbags, March 27.
Weaver enters Friday night's contest needing
one win to tie Andy Croghan for the all-time
mark at Long Beach State. Weaver, who has
324 strikeouts, is also just 37 behind current
major leaguer Rocky Biddle for most strikeouts
in a Dirtbag uniform.
Saturday
should be another pitching duel as Cesar
Ramos will test his 1.99 ERA against Swanson,
who has an ERA of 3.80 and a record of 6-1.
Sunday's matchup will be Vargas for the
Dirtbags and Nicoll for the Anteaters.
All
three games will be played at Blair Field.
Friday's game starts at 6 p.m., Saturday's
game starts at 2 p.m. and the series final
Sunday will start at 1 p.m., and also be
televised April 21 at 5:30 p.m. on KVMD-TV
in
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