It's Tournament Time: Fullerton to Host Arizona, Missouri
and Harvard in 2005 NCAA Regionals June 2, 2005 – Fullerton, Calif.
CAL STATE FULLERTON TITAN BASEBALL
Current Record (41-15 overall, 16-5 Big West Conference Champions)
Record Last Week: 1-2
Current Streak: Lost 2
Record Last Five Games: 2-3
Record Last 10 Games: 6-4
******************************************************************** NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR WATCH
Ricky Romero, Jr., East Los Angeles, Calif, LHP
12-4, 2.80 ERA, 119.0 IP, 129 SO, 31 BB, B/Avg .215
THIS WEEK
June 3-5/6 - NCAA Regional (Fullerton, Calif.)
Friday: No. 2 Arizona vs. No. 3 Missouri @ 4:06 p.m. (ESPNU)
Friday: No. 1 Cal State Fullerton vs. No. 4 Harvard 8:06 p.m. TV ESPNUListenNCAA
Socreboard
Probable Starters: CSF - RHP, Wes Roemer
HAR - RHP, Mike Morgalis
Saturday: Game times at 4:06 p.m. and 8:06 p.m. (Match-ups TBD) TV ESPNUListenNCAA
Socreboard
Sunday: Game times at 4:06 p.m. and 8:06 p.m. (Match-ups TBD) TV ESPNUListenNCAA
Socreboard
Monday: Game time is 6:06, and will be played only if needed (Match-up
TBD) TV ESPNUListenNCAA
Socreboard
LAST WEEK'S RESULTS
Win, 13-7 vs. UC Riverside, May 27
Loss, 6-7 vs. UC Riverside, May 28
Loss, 2-6 vs. UC Riverside, May 29
TITANS ON THE AIR: Cal State Fullerton baseball games
will be broadcast live on www.titansports.org. Follow the play-by-play
action with Justin Alderson, Todd Reeves as they bring you all the post-season
action.
TITANS ON THE TUBE: All seven games (if necessary) of
the Fullerton Regional will be televised on ESPNU. Dave Barnett will be
calling the play-by-play with game analysis by Stanford Cardinal pitcher
Kyle Peterson. Game times are scheduled for 4:06 pm and 8:06 pm start
times Friday through Sunday with Monday’s game, if needed at 6:06
pm.
TITANS IN THE TOURNEY: The Titans are 68-32 (.680) all-time in
NCAA regional play, 8-2 (.800) in the Super Regionals, 32-21 (.604) at
the College World Series for an overall record of 108-55 (.663) in postseason
action…even more amazing, the Titans have never gone winless (0-and-2-and-BBQ)
in their 27 appearances. This season will mark the fifth time in the last
six seasons that Fullerton will play host to a regional round, posting
a 12-4 record in those contests.
The Titans will try for the third time to advance to Omaha to defend a
national championship. After the 1979 national title, the 1980 Titans
were eliminated in a regional tournament at Arizona. After the 1984 title
season the 1985 team failed to make the playoffs. After the 1995 championship,
the 1996 Titans were eliminated in a regional tournament at Wichita State.
The Titans will be making their 27th NCAA Regional appearances in their
31-year Division I history and have not missed the playoffs since 1991.
Their 14-year run is the fifth-longest active streak in the nation. The
only schools with longer current streaks of consecutive NCAA post-season
play are Miami (33), Florida State (28), Clemson (19) and LSU (17). Fullerton
has advanced to Omaha 13 times, with College World Series titles in 1979,
1984, 1995 and 2004.
VERSUS THE OPPOSITION:
Harvard: Cal State Fullerton is 2-0 all-time against
the Crimson in the postseason, taking a pair from Harvard in the 1998
Regionals at Baton Rouge, La., by the scores of 16-1 and 11-7… Those
are the only two baseball meetings between the Titans and Crimson in the
history of the two programs.
Arizona: Cal State Fullerton is 1-1 all-time against
the Wildcats in the postseason, but have not met in the postseason since
1979 when the Titans were a 16-3 winner over the Wildcats en route to
their first national title… Fullerton and Arizona also met in the
1978 Regionals at USC, with the Wildcats emerging a 7-3 winner to eliminate
the Titans... Cal State Fullerton holds a 52-28 all-time advantage in
the series with Arizona, including taking two of three from the Wildcats
at Goodwin Field this season (Mar. 18-20) by the scores of 7-1 and 17-15
in games two and three after a 1-0 win by Arizona in the opener…
the two teams have split the last six meetings with the Wildcats taking
two of three from the Titans in Tucson last season… prior to last
season’s meetings, the two schools had not met since 1997 when Cal
State Fullerton swept a three-game series with Arizona in Tucson…
Cal State Fullerton is 208-160-3 all-time against current members of the
Pacific-10 Conference, including 7-4 this season.
Missouri: The Titans and Tigers have met only once on
the diamond, with the Titans emerging victorious in the opener of the
1988 regionals in Starkville, Miss., by a 6-3 tally… Fullerton is
35-29 all-time against current members of the Big 12 Conference, including
1-0 this season (7-0 win vs. Oklahoma on March 5 at the Kia Bash).
ABOUT THE CRIMSON: Harvard, making its 14th appearance
in the NCAA Tournament and the first since 2002, enters the postseason
with a 29-15 overall record and a 15-5 mark in Ivy League play. The Crimson
have won their last five consecutive contests, including a two-game sweep
of Cornell in the Ivy League Championship Series.
Junior infielder Zak Farkes leads a Harvard team hitting .299 collectively
and features five players hitting .300 or better. Farkes is hitting a
team-high .359 with six home runs and 30 RBI. Junior infielder Josh Klimkiewicz
and senior catcher Schuyler Mann lead the team with nine home runs each
while Mann paces the offense with 43 RBI on the season.
The pitching rotation is led by freshman righthander Shawn Haviland, who
is 7-1 overall on the season with a 2.85 ERA in nine starts. Opponents
are hitting only .217 against him this season. The rotation is rounded
out by junior righty Frank Herrmann (5-1, 3.09) and senior righthander
Mike Morgalis (5-0, 3.53).
ABOUT THE WILDCATS: Arizona, making its 32nd appearance
in the NCAA Tournament and the third in as many seasons, finished the
regular season with a 37-19 overall record and a 17-7 mark in the Pacific-10
Conference – good for second place. The Wildcats have won 10 of
their last 14 games and posted the most wins in a single-season since
the 1989 team went 45-18-1.
Junior outfielder Trevor Crowe, a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award,
leads an Arizona offense that finished the 2005 regular season on top
of the Pacific-10 Conference in eight different offensive categories,
including average (.332), slugging (.537), runs (480), hits (680), RBI
(431), doubles (147), triples (44), and total bases (1,098).
Crowe finished the regular season atop the Pac-10 with a .421 average
and a .745 slugging percentage while scoring 81 runs, smacking 25 doubles,
and stealing 26 bases. He also hit nine home runs and drove in 54 more.
Crowe leads a contingent of seven Wildcat regulars hitting better than
.300 on the season on a team averaging 8.57 runs per game.
Junior righthander John Meloan paces the Arizona pitching staff after
posting a 9-2 record and a 3.77 ERA. He struck out 119 in 102.2 innings
while holding the opposition to a .268 average. Against the Titans on
March 18, he outdueled Titans’ ace Ricky Romero, holding Fullerton
to only four hits over 7.2 innings of work.
The starting rotation is filled out by Kevin Guyette (9-4, 3.82 ERA, 125
K’s) and David Coulon (3-3, 5.80, 12 starts) while the bullpen is
anchored by Mark Melancon, who is 4-3 with a 2.32 ERA and nine saves while
striking out 66 in 62 innings and holding opponents to a .196 average.
ABOUT THE TIGERS: Missouri is making its 17th appearance
in the NCAA Tournament – including each of the last three seasons.
The Tigers finished the regular season with a 39-21 overall record and
a 16-11 mark in the Big 12 Conference for fourth place. Missouri has won
five of its last eight games, but went 2-2 in the Big 12 Tournament, falling
to Nebraska twice by scores of 5-4 and 17-9.
Junior outfielder James Boone, who was recently named to the All-Big 12
First Team, leads the Tigers’ offense with a .347 average, seven
home runs, and 67 RBI. Three other players are hitting better than .300
on a team that is hitting .279 collectively.
The strength of the Tigers may just be on the mound as Big 12 Conference
Pitcher of the Year Max Scherzer leads a pitching staff that ranked fifth
in the nation in ERA at the end of the regular season. Scherzer, who was
9-3 overall on the year, ranked sixth in the nation with a 1.52 ERA, fourth
in the country with 120 strikeouts (Missouri single-season record), and
11th-best in the country with 11.4 strikeouts per game.
Sophomore southpaw Nathan Culp finished the year with a 9-2 record and
a 3.18 ERA while Doug Mathis is 5-4 overall with a 3.27 ERA in 11 starts.
ROMERO A SEMI-FINALIST FOR THREE NATIONAL AWARDS: The
field of candidates for the Brooks Wallace Award, the Roger Clemens Award
and the Xanthus-Dick Howser Trophy were reduced to a semi-finalist list
two weeks ago with Cal State Fullerton pitcher Ricky Romero (East Los
Angeles, Calif.) included on all three lists. Romero is currently 12-4
with a 2.80 ERA. His 12 victories tied him for the conference lead in
wins while striking out a conference best 129 and posting a 4-to-1 strikeout-to-walk
ratio (129-to-31).
The Wallace Award, in its second year, was narrowed to 13 semi-finalists
who are vying for the award given to the nation’s top collegiate
baseball player by the College Baseball Foundation based in Lubbock, Texas.
Three finalists will be announced following the Super Regional on June
16 with the winner of the award being named in a televised ceremony on
the Fox Sports Network on June 30.
Also created in 2004, The Clemens Award honors the nation’s top
college pitcher and is awarded by The Greater Houston Baseball Association
based in Houston, Texas. The Clemens watch list was reduced to 10 semi-finalists
on May 20 and will be reduced again before the winner is chosen on July
14.
The Xanthus-Dick Howser Trophy is in its 19th year of existence and celebrates
the nation’s top college baseball player based on his performance
on the field, leadership, moral character and courage. The award given
by The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association will be announced
at the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, on Jun 17.
ROMERO NAMED TO NATIONAL HONOR ROLL: Pitcher Ricky Romero
was named to the College Baseball Foundation’s 2005 Honors Team
as announced by the Lubbock, Texas-based foundation June 1. Starting in
March, the CBF released a weekly National Honor Roll, saluting the finest
performances of that past week's action as nominated by conference and
university baseball media contacts. Romero, a junior from East Los Angeles,
Calif., earned the weekly honor four times throughout the regular season
and joins fellow Big West pitchers Cesar Ramos (Long Beach State) and
Garrett Olson (Cal Poly) on the season-end list that features 30 of the
nation’s best collegiate baseball players.
A WINNING TRADITION: Fullerton, with its 30th win of the year
on Sunday Apr. 24 against UC Davis, marked the 31st Div. I season in a
row that the Titans have reached the 30-win plateau. Fullerton has never
had a losing season since 1975 with a 30-27 overall record by Larry Cochell’s
1989 Titans being the lowest win total in the program’s history.
On May 22, the Titans captured their 21st 40-win season as they shut out
Long Beach State, 10-0.
HUMAN AGAIN: Sophomore Vinnine Pestano’s scoreless
streak of 20.1 consecutive innings came to an abrupt end Saturday night
at Riverside as Pestano came in to wrap up a 6-5 lead and a series victory
for the Titans only to be welcomed with a leadoff triple by Aaron Grant.
Riverside’s next hitter Nick Salotti then proptly knocked a double
ending the streak where it was left off. For good measure, after a sacrifice
bunt, Jeff Dunbar singled through the right side to give the Highlanders
the 7-6 win. Over the course of the streak, Pestano went 1-0 with six
saves in 11 appearances, allowing just seven hits and three walks while
fanning 19. Hitters batted just .109 against the closer.
UNSUNG HERO: Senior Scott Sarver lost for the first time
in over two months when he surrendered five runs in the second inning
of Sunday’s game versus UC Riverside. The Titans could never recover
from the four-run deficit, dropping Sarver’s record to 9-3 on the
season. Prior to Sunday’s defeat, Sarver was 6-0 with a 1.29 ERA
seven starts with his only no-decision coming in a two-inning predetermined
”staff’ day start. Sarver has pitched and won four of the
Titans’ most crucial games in the past 13 months. Last season, Sarver
faced elimination games twice in the Fullerton Regional and College Word
Series, picking up wins over Pepperdine and South Carolina, respectively.
This season, Sarver has come up big winning the rubber-match game versus
both Cal Poly, to keep CSF in first place, and versus No. 10 Long Beach
State to knock them out of conference contention and giving the Titans
the automatic berth into the tournament.
SERIES BUSINESS: The Titans lost just their second series
of the year as UC Riverside took 2-of-3 from the Big West champs last
weekend. The only other series defeat came when Long Beach State went
2-1 earlier in March in a non-conference series at Blair Field. The UCR
series loss was also the first time since 2003 that the Titans have lost
a conference series.
BIG WEST COACH OF THE YEAR: Head Coach George Horton
has earned his fourth Big West Coach of the Year nod as he has guided
the Titans to his sixth Big West Conference championship (21st overall),
and their 21st 40-win season in the schools 31-year history. Horton, 51,
has earned the honor twice in back-to back years, taking it home in 1998
and 1999, and now 2004 and 2005. Horton is just three wins shy of his
400th career win with an overall record of 397-169-1 (.702) in nine seasons
at the helm of the Titan.
BIG WEST PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Left-handed ace Ricky Romero
(East Los Angeles, Calif.) was named Big West Pitcher of the Year, marking
the first time in three seasons that a lone player has been bestowed the
honor. Romero so far has compiled a dominant season going 12-4 with a
2.80 ERA in 119 innings in his third year in the pinstripes. The 6-1 junior
has taken care of the opponents keeping them to a .215 batting average
overall while fanning a conference- leading 129 batters.
BIG WEST CO-PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Sergio Pedroza (Covina,
Calif.) was named Co-Big West Player of the Year after leading the Titan
offense from the third spot in the line-up all year long. The left-handed
swinger has popped 13 home runs on the year and leads the team with a
.346 batting average. In 55 games, the six-foot right fielder has collected
12 doubles and a team-leading 49 RBI while accumulating a .477 on base
percentage, and a .635 slugging percentage, both good for second
in league. Pedroza shares this year’s honor with Cal Poly’s
Kyle Blumenthal.
FRESHMAN PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Wes Roemer earned Big West
Conference Freshman Pitcher of the Year honors as he made his presence
felt when he was pressed into action by an injury to teammate Ryan Schreppel
in March. He made 17 appearances, garnering a 5-3 record, including five
consecutive Saturday wins. The freshman right-hander’s 3.68 ERA
is good for 11th in the conference.
BIG WEST ALL-CONFERENCE SELECTIONS: As the No. 6 nationally-seeded
Cal State Fullerton Titans look to this weekend’s NCAA Regional
at Goodwin Field, the Irvine-based offices of the Big West Conference
looked back on the regular season, unveiling its all-conference selections
for 2005. Ten Titans were named to one of three All-Big West Teams, leading
both the first- and second-teams with four players apiece. First-Team
All-Big West Conference, 3B - Ronnie Prettyman, SS - Blake Davis, OF -
Sergio Pedroza. SP - Ricky Romero. Second-Team All-Big West Conference,
1B - Brett Pill, 2B - Justin Turner, DH - Felipe Garcia, SP - Scott Sarver.
All-Big West Honorable Mention, OF - Danny Dorn, RP - Vinnie Pestano.
SCHEDULE: The Titans’ schedule again ranks among
the toughest in the nation. The Titans played 24 games against teams in
the 2005 NCAA Tournament. They complied a 14-10 record against those teams
accounting for all but six of their losses.
TITANS IN THE BIGS: Buddy Bell’s writing-hand holds
the fate on the Titan’s 40th player to play in a Major League game.
Former Titan standout outfielder Shane Costa was called up Tuesday afternoon
to the Kansas City Royals’ big club making him the 41st Titans to
be called to the show. Had former Titan reliever Luis Estrella made an
appearance in 2003 with the San Francisco Giants all the numbers would
be consistent, but his cup of coffee in the bigs ended before throwing
a pitch. Nine former Titans currently occupy roster spots in the Major
Leagues: Chad Cordero (WAS), Brandon Duckworth (HOU), Reed Johnson (TOR),
Mark Kotsay (OAK), Mike Lamb (HOU), Phil Nevin (SD), Aaron Rowand (CWS),
Kirk Saarloos (OAK), and Matt Wise (MIL) are all on active rosters with
former Titan first baseman and assistant coach Tim Wallach serving as
the hitting coach for the the Los Angeles Dodgers.
WHAT REALLY MATTERS: On April 27 the entire Cal State
Fullerton baseball team participated in a two-hour clinic featuring the
Yorba Linda Challenger Little League. Between 50-100 disabled youngsters
came to Goodwin Field to go through drills (hitting, fielding, pitching,
throwing catching) and share a pizza dinner with all the players and coaches.
KOCE-TV (Channel 50 in Orange County) aired a report on the clinic Friday
night (Apr. 29) at 6:30 and 11 pm with Rick Mielke reporting. The Orange
County Register was also there covering the event for Saturday morning’s
edition.
UNANIMOUS: The eight head coaches of the Big West Conference
teams chose Cal State Fullerton to take the conference title in the annual
preseason coaches poll. Cross-town rival Long Beach State was listed as
the unanimous No. 2. The two teams have finished one-two the last two
seasons with Long Beach winning the conference in 2003.
2005 Coaches Poll Results
1. Cal State Fullerton 64 (8)
2. Long Beach State 56
3. UC Irvine 45
4. Cal Poly 35
5. UC Santa Barbara 33
6. UC Riverside 29
7. Pacific 15
8. Cal State Northridge 11
( ) First-place votes
REPEAT OF 2004? In a preseason survey of 160 Div. I head
coaches by Baseball America, 21 said that Cal State Fullerton would repeat
their 2004 performance and win the 2005 College World Series. The Titans
finished second in voting behind Texas who got 47 votes (almost 30 percent
of the votes), including one from Titans skipper George Horton. Stanford,
which dropped out of the Top 25 for the first time since 1993, came in
third place with 20 votes.
WEARING RED, WHITE AND BLUE: Junior Ricky Romero (East Los Angeles,
Calif.) went 3-1 with a 1.57 ERA in five starts as a member of the 2004
USA Baseball National Team - helping the United States earn a gold medal
at the 2004 FISU World University Baseball Championships in Tainan, Taiwan
this past August.
RETURN of ROMERO: Preseason All-American Ricky Romero’s
14 wins in 2004 is tops among returning Division I pitchers. He is one
of only eight returners with 12 or more wins returning to help their team
in 2005.
CLASH OF THE TITANS: Juniors Ricky Romero and Ryan Schreppel
combined for seven scoreless innings and eleven strikeouts as the 2005
baseball team defeated the Titan Alumni 4-1 on Jan. 29 at Goodwin Field
... Romero looked sharp going four innings allowing only two hits, one
of which came from former teammate Kurt Suzuki in the third inning. Romero
also struck out the first four batters of the game including Reed Johnson
(Toronto), Mark Kotsay (Oakland) and Aaron Rowand (Chicago White Sox),
all current Major Leaguers... Bobby Andrews and Danny Dorn both went 2-for-2
with Andrews knocking in one of the four Titan runs. Freshman Jared Clark
added a two-run single in the seventh inning to solidify the 2005 squad’s
lead ... Other current Major Leaguers on hand were Phil Nevin (San Diego),
Mike Lamb (Houston) and Chad Cordero (Washington), who pitched a scoreless
ninth inning.
DID YOU KNOW? The Titans have never returned to Omaha the season
following a national championship. In 1980, the team lost two games to
Gonzaga at the Regional at Tucson – host Arizona went on to win
the national championship that year... In 1985 Fullerton won the PCAA
South and had to meet the winners of the North – Fresno State. Fresno
took two games in a row to win the conference and the automatic bid to
the Regionals ... That 1985 team saw the likes of seven Major Leaguers
(Mike Schooler, Mike Harkey, Larry Casian, Jose Mota, John Fishel, Shane
Turner, and Kevin Reimer)... The 1985 team also had the No. 2 all-time
passer in professional football history in pitcher Damon Allen. He is
the No. 1 passer in CFL history... The 1996 team started off the season
with a bang taking 34 of their first 42 games before hitting an inexplicable
slump that saw them lose 12 of their last 19 games. They snuck into the
Wichita State Regional by an at-large NCAA berth but were eliminated with
losses to Wichita State and Rice. That team had six major leaguers (Mark
Kotsay, Jeremy Giambi, Brent Billingsly, Aaron Rowand, Matt Wise and Mike
Lamb)... Cal State Fullerton has also never made it to Omaha three consecutive
years. And with trips to Nebraska in 2003 and 2004 for the big dance under
their belt, 2005 would mark the first time any Titan team would have accomplished
that feat.
