Bring out the Brooms

The Dirtbags have completed their second sweep of the season, after the series against Hawaii University's Rainbow Warriors. So what does this victory mean to the Dirtbags? Well according to Rivals.com, they have moved up significantly in the rankings. They are now ranked No.7, up from No.12, with a 9-2 record. They have soared passed the other conference teams in the ranks, including No.12 Irvine and No. 16 Riverside. Other teams they have already played or soon will play against are underneath them at the moment. Rice drops to No.9, UCLA took a dive to No.10, the reigning champions from Oregon State fell to No.22 and Wichita State moved down to No.24. All of these plunges from highly pre-season ranked teams is nothing but good news to the Dirtbags. However, it is very early in the season to get hot heads.

Coach Weathers decided to take 28 eligible players on the team, including freshman catcher John Hill, who made many firsts in his collegiate baseball career. Hill, a freshman from La Quinta High School, was brought into game one as a pinch-hitter in the 8th inning. He made his first appearance at the plate as well as his first hit in the Dirtbag uniform. Hill ended up tying the game at 3-3, giving the Dirtbags a chance to win. The game went into extra innings, finally ending with a RBI from Shane Peterson at the top of the 12th. The Dirtbags notched their first win in paradise at 4-3.






Shane Peterson

In game two, Vance Worley started on the mound. He struck out 11 batters, notching a career-high in strikeouts over eight innings. The Dirtbags took no time to get some points on the board in this game. The designated hitter of the game, Robert Burk, hit his first collegiate home run, bringing home three. Taylor Krick hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Devin Lohman, allowing the Dirtbags to sit on a four run lead. Nick Vincent, the closing pitcher, came into the game in the 9th to secure the 4-2 win over the Rainbow Warriors.

Things in game three didn’t start off as well for the Dirtbags. Nonetheless, things began to change when second baseman Jason Tweedy made a clutch diving play in the 6th inning, preventing the Rainbow Warriors to score more runs. At this point, the Dirtbags were trailing by two. In the 7th inning, the Dirtbags went on a five-run rally. Shane Peterson hit a RBI, starting off the change of pace for the Dirtbags. John Hill made his first collegiate start in game three and had an RBI single in the 7th, tying the game at 4-4. Jason Corder hit a single, allowing two runners to come home, making it 6-4. Then finally Chris Nelson hit an RBI single, giving the Dirtbags a three-run lead. The final score of the game was 8-4; thus, completing the sweep of the Rainbow Warriors.






Jason Corder