THURSDAY
Long Beach State Men’s Basketball at Big West Conference Tournament, 2:30 p.m.
The 49ers are the No. 5 seed for the conference tournament, and they’ll take on rival No. 4 Cal State Fullerton in the quarterfinals today at Honda Center in the second of four games today. The winner likely will face UC Davis in the semifinals on Friday. The championships are scheduled for Saturday night.
LBSU lost at Fullerton 81-71 two weeks ago, but beat the Titans 81-73 on Jan. 20 in Long Beach. The biggest difference in those two games was the production on the perimeter for the talented Fullerton guards. Kyle Allman and Khalil Ahmad were held in check for most of the first half of the first meeting, but they combined for 40 points in the win at home. Allman leads the Big West with 19.4 points per game.
High School Boys’ Volleyball, 4:30 p.m.
The Moore League opens play today as defending champion Wilson travels to Jordan. Elsewhere, Poly is at Compton while Lakewood hosts Cabrillo. Lakewood and Cabrillo are the only league teams with a winning record headed into this week. St. Anthony (2-0) has started the season strong, and the Saints swept Wilson on Tuesday.
High School Boys’ Tennis, 3 p.m.
Tuesday was the first day of Moore League action for the eight schools part of the local league, and they’re all back in action today to close out the first week. Poly is hosting Jordan while Wilson is at Cabrillo. Elsewhere, Lakewood is hosting CAMS while Millikan takes on Compton at home.
FRIDAY
Long Beach State Dirtbags at No. 8 Texas A&M, 4:30 p.m.
This is the third consecutive weekend that the Dirtbags (4-8) will face a ranked opponent. The No. 8 Aggies (11-1) haven’t lost at home and are hitting .339 as a team. In comparison, LBSU is hitting .225 as a team. Freshman Zach DeLoach and sophomore Logan Foster are both hitting over .425 this season with a combined 25 RBIs. Texas A&M pitchers have a 2.44 ERA with 115 strikeouts in 107 innings.
SATURDAY
CIF State Basketball, 7 p.m.
The Long Beach Poly and St. Anthony boys’ basketball teams are playing CIF State quarterfinals tonight. The Jackrabbits are at St. John Bosco in Division 1, and the Saints are at Knight in Division 3.
Long Beach State Women’s Water Polo vs. UC Santa Barbara, Noon.
The 49ers (6-9) open their Big West schedule this weekend against UC Santa Barbara (12-8) before hosting George Washington and the LBSU alumni in games on Sunday. UCSB’s Sara Snyder leads the conference with 38 goals, and her teammate Kate Pipkin leads the conference with 27 assists.
Long Beach State Women’s Tennis vs. UC Davis, 9 a.m.
The third game at Rhodes Tennis Center this week features LBSU (4-5, 2-1) hosting UC Davis in Big West action. The 49ers are 15-1 all-time against the Aggies. UC Davis hasn’t beaten LBSU since 1993.
SUNDAY
Long Beach State Softball vs. No. 3 UCLA, 12:30 p.m.
Local fans will get their first chance to see the No. XX 49ers (16-4) in person this week as they host the Louisville Slugger Invitational at the LBSU Softball Complex. The 49ers will play five games in four days against Michigan State, Boston, San Jose State, San Diego State and finally UCLA. The Bruins (19-0) are outscoring their opponents 149-27 this season with a .398 team batting average and 1.38 team ERA.
MONDAY
High School Baseball, 6 p.m.
The Moore League season starts tonight at Blair Field where defending league champions Wilson and Millikan will be trying to get an early lead on the rest of the field. The Bruins, Rams and Lakewood Lancers all tied for the league title last season. Millikan edged Wilson 1-0 in their first meeting last year, but the Bruins forced the tie atop the league with a 5-0 win in the regular season finale.
