Long Beach State will open its season this weekend with a three-game series against Southern California. When the two teams met to open the 2006 season, the Dirtbags swept the three-game series.
The Trojans opened their season last week with a win over Cal Poly. It marked a new era in USC baseball, with new head coach Chad Krueter making his debut after succeeding his father-in-law Mike Gillespie.
Right-hander Vance Worley will be the first pitcher to start on the mound for the Dirtbags. Last season, Worley had some difficulties against the Trojans and was taken out after giving up 5 runs (4 earned) in only 3.1 innings. This summer, Worley was rated one of the top-30 prospects in the Cape Cod League while pitching for Chatham.
On Saturday Manny McElroy will take the ball for LBSU and then lefty Omar Arif will start Sunday. Both pitchers will be making their Dirtbag pitching debuts. McElroy transferred as a junior college All-American from Bakersfield Community College and Arif has spent the previous three seasons as a reliever for Texas Christian University.
The Dirtbags are expected to start four new players in the lineup, all of them coming from junior college or having transferred from other Division I schools.
Coming into this season, both teams are currently ranked among Collegiate Baseball’s top-50 teams, with USC at No. 25 and LBSU at No.30.
Last season, the Dirtbags finished 29-27 overall, 12-9 in the Big West Conference, while the Trojans finished with a 25-33 record overall and went 11-13 in the Pac-10.
Dirtbag Weekend Preview
Who: No. 30 Long Beach State vs. No. 25 USC
Where: USC (Friday and Sunday), Blair Field (Saturday)
When: 7 p.m. (Friday), 1 p.m. (Saturday), Noon (Sunday)
