Snow reaches 500-win milestone

Twice, Dirtbag Head Coach Dave Snow was named NCAA Coach of the Year. Four times, he has been named Big West Conference Coach of the Year. Nine times out of his twelve seasons as a head coach, his teams have gone to the NCAA Tournament.

And now 500 times, he has left the diamond victorious. Snow, now in his 13th year as a Division I head coach -his ninth at CSULB- eclipsed the 500 win mark Friday as the 49ers topped UC Santa Barbara ,9-5, in a Big West Conference game at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.

But Snow, who year in and year out always seems to put the team's feats ahead of his own, will set the moment aside.

"I don't know of anybody who sets out to win X number of games," Snow said. "Unless it relates to the winning percentage, something like that."

Even though the milestone has finally been reached, he has got his mind on bigger things. But how much bigger? "What my aim is, every year, is getting to Omaha [site of the College World Series]," he said.

It's familiar ground. At least, it has been since Snow has been at CSULB. The 49ers have gone all the way to Omaha three times (1989, 1991 and 1993) since Snow arrived in 1989. Prior to Snow's taking over of the program, the 49ers had only gotten as far as the NCAA Regional.

"The only significance that I can see [about No. 500] is it means we've averaged 40 wins a year," Snow said. "500 doesn't mean anything except that we've been fairly consistent."

Snow began his head coaching career at Loyola Marymount in 1985. At LMU, he guided the Lions to a NCAA Regional championship in 1986. At CSULB, Snow has won the Big West Conference five times, including four of the last five seasons.

Through the weekend series at UCSB, Snow ran his Division I record to 502-260-4. The 49ers (13-11, 5-1) completed a three-game sweep of UCSB, as No. 500 set the tone on Friday, the first day of the weekend set. First baseman Toby Sanchez had four RBI, three hits and one of two home runs he'd hit during the series.