Strong-Arm Tactics

The face of Long Beach State baseball these days is a shaggy-haired, 6-foot-7 right-handed pitcher who has captured the fancy of the college game this season.

Jered Weaver has brought the 49ers national attention with his dominance on the mound. But their star is only the front man for an impressive pitching staff that could carry the nation’s fifth-ranked team to its first College World Series berth in six years.

Jason Vargas pitched 6 1/3 strong innings at Blair Field on Sunday to finish a three-game sweep of UC Irvine with a 6-3 victory in front of 1,476.

The sight of a brilliant performance by a Long Beach pitcher is becoming routine. Behind the starting trio of Weaver, Vargas and Cesar Ramos, the 49ers (26-9, 6-0 in the Big West Conference) have lowered their earned-run average to 2.37, the best mark in college baseball.

“You look at Cesar and his numbers, and he’d be the ace of the staff on just about any other team,” Long Beach Coach Mike Weathers said. “Vargas’ numbers might not be as good, but I would think most staffs would want to have him.

“Jered’s obviously overshadowed everybody else, but you’ve got to look deeper than that.”

Weaver has been the nation’s best pitcher, putting together a season reminiscent of Mark Prior’s junior season at USC three years ago. The potential No. 1 pick in the June amateur draft has won all 11 starts and compiled a 1.00 ERA with 118 strikeouts and 11 walks.

Ramos has been no less impressive. A sixth-round draft choice by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays out of high school, the sophomore left-hander improved to 7-2 with a 2.00 ERA after going 8 1/3 innings in Saturday’s 4-2 win.

Vargas, a junior-college transfer, evened his record at 5-5 and has two traits valued by pro scouts -- he’s left-handed and throws a 92-mph fastball.

Brian Anderson and Neil Jamison are hard-throwing junior relievers who could be drafted in the first few rounds. Anderson hasn’t given up a run in 17 innings, and Jamison (1.59 ERA) got his 10th save Sunday after left fielder John Bowker made a diving catch of Mark Wagner’s line drive with the bases loaded in the ninth.

“Jered obviously gets all the publicity, but I think what it does is it fuels a lot of competition within the staff, especially among the starting pitchers,” said pitching coach Troy Buckley, who tutored second-round pick Abe Alvarez last season. “Ramos isn’t trying to outdo Weaver, but he sure doesn’t want to be the one to let the team down, and I think that’s the same with Vargas.

“These other guys are very talented, and they’re good in their own way.”

All of them take full advantage of spacious Blair Field, possibly the toughest Southern California college park in which to hit. Only two home runs have been hit by opposing teams in 16 games this season.

“It’s probably the hardest park in the world to hit a home run out of,” Vargas said. “It works to your advantage. You can get away with a lot of mistakes and go after hitters more and get them to hit fly balls.”

Long Beach’s arsenal of talented hurlers has earned some admirers.

“They’re all solid,” Irvine third baseman Matt Anderson said. “Weaver is Weaver. Ramos throws strikes. Vargas is the same thing. It’s always tough going up against those guys.”

Irvine mirrors its Big West rival in many ways. The Anteaters have used strong pitching and defense and opportunistic hitting to build a 23-10-1 overall record, though their national rankings of seventh by Collegiate Baseball and 14th by Baseball America figure to drop this week.

Brett Smith, a junior with a 6-1 record, could be drafted in the first two rounds. Glenn Swanson and Chris Nicoll struggled the last two days but have combined for nine wins in 13 decisions. Blair Erickson (12 saves, 2.62 ERA) and Justin Cassel (3-2, 1.89) are freshmen with big futures.

During construction of Anteater Ballpark, third-year Coach John Savage made sure the dimensions were friendly to his pitchers. Savage coached major league stars Prior and Barry Zito while an assistant at USC.

Weathers sees similarities.

“There’s not much difference at all [between the teams],” he said. “Starting pitching is the key, and they’ve got it. You’re always going to be in games as long as you’ve got it.”