Cal State Fullerton senior right-hander Jason Windsor pitched six innings
of two-hit shutout baseball and the Titan offense battered four Pepperdine
pitchers for 24 hits on the day as the host Titans advanced to the Super
Regional round with a 16-3 victory over the Waves on Sunday afternoon
at Goodwin Field.
Fullerton, which outscored opponents 36-4 in its last three games, improved
to 40-21 overall on the season. The Titans will meet Tulane in the Super
Regionals at a site to be announced later Sunday night (June 6). Fullerton
improved to 14-3 in postseason competition dating back to the 2001 season.
Pepperdine finished its season 30-32 overall and champions of the West
Coast Conference.
Sunday marked only the second time that the Titans have won twice on the
regional's final day to clinch the regional title. The first time came
in 1994 when Fullerton defeated Memphis in the morning and Oklahoma State
later in the day to advance to the College World Series.
Windsor (10-4), who threw his seventh consecutive complete game just 48
hours earlier in a 7-1 regional opening victory over Minnesota and the
regional's Most Outstanding Player, allowed just two hits and struck out
three Waves batters before leaving in the bottom of the seventh to a standing
ovation from most of the 1,567 fans in attendance.
The Titans scored at least one run in each of the first six innings, and
in eight of the nine overall, including a five-run fourth and three-run
fifth to shut the door on any possible Pepperdine comeback. Fullerton
hit three home runs in the game, including back-to-back shots in the fifth
by Kurt Suzuki and Danny Dorn.
Pepperdine remained scoreless until the ninth when Brent Lewis smacked
a three-run home run to right, his eighth of the season, with a two on
to snap Fullerton's streak of 14 consecutive scoreless innings.
Suzuki, who finished a triple shy of hitting for the cycle, went 4-for-5
at the plate with four RBI. He now has 83 RBI this season, moving him
into ninth place on the school's single season list.
Dorn added four hits while Blake Davis and Bobby Andrews each had three
hits on the day. All nine Titans starters had hits on the day -- seven
of those with multiple hits. Nine of Fullerton's 24 hits went for extra
bases.
Robert Della Grotta (1-6) suffered the loss, lasting only 1-plus innings,
surrendering three runs (one earned) on four hits. Pepperdine's Luke Salas
and Brent Lewis each had two hits to lead the offense.
POSTGAME QUOTES Cal State Fullerton Head Coach George
Horton: On Cal State Fullerton’s run to the regional championship…
“It’s all kind of a blur to me as to what happened except
how proud it is to be a Titan today. To give up only four runs over the
last 27 innings coming out of the losers bracket is phenomenal and gives
me chills.”
On Jason Windsor’s performance…
“He sets the tempo and gives the team confidence. We thought he
could take the wind out of the sails of Pepperdine’s offense. But
I didn’t feel real comfortable until we had 13 runs on the board
to be honest with you.”
On Scott Sarver’s performance…
“We were trying to get five or six innings out of him and he throws
a complete game. What a fabulous effort by Scott for stepping up for the
Titans when we needed him most.”
Cal State Fullerton Game 2 starting pitcher Jason Windsor: On pitching with only one day of rest…
“I wasn’t going to try to do anything special. I was going
to try to put the ball over the plate and let them (Pepperdine) get themselves
out and just depend on my defense. I was really loose going in. The trainers
did a great job on me and I threw almost all pure fastballs. It was really
light on my arm.”
Cal State Fullerton catcher Kurt Suzuki: On having a tremendous day offensively after a tough start to
the regional…
“Today was a big step for me. The coaches told me to stay with the
process and just try to keep confident. I went out and swung the bat confidently
and didn’t get too pumped up.”
On Scott Sarver’s performance…
“He did an unbelievable job today. I told Scott ‘I want you
to be aggressive and be around the strike zone,’ and that’s
what he did.”
Cal State Fullerton first baseman P.J. Pilittere: On the offensive display of the team…
“We actually embrace the dink hits and the bloopers. To us that’s
good hitting. We appreciate the choppers and bleeders, but our offense
has been sound all season. The offense did a great job of maintaining
a solid attack today. We never want to let up.”
Pepperdine Head Coach Steve Rodriguez: On Pepperdine getting to the regional championship game…
“I hope we opened some eyes beating the No. 1 seed in Arizona State
and No. 2 seed in Cal State Fullerton. Even after the shellacking today,
our guys put together some solid at bats. We maintained a good attitude
and competitive nature all game even though we were down 16-0.”
On Cal State Fullerton’s pitching…
“(Scott) Sarver in my mind was the MVP. It had to be the best game
he has ever thrown in his life. He saved the bullpen for him. I’ve
also got to tip my cap to (Jason) Windsor.”
On the team’s pitching struggles…
“Our pitching has been tough for us all year. The pitching really
sets the tempo for the game. Our Friday and Saturday starters set the
table and kept us in the game the first two games, but today we couldn’t
stop the buzzsaw.”
On Kurt Suzuki possibly winning the Johnny Bench award…
“He’s the kind of guy who deserves the award. The way he played
doesn’t surprise me at all. I voted for him for the Johnny Bench
award.”
On Pepperdine’s bullpen faltering…
“We’ve had problems with the bullpen all year. Pretty much
today was the bullpen day. Our pitching depth is not that strong. We tried
to pull a rabbit out of a hat today but instead got bit by a king-sized
cobra and the venom went really deep.”
