Weaver at His Best as 49ers Blank Irvine

In the midst of a super season, Long Beach State pitcher Jered Weaver had been a little more human in his previous two starts.

Against a tough UC Irvine team with a star pitcher of its own, the 49ers got another masterpiece from their ace.

Weaver pitched a four-hitter for his first shutout of the season in leading fifth-ranked Long Beach past the 14th-ranked Anteaters, 3-0, before an energetic crowd of 2,706 Friday night at Blair Field in the first of a three-game Big West Conference series.

The 49ers needed their star right-hander to be dominant and he delivered against Irvine ace Brett Smith on a night when both were on their games. Weaver didn’t allow a runner past second base and struck out 12 without a walk.

“I knew it was going to be a pitchers’ duel for sure,” said Weaver, who tied Andy Croghan’s school record with his 33rd career victory. “He’s got great stuff and he’s kept our hitters off balance the last couple of starts he’s had against us.

“I knew it was going to be a battle.”

By now, most baseball observers know about Weaver (11-0), a junior who could be the No. 1 pick in the June amateur draft. Smith (6-1) has been under the radar by comparison but he has been stellar too.

Coming into the game, the 6-foot-5, 225-pound right-hander had a 1.93 earned-run average. He blanked Long Beach for 7 1/3 innings March 27 in a 1-0 victory, and his five-hit shutout of UC Santa Barbara last week extended his scoreless streak to 25 innings.

“Everybody got what they wanted to see,” 49er Coach Mike Weathers said. “They’re two of the best pitchers around. We haven’t solved [Smith] and we finally did.”

Smith escaped a bases-loaded threat in the first inning and matched Weaver for six innings to extend his streak to 31.

But in the seventh, Brad Davis led off with a single, Jason Vargas singled him to third and Danny Mocny’s grounder sent him home as Irvine, 23-8-1 and 2-2 in the Big West, conceded the only run Weaver would need.

The 49ers (24-9, 4-0) gave him two more for insurance in the eighth, though.