Long Beach’s Bad Starts Not All Bad

The NCAA playoffs are two months away, but it was apparent two weeks ago that Long Beach State was again headed toward the College World Series.

All one had to do was look at the 49ers’ record: 7-8.

Not impressive, but telling.

Underwhelming starts are a tradition during World Series years at Long Beach, which has made nine NCAA playoff appearances and four trips to the World Series in Dave Snow’s 10 seasons as coach. Last year, the 49ers were third at Omaha, their best finish.

Except for 1989, when Long Beach won its first 18 games, the 49ers have advanced to the World Series only after mediocre starts: 7-8 in 1991, 7-8 again in ‘93, and 6-8-1 last season.

“Everything seems to be right on target,” senior pitcher Mike Gallo said a few weeks ago.

Gallo, now 4-0 with a 1.62 earned-run average, was correct.

Long Beach, ranked 17th by Baseball America, improved its record to 14-8 overall and 5-1 in the Big West Conference by winning two of three games at New Mexico State last weekend. The 49ers, who lost to California, 5-3, Wednesday night at Blair Field, play host to Pacific this weekend before traveling to Wichita, Kan., early next week for a two-game nonconference test against No. 12 Wichita State.

Long Beach was tested even before the season began when it became official that senior outfielder Chuck Lopez would sit out the season while recovering from elbow surgery.

Outfielder Terrmel Sledge, who hit .392, and Lopez, who hit .422, gave Long Beach a 1-2 punch at the top of the order that was among the best in the nation in 1998.

With Lopez sidelined, Sledge has moved from leadoff to the No. 3 spot in the order. He is adjusting to the new role and the 49ers are in their usual mode of developing role players for their annual playoff run.

“We have a lot of the new guys who are showing a lot of heart,” said Sledge, batting .410 with an 18-game hitting streak.

“We have played in [nine] one-run games, so they already know not to give up. We’ve come from behind several times and they’ve shown their determination.”

Junior first baseman Jaeme Leal, a transfer from Riverside Community College, has hit 11 home runs, and freshman Chris Wright has stepped in for Lopez.

Long Beach earned an automatic berth in last year’s playoffs by winning the Big West Conference tournament. This year, however, the conference has eliminated the tournament and all eight teams are playing in one division. Teams play three opponents six times and four opponents three times for a 30-game schedule.

Long Beach concludes its regular season May 14-16 with three games at No. 11 Cal State Fullerton (22-5, 6-0 in the Big West) and three at home against No. 7 Miami May 20-22.

“I think we have a real good shot at getting back to the World Series,” Sledge said. “We can’t jump ahead. There’s still a long road to Omaha. But we should be in the right spot at the right time.”

*

After stumbling through its nonconference schedule, defending national champion USC appears to be playing more like the team that opened the season ranked first in the nation.

Junior catcher Eric Munson is batting .310 with 10 homers and 30 runs batted in. Junior left-hander Barry Zito is 4-2 with a 3.15 earned-run average and has two 16-strikeout performances for the Trojans, who are 5-1 in the Pacific 10 Conference. USC lost, 6-4, at Pepperdine on Wednesday and travels to Washington State for a three-game series starting Friday.

Pepperdine has continued its sizzling start. The No. 8 Waves are 24-3 and 4-2 in the West Coast Conference and have a three-game conference series at Portland on Saturday and Sunday.

Defending WCC champion Loyola Marymount is 17-13 overall and 7-2 in the WCC. The Lions play host to San Francisco Friday and Saturday.

*

UCLA Coach Gary Adams reached 1,000 victories March 13 when the Bruins (15-17, 1-2 in the Pac-10) defeated Arizona in Tucson.

It was a meaningful win for Adams, though not for the obvious reason.

“It was our first league victory this season,” he said. “That was more meaningful than it being my 1,000th victory.”

Adams is 1,000-729-12 in 29-plus seasons. He was 188-69-5 and won two Division II national titles at UC Irvine before succeeding Art Reichle in 1975.

Adams is the 13th active coach to win 1,000 games at four-year schools. Jack Stallings of Georgia Southern is No. 1 among active coaches. He entered the season with 1,229 victories. Former Texas Coach Cliff Gustafson is the all-time leader with 1,427.