THURSDAY, MAY 6, 1999

Dirtbags edge Waves

By Arnold V. Cruz

On-Line Forty-Niner

Despite not having its two big guns, the Long Beach State men's baseball team had enough punch to knock off the Pepperdine Waves (ranked 10th by USA Today), 8-7 Tuesday night at Blair Field.

First baseman Jaeme Leal (17 homers, 60 RBIs) was held out of the game with a sore hamstring and third baseman Greg Dobbs (6 HR, 48 RBIs) was ill.

However, a solid team effort by the 49ers (28-18) helped them erase a seven run deficit and a strong offensive outing from sophomore catcher Bryan Kennedy also sparked the late victory over the Waves (37-11).

Tied, 7-7 in the bottom of the tenth with one out, the 49ers staged their comeback.

After Jeff Jones struck out to lead off the inning, Jason Berni singled to right field. Bobby Crosby followed with a single to center field. Kennedy sent a sharp single to left field that was fielded cleanly by Waves' left fielder Woody Cliffords as Berni reached third, however, third base coach Mike Weathers sent Berni anyway.

Cliffords seemed to make a good throw, but third baseman G.J. Raymundo tried to cut off the toss and the ball deflected off his glove allowing Berni to score the winning run.

Kennedy was making only his second start since breaking his right foot about two months ago.

"This is the kind of win that can really boost our team confidence," Kennedy said. "We really dug deep."