There won’t be too much downtime for Long Beach State teams as students take a week away from school.
While some LBSU squads prepare to begin Big West Conference play, others will look to finish strong down the stretch.
Baseball
The Dirtbags might not have started the 2010 season the way they envisioned, but they are not alone.
Cal State Fullerton — ranked fourth in the nation by Baseball America before the season — along with Cal Poly, joins the Dirtbags as a team that was selected to finish in the top half of the conference but has since fallen to the bottom.
LBSU kicks off its spring break with a road series against No. 17 Oregon State starting Friday before hosting Pacific, beginning on April 1.
While the Tigers have the third best record (13-7) in the Big West, they have only played two true road games this season and came up empty in both.
The series with Pacific will mark the beginning of Big West play and the nonconference records could be a wash if the Dirtbags — and other teams — can turn things around.
Softball
LBSU plays at No. 5 UCLA Friday at 2 p.m. in a nonconference meeting.
The 49ers (16-13) faced the Bruins twice last season, taking the first meeting, 2-1, at the LBSU Invitational before dropping a 4-2 decision in the NCAA Regionals.
“We always compete against them,” senior left fielder Ashley Weber said. “We need to hit with runners in scoring position, put the ball in play, make them work and allow them to beat us and us not beat ourselves.”
The Beach returns home on Tuesday, March 30 to take on San Diego State at 2 p.m., before opening Big West action with a three-game series against Pacific starting on Friday, April 2.
“I definitely like where we are at [heading into conference],” 49ers head coach Kim Sowder said. “We still need to put things together a little more and not keep teams in games.”
Women’s Tennis
No. 36 LBSU (12-3, 5-0 Big West) visits the Central Coast for critical conference matches at Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara after concluding its 11-match homestand at 2 p.m. Thursday against Washington State.
The first-place 49ers will try to maintain their position atop the Big West as they play Cal Poly on April 2 at 1 p.m. and UCSB on April 3 at 11 a.m. The Mustangs and Gauchos sit at No. 2 and 3, respectively in the Big West standings.
“Our singles play is developing nicely and we have had some good wins due to our strong play in singles,” 49ers head coach Jenny Hilt-Costello said. “We need to focus on our doubles going into spring break and our conference matches with Cal Poly, UCSB and [Cal State] Northridge.”
Men’s Volleyball
The LBSU men finish the season with seven of eight matches at the Walter Pyramid, with four to be played before students return to class.
The 49ers (11-10, 7-7 MPSF) play Friday against last-place Pacific (8-14, 0-14 MPSF) and Saturday against Stanford (13-4, 10-4 MPSF). The Beach hosts BYU (14-7, 10-6 MPSF) on April 1 and 2. All four meetings are set for 7 p.m.
Assistant coach John Hawks said a pro-49er crowd could provide a lift as the team makes its postseason push.
Hawks said, “Six of the remaining seven matches are versus potential playoff opponents and any advantage we can get will certainly help in guiding us to the MPSF playoffs.”
In other news…
Women’s water polo (7-12) opens Big West play Saturday at CSUN. The 49ers host nonconference foe Stanford on Sunday before returning to face Big West opposition at UCSB on April 2. All three matches are scheduled at noon.
Men’s golf plays in Bulls Bay, S.C. from March 28-30 and the women defend their title at the Anteater Invitational in Santa Margarita from March 29-30.
Beach track and field will send a split squad to the Stanford Invitational (March 27-28) and Cal/Nevada Championships (March 27-28).
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