LAST WEEK WRAP-UP: Fullerton played a weekend tune up
with Cal State Northridge on Wednesday and beat them 7-4 behind a 3-for-3,
3 RBI day by catcher Jon Wilhite. Wilhite, just off the disabled list,
stole the show getting the rare start, with John Curtis getting a rest.
Felipe Garcia added two hits and six Titan pitchers held the Matadors
to four runs and six hits. The Titans then traveled to No. 1 Tulane and
took two out of three from the Green Wave with the help of 10 Titan homers.
Fullerton opened up with a bang on Friday knocking 16 hits en route to
a 15-1 victory. Ricky Romero picked up his fifth win of the season as
he bested Tulane’s Brian Bogusevic allowing only 3 hits, striking
out four over 6.1 innings ... Sergio Pedroza blasted two homers Ronnie
Prettyman went 3-for-4 and drove in two, as the Titans just held on to
a 9-8 victory on Saturday in front of 9,385 fans at Zephyr Field. Ryan
Schreppel picked up his third win and Vinnie Pestano grabbed his fourth
save ... Tulane jumped on Scott Sarver for eight runs in the first two
frames of Sunday’s game, leading to the Green Wave salvaging one
game of the series 13-9.
ON DECK: The Titans moved up one spot to No 2 and are
preparing to take on No. 9 Arizona in a weekend series at Goodwin Field.
Fullerton looks to put together another streak as its nine-game wining
streak was snapped by the Green Wave on Sunday in New Orleans. Ronnie
Prettyman brings with him a 16-game hitting streak as well as his conference-leading
.431 batting average leading the Titan offense. The Titans are hitting
.355 as a team. Arizona is led by hitter Jordan Brown (.404, 6, 30), Jeff
Van Houten (.440, 3, 28) and Trevor Crowe (.429, 3, 22). The Wildcats
are hitting .340 as a team and have swiped 34 bases (10 by Crowe). The
Wildcat pitching staff has a 3.61 ERA and is fronted by Kevin Guyette
(4-1, 3.29 ERA) and John Meloan (3-0, 3.69 ERA).
BASEBALL WEBCASTS: Cal State Fullerton baseball games
will be broadcast live on www.titansports.org. Follow the play-by-play
action with Justin Alderson, Todd Reeves, Troy Bardy and Patrick Alog
all season long. You can also follow all the action from your computer
with GameTracker. Follow the links from the Titans’ homepage or
schedule page for an animated play-by-play.
PRIOR MEETINGS: Fullerton has a 50-27
all-time edge over the Wildcats since 1977. The two teams are tied 1-1
in the post season with the Titans taking one game from Arizona in the
College World Series (1-0)... Last year the two teams locked up in Tucson
where the Wildcats took two of three (8-11, 6-10, and 12-10), with Fullerton
salvaging the series finale. Arizona’s Jason Donald hit a tie-breaking
three-run home run off of Mike Martinez in the eighth inning of game one
to secure Arizona’s 11-8 victory... Ricky Romero picked up his second
loss and fell to 1-2 with D.J. Lewis driving in three runs to lead the
Wildcat 12-hit 10-run performance. Romero surrendered a career-high nine
hits and walked a career high five men as a the boys from Tucson jumped
out to an 8-1 through four innings... In game three, Sergio Pedroza’s
two-run homer in the eighth inning broke an 8-8 tie in the four-hour plus
game that featured 42 players by both teams.
CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sergio picked up Co-Big
West Player of the Week and was nothing but superb this week for the Titan
driving in a team-leading 8 runs in the games vs. Northridge and Tulane.
Versus top-ranked Tulane, Pedroza knocked his fourth, fifth and sixth
home runs off of Tulane pitching including Green Wave standouts Brian
Bogusevic and Micha Owings. Over the four games Pedroza managed to compile
a 1.385 slugging percentage and reached base 65 percent of the time. Sergio’s
biggest game of the week saw him go 3-for-4 with three RBI and two runs
scored against Tulane on Saturday afternoon. Two of his three hits left
the park, giving him his second multiple home run game of the year.
ANOTHER TITAN BEING WATCHED: A watchful eye is now on two Titans
instead of one. The College Baseball Foundation announced Mar. 8 that
sophomore first baseman Brett Pill (Covina, Calif.) was added to the revised
2005 Wallace Watch, which annually presents the Brooks Wallace award to
the top collegiate baseball player of the year. Last season, Titan catcher
Kurt Suzuki was the inaugural recipient. Pill joins teammate Ricky Romero
as the second Titan named to the 2005 Wallace Watch...Pill is having a
superb sophomore season at first base hitting .387 on the season including
five home runs while knocking in a team-leading 21 RBI. Pill’s 13-game
hitting streak ended last Wednesday as the Northridge pitching staff held
him hitless in four at
bats.
HONORABLE LEFTY: With all eyes focused on Louisiana,
Romero thrived in the national spotlight and being matched up with Tulane’s
Brian Bogusevic, as the No. 3 Titans quieted top-ranked Tulane and its’
fans, 15-1, at Turchin Stadium in New Orleans. Romero shut down the Green
Wave, earning College Baseball Foundation’s Honor Roll mention for
the second consecutive week, following up on his 5 hit, 13 K, seven-inning
performance against Oklahoma one week ago. Romero dominated from the first
pitch, allowing only a single over Tulane’s first six frames, with
no runner reaching second base until DH Scott Madden doubled to lead off
the seventh inning. His performance came in front of 4,085 disappointed
Wave faithful, the second largest-ever crowd at Tulane’s on-campus
stadium
STREAKS SNAPPED: Fullerton’s nine-game winning
streak was snapped as Tulane got to started Scott Sarver for eight runs
in the first two frames of the game. Sarver went 1.0 inning allowing seven
hits and a walk to the 11 batters he faced. The Titans committed a season-high
four errors as well leading to the 9-13 loss, Fullerton’s first
since the upset that saw UNLV come from behind to beat them on Feb 25.
Sunday’s game versus Tulane marked the first time since the second
game of the season that Fullerton did not record more than 11 hits in
a game. The Titans are averaging 13.23 per game over the first 17 games
of the season.
HARD MAN TO LOSE: It was announced Sunday that 2004 Freshman
All-American Clark Hardman will have surgery to repair his right labrum
that was torn on the road sliding into third base at UNLV. The surgery
is scheduled for March 17 and is expected to have a recovery time of nine
to 12 months. He is also scheduled to have a herniated disk examined by
a back specialist on March 26.
SCHREPPEL's RETURN: Not to be out-done by Romero, Ryan
Schreppel (Jr. LHP) is putting together quite a season. Schreppel has
been no less than superb from the hill going 3-0 with a 1.87 ERA. In 33.2
Innings of work he has put away 26 opponents by way of strikeout and allowing
only 14 hits. Opponents are hitting only .126 against the lefty, whose
change-up has been a key factor to his success.
“FLIP” FANTASIA: He’s back and looks
to be here to stay Since breaking out of his 1-for-18 season-starting
slump on Feb. 25, designated hitter Felipe Garcia has hit a team-leading
.435. Over the past 11 games, Garcia has collected 20 hits, six of them
doubles, while driving in a team-leading 16 runners. He was recently named
the Kia Baseball Bash’s Most Outstanding Player for his performance
in the three-game tourney. He hit an even .500 (6-for-12) in the tournament
with a double and four RBI.
STREAKING: Senior Ronnie Prettyman has hit safely in
the last 16 games hitting a Big West leading .431. He has 3 home runs
and 16 RBI, collecting at least one hit in every game except the opening
game of the season versus Stanford...Justin Turner has a modest 10-game
hitting streak as well. Turner, Prettyman and Brett Pill have had the
three longest hitting streaks of the year for the Titans (Pill’s
was 13 games).
POWER PACKED: Home runs played a big factor in the Titans’
offense this past weekend. Fullerton slammed 10 homers off the Green Wave
pitchers. Before the series started, Fullerton trailed 13-21 in the home
run department, but tied the Tulane team at 23, hitting 10 out of the
park to Tulane’s two. Arizon packs just as much of a punch hitting
22 hoe runs as a team.
PERFECT ATTENDANCE:The Fullerton/Tulane
series brought out the best in college baseball fans as they came out
in droves to see their top-ranked team take on the No. 3 Titans.
Friday Night: 4,085
(Tulane’s largest Crowd of the year and second-highest all-time
at Turchin Stadium.)
Saturday afternoon: 9,385
(The biggest crowd for either team in 2005 to date, game was played at
Zephyr Field)
Sunday afternoon: 3,711
(Fifth largest crowd at Turchin Stadium)
Grand Total: 17,181
(The biggest weekend series home crowd for Tulane ever)
UNANIMOUS: The eight head coaches of the Big West Conference
teams have chosen 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
GREENLEE’S PESTANO WATCH: Former Titan pitcher
and current Sports Information Director Mike Greenlee is on “Pestano
Watch” as current reliever Vinnie Pestano is chalking up the saves.
With four saves on the season, and one his freshman campaign, Pestano
is just two shy of Greenlee’s season-best seven in 1997. At this
rate Pestano will likely knock Greenlee out of the media guide listing
in career saves some time in early April. But who’s watching?
KIMMEY KIMMEY SOME LOVIN': Baseball America’s Will Kimmey
has a lot of love for the Cal State Fullerton baseball program and has
actually stated that Fullerotn has two of his favorite college pitchers
on its staff. One being lefty Ricky Romero and the other being Nolan Bruyninckx.
No, he has never seen Bruyninckx pich before, but loves his name. Kimmey
said in New Orleans that he is probably one of four people (not including
family or anyone Nolan is is dating) that can spell the Titan reliever’s
last name. He was heard on more than one occasion (in the press box and
on Bourbon Street) chanting B-R-U-Y-N-I-N-C-K-X.
TOURNAMENT TALK: The Titans have made 26 NCAA Regional
appearances in their 30-year Division I history and have not missed the
playoffs since 1991. Their 13-year run is the fifth-longest active streak
in the nation. Only Miami (32), Florida State (27), Clemson (18) and LSU
(16) have longer streaks. Fullerton has advanced to Omaha 13 times, with
College World Series titles in 1979, 1984, 1995 and 2004 . PREDICTIONS: Baseball America has looked into they Cal
State Fullerton will repeat as conference champions again in 2005 in their
annual conference preview. They have the Titans coming out on top with
Long Beach State and Cal Poly in tow, with all three teams heading to
postseason play. Junior lefty Ricky Romero’s name was thrown around
quite a bit as he was predicted to be Pitcher of the Year as well as on
of the Big West’s Top prospects in the 2005 MLB Draft. The preview
also named Titan freshman Jared Clark and junior Trevor Mortensen as Top
Newcomers to the conference with Clark as the Freshman of the Year. Juniors
Justin Turner, Danny Dorn, and Romero along with senior Ronnie Prettyman
were all predicted to make the all-conference team.
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 team 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 Div. 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 stuck 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 ... 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 Cassian, Jose Mota, John Fischel, 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 the first 34 of their 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 NCAA berth but were eliminated with losses to
Wichita State and Deleware. That team had three major leaguers (Mark Kotsay,
Jeremy Giambi, 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.
INJURY REPORT: 2003 All-American Dustin Miller will be out most
of, if not the entire season after undergoing shoulder surgery to clean
and tighten his right shoulder. He underwent the procedure in November
and will be out from six to nine months...Clark Hardman will miss the
rest of the season with surgery scheduled to repair his right labrum on
March 17.
ATTENDANCE:
Home Attendance 16,736
Home Average Attendance 1,859
Home Dates 9
Away Attendance 21,526
Away Average Attendance 2,690
Away Dates 8
Total Attendance 38,262
Total Average Attendance 2,250
Total Dates 17
