Fri., June 13, 6 p.m. CDT
Cal State Fullerton vs. LSU
ESPN2
KWRM AM-1370 | Listen
Sun., June 15, 2 p.m. (loser's bracket) or 6 p.m. (winner's bracket) Cal State Fullerton vs. South Carolina or Stanford
ESPN or ESPN2
KWRM AM-1370 | Listen
ON TAP: Third-ranked Cal State Fullerton (48-14), the No. 7 national
seed in the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, will make its 12th
College World Series appearance this weekend at Rosenblatt Stadium in
Omaha, Neb. The Titans will open play vs. second-seeded LSU (45-20-1)
on Friday night at 6 p.m. CDT. They will then take on either South Carolina
(44-20) or Stanford (46-15) on Sunday at 2 p.m. or 6 p.m. The winners
of the two four-team double-elimination brackets will face off in a best-of-three
championship series beginning June 21.
TITANS IN THE TOURNEY: Fullerton is making its 12th consecutive NCAA
Tournament appearance, the fifth-longest active streak in the nation.
Only Miami (31), Florida State (26), Clemson (17) and LSU (15) have longer
streaks. The Titans have missed qualifying for the tournament just four
times in the 29-year Division I history. They have advanced to Omaha 11
times with College World Series titles in 1979, 1984 and 1995. Fullerton
is 95-51 (.651) all-time in the tournament and 25-18 in College World
Series play. The Titans last appeared in Omaha in 2001, when they went
2-2 and finished third for third.
IN THE POLLS: The Titans moved up one spot to No. 2 in the Baseball
America poll and also jumped three spots to No. 2 in the Collegiate Baseball
poll. The Titans remain third in the Sports Weekly/ESPN coaches poll,
which has not been released in two weeks. Overall, the Titans have been
ranked in 104 of the last 105 Baseball America polls. They have also been
ranked in top six in the three major polls since Feb. 10.
ON THE AIR: Every College World Series game will be televised on
ESPN or ESPN2. Locally, most or all of the Titans’ NCAA regional
games will be broadcast on KWRM AM-1370, a Corona-based station with a
signal that reaches well into North Orange County and the Inland Empire.
Rob Buska, formerly the voice of the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (an A-level
affiliate of the Anaheim Angels), will call the action. Additionally,
every Titan postseason game will be webcast over the Internet via QuickTime
Player at www. TitanSports.org.
SUPER REGIONAL IN REVIEW: Arizona State came into Goodwin Field
with the most prolific offense in the country and they left humbled by
perhaps the best pitching staff in the country. The Titans twice held
the Sun Devils to just one run on five hits. To put that into perspective,
ASU had been held to one run just 14 times in its previous 498 games.
The key to the series may have been the Titans’ success against Sun
Devil leadoff hitter and All-American Dustin Pedroia, who went 0-for-13
in the series. Jason Windsor and Dustin Miller picked up wins in the series
and the Titan nearly rallied from five runs down in the middle game before
ASU held on for a 7-6 win.
REGIONAL IN REVIEW: The Titans escaped with a pair of close victories
at the Fullerton Regional last weekend before winning the title game handily.
The Titans’ three starting pitchers – Jason Windsor, Ryan
Schreppel and Dustin Miller – combined to allow just three runs in
20 innings while striking out 22 and walking two. But it was closer Chad
Cordero who earned tournament Most Outstanding Player honors after earning
the save in the Titans’ 3-1 win over San Diego and the win in a 4-3
victory over Notre Dame. Ronnie Prettyman had the key hit of the weekend
for Fullerton, a two-out RBI-double in the top of the ninth on Saturday
to lift the Titans to the one-run win over the Fighting Irish.
