The No. 16-ranked Dirtbags will take on the Cal State Fullerton Titans this weekend at Titan Stadium in Fullerton for three games to close out the regular season. The Dirtbags are in third place with UC Irvine trailing UC Riverside by two games.
The Dirtbags, winners of 15 of their last 20 games, had won 13 games in a row until they were swept by UC Riverside last weekend at Blair Field with scores of 7-4, 2-1 and 7-6. The Dirtbags will need to sweep Fullerton and have UC Irvine sweep UC Riverside to claim a share of the Big West title.
The Dirtbags offense last weekend was lead by Brandon Godfrey, who went 4-for-9 and Robert Perry who went 4-for-11 with a triple and two RBIs in the series. The Dirtbags had chances to win against UCR, as they walked a season-high 10 batters on Friday.
Dirtbag pitcher Andrew Liebel pitched a complete game eight-hitter only allowing two runs, but was still out-pitched by Matt Montgomery of UCR. On Sunday, the Dirtbags gave up a three run lead in the ninth inning to eventually lose the game in the tenth, 7-6.
The Dirtbags have an impressive five batters batting over the .300 mark; Shane Peterson (.343), Matt Cline (.341), Steve Tinoco (.329), Danny Espinosa (.326) and Robert Perry (.322).
The Dirtbags fell to the No. 16 spot in the rankings from being ranked No. 11 last week. If the Dirtbags can pick up victories against the rival Titans, they will have a good chance to host the NCAA Regionals at Blair Field.
The Dirtbags (35-17, 13-5) will take on the CS Fullerton Titans (32-21, 9-9) Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 6 p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m. at Titan Stadium. Friday’s game will be aired on CSTV (College Sports Television).
LBSU will send Manny McElroy (5-2, 3.69) to the mound against Wes Roemer (8-6, 3.30) on Friday. Andrew Liebel (7-3, 2.53) will take the hill Saturday against Jeff Kaplan (10-3, 3.42). The starters for Sunday are yet to be determined. The Dirtbags are 46-79 all-time against the Titans and are 1-2 against them this season.
The Titan offense is lead by outfielders Clark Hardman (.379, 39 RBI) and Josh Fellhauer (.311, 21 RBI).
The 64-team bracket for the NCAA Regionals will be announced on Monday, May 28 at 9:30 a.m. Regionals will take place June 1 through June 4.
