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.
ON TAP: The defending national champs jumped up to the
top spot on all three major polls this week after taking two of three
games form the No. 9 Arizona Wildcats. Fullerton dethroned Texas after
the Longhorns were swept in a three-game series by Baylor in Waco, Texas
last weekend. It is Fullerton’s first time atop the polls this year
and first time since 2004’s final tallies.
Southern California will be watching a heated college baseball rivalry
between the 49ers and the Titans as Fullerton and Long Beach State clash
in a non-conference series at Blair Field. Fullerton will take its new
position atop college baseball and its collective.355 batting average
to Blair in an attempt to win its sixth straight series.
Ronnie Prettyman (.442, 4 HR, 17 RBI, 6 SB), Sergio Pedroza (.361, 7 HR,
20 RBI, .736 SLG%), and Brett Pill (.360, 5 HR, 24 RBI) leading the way
offensively for the Titans with southpaws Ricky Romero and Ryan Schreppel
dominating from the mound. They are a combined 9-1, whiffing 81 opponents
in 82.1 innings. Romero’s 1.70 ERA leads the Titan staff with Schreppel
right behind him at 1.80.
PRIOR MEETINGS: The Titans are inching towards their
100th win against the 49ers with only five more wins needed to hit the
century mark. Fullerton leads the all time season series 95-50 and is
currently riding a four-game winning streak over the men in black. Long
Beach and Fullerton met only one time in post season with the 49ers eliminating
the Titans from the Regional at Stanford in 2002. In their championship
campaign in 2004, the Titans took four of six from the 49ers, one at Goodwin
Field and all three at Blair Field, highlighted by a 10-inning thriller
that saw the Titans clinch the Big West Championship on long Beach’s
turf. Ronnie Prettyman drove in the game-tying run with two outs in the
ninth, and Felipe Garcia singled home a run I the 10th as the Titans rallied
to beat then No. 8 Long Beach State 2-1. Long Beach standout Jered Weaver
was a strike away from a complete game shutout before the Titans rallied
for a run in the ninth and a run in the tenth to win the conference title.
Jason Windsor improved to 8-4 as he went all 10 innings for his sixth
consecutive complete game, striking out a career-high 12 Long Beach batters.
CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Cal State Fullerton’s
junior second baseman Justin Turner (Lakewood, Calif.) earned Big West
Player of the Week honors announced the Irvine-based conference office
Tuesday morning. Turner is coming off a superb weekend that saw him collect
at least two hits in each of the three games with No. 9 Arizona. Turner
finished with seven hits in 13 at bats (.538), driving in five while playing
brilliant defense on the right side of the infield (1.000 FLD%).
STREAKING: Junior second baseman Justin Turner tied the
second-longest hitting streak of the year for the Titans as he collected
a hit in his 13th straight ball game on Sunday. Over the course of the
streak, which started on Feb 26. vs. UNLV, “Red” is hitting
just .433 with six doubles, three homers and 14 RBI. Turner currently
sits tied with Brett Pill’s 13-game streak that was snapped Mar.
20 vs. Cal State Northridge. Third baseman Ronny Prettyman holds 2005’s
longest streak for the Titans going 17 games form Feb. 5 to Mar 18. Prettyman’s
streak ended Saturday night as he went hitless in four at bats against
three Arizona Wildcat pitchers. Over the streak Prettyman was a staple
in the Titan‚s offense hitting .446 (29-for-65) with 9 doubles,
three home runs and 16 RBI, earning a .486 on base percentage from the
seven spot in the line-up. He extended his streak Friday night to 17 games
with a double in his last at bat of the night in the ninth inning.
SERIES BUSINESS: Fullerton won its fifth straight series,
and third straight against ranked teams (Stanford, Tulane and Arizona)
by taking two-out-of-three from No. 9 Arizona over the past weekend improving
to 16-4 on the season.
HE'S JUST A HIT MACHINE: And he won't hit for nobody
but you. Ronnie Prettyman collected a career-high five hits (5-for-5)
in Sunday’s marathon 17-15 victory over Arizona. His hits included
three singles, a double and his fourth home run of the year. By collecting
the five hits, Prettyman jumped his Big West Conference-leading batting
average to .442 overall, 39 points higher than one day earlier (.403).
OFFENSIVE PROWESS: The Titans are currently averaging
13.05 hits per game, which if the season ended today, would place them
at the top of the Titan record book. The 1999 and 1997 squads currently
hold the top spot in the books with 12.1 hits-per-game. And while we’re
in the record books, the 2005 squad is averaging 9.05 runs-per-game through
the first 20 games of the season, placing them just behind the 1999 squad
(9.2) on the all-time Titan list.
OURS GO TO ELEVEN: Fullerton has been held to less than
11 hits just four times in 20 games this season. The Titans were held
to a season-low five hits last Friday night’s in their 1-0 loss
to Arizona for only the second time this season (vs. Stanford Feb. 5).
They have been held under double-digits just two other times, Stanford
again opening weekend (7) and once at Tulane (9).
A FINELY-TUNED MACHINE: Fullerton as a team is doing
a great job of setting the table for its hitters to drive them in. As
a team, the Titans are hitting .434 leading off innings, then are more
than efficient at moving runners along, doing so successfully more than
half the time (.525). The Titans are then hitting .335 with runners in
scoring position leading to their abundance of run production thus far.
HARD MAN TO LOSE: Freshman All-American Clark Hardman
has been lost for the remainder of the 2005 campaign having had surgery
on March 17 to repair his torn right labrum. Harman injured himself sliding
into third base in Las Vegas. He is also scheduled to have a herniated
disk examined by a back specialist on March 26. Hardman was hitting .600
(6-for-10) with a home run and two RBI in six games played.
SCHREPPEL's RETURN: Not to be out-done by teammate Ricky Romero,
Ryan Schreppel (Jr. LHP, Stockton, Calif.) is putting together quite a
season. Schreppel has been no less than superb from the hill going 4-0
with a 1.80 ERA. In 40 Innings of work he has put away 30 opponents by
way of strikeout, allowing only 18 hits. Opponents are hitting just .136
against the lefty, whose change-up has been a key factor to his success.
FLIP-IN’ FANTASTIC: Felipe Garcia is 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 improved his average
from .056 to a more recognizable .342 and is among the team-leaders in
RBIs (18), hits (26) and doubles (7). Since Feb. 25, “Flip”
is hitting .396 with four doubles and 14 RBI. He was recently named Most
Outstanding Player at the Kia Baseball Bash held at Goodwin Field early
in March.
POWER PACKED: Home runs played a big factor in the Titans’
offense the past couple of weekends. Fullerton slammed 10 homers off the
Green Wave pitching staff in Louisiana, improving from 13 homers to 23
on the season over a span of three days. The Titans also used a two-out,
two-run walk off homer by Danny Dorn last weekend to win the series over
No. 9 Arizona.
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?
WALLACE WATCH LIST: Cal State Fullerton junior Ricky
Romero (East Los Angeles, Calif.) has been named one of the 58 baseball
student-athletes on the 2005 Wallace Watch released by the College Baseball
Foundation. The Brooks Wallace Award (formerly the Smith Award) is presented
annually to the national college baseball player of the year in Lubbock,
Texas. Fullerton’s Kurt Suzuki was the 2004 recipient of the Wallace
Award in its inaugural year. The Wallace Watch List will be trimmed to
12 semi-finalists by May 24. Thelist will be narrowed down to three finalists
following the Super Regionals on June 16. The finalists, their head coaches,
and their parents will be invited to Lubbock, TX, for a golf tournament
and banquet. Dedicated to the memory of former Texas Tech shortstop and
assistant coach, Wallace was a slick-fielding shortstop at Texas Tech
from 1977 to 1980. In 1984 he was diagnosed with cancer and fought the
disease courageously until his death on March 24, 1985, at age 27…
UPDATED: 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 .360 with five homers and a team-leading 24 RBI.
CLEMENS WATCH LIST: Romero leads a list of 42 college
pitchers who have been named to the initial Watch List for the 2005 Roger
Clemens Award. The winner of the second annual honor, designating the
top pitcher in college baseball, will be announced on July 14 in Houston,
Texas. Additional nominees will be added to the ballot based on notable
performances and rankings in the NCAA statistical rankings. The Roger
Clemens Award was named after future Hall of Famer Roger Clemens, who
began his march to stardom while leading the University of Texas to the
College World Series title in 1983. The Roger Clemens Award is the only
award of its kind, honoring the finest pitchers in college baseball. The
second Clemens Award will be presented to the nation’s top college
pitcher at the conclusion of a gala dinner in Houston on July 14. All
Division I head baseball coaches will take part in the voting for the
honor, in addition to a selected panel of national media and all past
winners of the Rotary Smith Award, which was retired after the 2003 dinner
by the committee that is sponsoring the Clemens Award.
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
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 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 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 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 after undergoing surgery to repair his right labrum (shoulder).
Recovery time for Hardman is form 9-12 months.
ATTENDANCE:
Home Attendance 21,093
Home Average Attendance 1,757
Home Dates 12
Away Attendance 21,526
Away Average Attendance 2,690
Away Dates 8
Total Attendance 42,619
Total Average Attendance 2,130
Total Dates 20
