"Kurt Klutch" did it again. A little earlier than usual, but
clutch nonetheless.
Senior catcher Kurt Suzuki's two-run home run in the sixth proved to be
the go-ahead runs, and his lead-off triple ignited a four-run Titan outburst
in the ninth as Cal State Fullerton punched its ticket to Omaha and the
College World Series with a 10-7 victory over Tulane on Sunday night at
Goodwin Field.
Fullerton improved to 42-21 overall and advanced to the College World
Series for the 13th time in the history of the program. The Titans improved
to 8-2 overall in Super Regional play dating back to 1999. Tulane ended
its season at 41-21 overall.
With the Titans leading by a single run entering the sixth, freshman Clark
Hardman reached on an error to bring up Suzuki, who took the second pitch
from Daniel Latham over the left field fence for his 16th round-tripper
of the year and a 6-3 Fullerton lead.
Tulane would chip away at Fullerton's advantage, scoring single runs in
the sixth and seventh innings on home runs by Matt Barket and Scott Madden,
respectively, to close to within 6-5.
After both teams were blanked in the eighth, Suzuki got the Titans started
in the ninth, leading off with a triple to left that almost cleared the
fence and scored when Felipe Garcia doubled to right to make it 7-5.
Sergio Pedroza then followed with a two-run single to right and was followed
by Neil Walton's RBI squeeze bunt to cap the scoring and give the Titans
a seemingly insurmountable 10-5 lead.
However, Tulane would not go quietly in the bottom of the ninth. Madden
smacked a one-out double to right and eventually came around to score
on Brian Bormaster's sacrifice fly. Tim Guidry then singled with two outs
and scored on Nathan Southard's RBI single up the middle to make it 10-7.
That was enough for Romero (12-4), who was replaced by Vinnie Pestano.
He was greeted by Tommy Manzella, who reached on an infeld single, but
Pestano recovered to get Barket swinging and out at first on a dropped
third strike to earn his first save of the year and send the Titans to
the College World Series.
Five Titans had at least two hits on the night, led by P.J. Pilittere
and Garcia, who each had three base knocks, including three doubles by
Garcia. The top four in Fullerton's lineup combined to go 9-for-21 (.429)
with six runs scored and three RBI.
Romero earned the win, going 8 2/3 innings, allowing six earned on nine
hits, walking three and striking out seven. J.R. Crowel (8-3) suffered
the loss for the Green Wave, allowing three earned on 13 hits and striking
out three in 6 1/3 innings.
Madden led Tulane's offense, going 3-for-3 with two runs and three RBI.
OTHER NOTES: Unlucky 13? Not for the Titans. Cal State
Fullerton clinched its 13th appearance in the College World Series in
its 13th consecutive postseason appearance and it all happened on June
13th... Fullerton advanced to the College World Series in back-to-back
years for only the second time in the history of the program (the first
came in 1994-95, with the second trip resulting in a National Championship)...
The Titans are 16-3 at Goodwin Field in the last 19 postseason games at
home... The Titans committed their first error in 45+ innings of play
in the fourth... Suzuki became the second Titan in as many years to tally
100 hits in a season (Shane Costa, 2003)... Suzuki's two RBI in the sixth
gave him 86 for his career, ranking him in a tie with Phil Nevin for sixth
on the single-season list...
POSTGAME QUOTES Cal State Fullerton Head Coach George
Horton: Talking about returning to College World Series for second straight
season…
“We are elated because we did not think that we had much of a chance
to go to Omaha 12 weeks ago. This is one of the teams that I am most proud
of and whether we get it done or not (in Omaha) this is going to be a
very magical season.”
Comments about chances at College World Series…
“I think last year we were expecting a little bit more and I told
the guys at the beginning of the season that it was going to take a lot
of little things in order to get back to Omaha. We are going to have to
rely on the experience of the older guys and trust the pitching staff
because the format is setup just right because we play every other day
and if things work out then we are going to have a good chance in the
best-of-three series at the end.”
Cal State Fullerton starting pitcher Ricky Romero: Talking about overall pitching performance…
“I was feeling good (in the bottom of the ninth). I felt stronger
than I did in the first couple of innings and we had guys in the bullpen
that were ready and I knew that Coach had my pitch count pretty high and
that was the reason why I came out.”
Cal State Fullerton senior catcher Kurt Suzuki: Talking about team’s chances at College World Series…
“It was a tough situation back in April because we started the season
off slow and we really were not thinking about going to Omaha.”
Talking about hitting performance over last couple of weeks…
“When I first started out the playoffs, I was stressing and wanted
to put a lot of pressure on myself to perform. Following a tough loss
to Pepperdine, the coaches told me to calm down and just relax and right
now the ball is beginning to look like a softball when I am at the plate.”
Cal State Fullerton senior infielder P.J. Pilittere… Comments about team’s mindset for the College World Series…
“Every person’s mindset is going to be different because the
guys who have not been there before are going to have to take everything
in, but for the three guys that are sitting here at the table, we are
going there to win. The expectations are different because we are not
just happy to be there, but we got a good thing going and we are going
to there to come home with the trophy. ”
Tulane Head Coach Rick Jones: Talking about game as a whole…
“Any time your season ends, it is disappointing. I thought that
we had such a gutsy effort tonight. We did not give in and kept fighting
no matter what the score was. No matter how hard we, fought we could not
get anything to go our way. In my 29 years, I have not enjoyed being around
a team as much as I do this one.”
Comments about Cal State Fullerton’s chances in the College World
Series...
“I feel that Cal State Fullerton has a chance to come home with
the trophy and I will be cheering hard for the Titans to win the whole
thing. They are playing so well and they are so well schooled. I think
that their pitching staff and defense will give them a very good chance
to win the World Series this year.”
About season overall and next season’s expectations…
“We are playing the Titans in a three-game series early at our place
next season and I hope that they are playing like they did at the beginning
of this season. I hope that we can win it all next season because our
pre-season accolades will probably have us ranked in the top four in the
country. We have a club that is pretty talented and next season should
be something to watch.”
Tulane starting pitcher J.R. Crowel: Talking about pitching performance overall and Cal State Fullerton
hitting…
“I think that they are great hitters that their 1-9 guys can hit
with two strikes and can get the bat on the ball when needed. I made a
lot of good pitches and they just seemed to foul them off when they needed
it most.”
