ON TAP: The consensus No. 2 Titans (18-6) will open up
Big West Conference play with UC Irvine (13-11) this coming weekend as
they look to defend their 2004 conference championship. Former Titan and
2004 National Assistant Coach of the Year Dave Serrano makes his first
trip back to Goodwin Field after replacing John Savage as UCI’s
head coach over the summer. Serrano and the Anteater’s are currently
13-11 with a win over UNLV on Tuesday night. Prior to Tuesday night the
Anteaters had not played any games for approximately a week due to final
exam scheduling... The Titans are 2-2 over the last four games dropping
two to Long Beach State in a non-conference series at Blair field with
a win at UCLA on Tuesday night....Irvine is batting .280 as a team with
Jaime Martinez (.371), Mark Wagner ( .315) and Matt Anderson (.313) leading
the way. Serrano’s new pitching staff has accumulated a 3.74 team
ERA with All-American closer Blair Erickson leading the was with a 0.60
ERA and 5 saves in 14 innings of work.
PRIOR MEETINGS: Fullerton has a commanding
57-13 edge over the Anteaters all-time and are currently riding a 5-game
winning streak dating back to 5/10/2003. The two teams have never met
in post-season with the Anteater making their first-ever appearance last
season. Last season The Titans swept Irvine at Anteater Ballpark in the
second to the last series of the regular-season. Fullerton outscore the
Anteaters 21-4 in the series with Ricky Romero, Jason Windsor and Mike
Martinez each picking up a victory. Titan Head coach is 7-2 all-time versus
the opponents from the South and will be the first meeting between him
and his former assistant Dave Serrano. Former Titans Chad Baum and Sergio
Brown will also make their return to Goodwin Field as a part of Serrano’s
staff.
HELLO DAVE: It will be interest to see the reaction to
2004 Assistant Coach of the year Dave Serrano’s return to Goodwin
Field Friday night as a good portion of the current Titan roster was a
direct reflection of his recruiting over the past eight seasons. During
his tenure as a Titan (1997-2004), Anteater Head Coach Dave Serrano played
a pivotal role as the recruiting coordinator as well as pitching coach.
Over his eight years, Serrano saw 24 pitchers be selected in the MLB draft,
had the Titans’ recruiting class ranked No. 2 twice, oversaw five
of his eight staffs lead the Big West in ERA with four of those seasons
producing a conference pitcher of the year. He also made four trips to
the college world Series and earned his first championship ring with last
year’s team.
STYMIED: The 49er pitching staff silenced the Cal State
Fullerton bats as they hit just .144 on the weekend. The Titans came into
the weekend hitting .355 as a team collecting over 13 hits and nine runs
per game. The 49er pitchers held the Titans to just 8 runs and 13 in the
three-game series, with Blake Davis (4-for-9, .444) emerging at the only
Titan to bat higher than .286 on the weekend.
“RED” SNAPPER: Justin Turner’s 15-game
hitting streak ended Sunday versus Long Beach State as he went hitless
in four at bats. Over the streak, Turner hit .412 (28-for-68), collected
7 doubles, hit three home runs and drove in 16 runners (second on the
team over that span).
ROMERO, ROMERO, WHEREFORE ART THOU’S RUNS, ROMERO?: Ricky
Romero (LHP from East Los Angeles, Calif.) has run into a bit of bad luck
lately. Romero has picked up his first two losses of the season, but not
by pitching bad. Romero, who had gotten 9.8 runs a game from his teammates
in his five previous starts, got just three runs in his last two outings
over Arizona and Long Beach State. Over his last two starts Romero has
gone 15.2 innings allowing just four runs while striking out four.
SERIES BUSINESS: By dropping two of three to Long Beach last
weekend, Fullerton lost its first series of the season and broke a streak
of 12 consecutive series victories dating back to April 2-4, 2004 against
who else...Long Beach State. The Titans have taken all three series they
have played against Top 25 teams this year (Stanford, Tulane and Arizona).
BASEBALL SINCE THE BIG EASY: Since taking two-of-three
form then No. 1 Tulane Mar. 11-13, the Titans have lost three of their
last seven games to their opponents (Arizona, Long Beach and UCLA). The
team has hit just .260, averaging just over eight hits a game and five
runs a game. Just two everyday-players are hitting over .275. Justin Turner
is leading the team in hitting over that period with a .345 average (10
hits and 8 RBI) with Ronnie Prettyman in tow at .308... The Titans have
out-hit their opponents, but only by a margin of one (59-58), and have
out-scored them 39-33, with their last five games being decided by two
runs or less...
COOLING PERIOD: Third baseman, Ronnie Prettyman’s
bat has been put on ice over the last four games against Long Beach State
and UCLA as he is hitting just .143 (2-for-14). 49er pitchers held Prettyman
to just one hit in ten at bats (.100) in last weekend’s series while
Prettyman collected one hit in four at bats at Jackie Robinson Stadium
on Tuesday. Prettyman entered the Long Beach series hitting a conference-leading
.442 and has seen his average fall to .396 (though he is still leading
the conference). .. Following the trend of the Titan offense of late,
first baseman Brett Pill is hitting just .213 (10-for-47) over the last
11 games after starting the season on fire. Through the first 13 games
of the season Pill was hitting .431 collecting 25 hits in 58 at bats.
Pill is still tied for second on the team with a .333 average and leading
the team with 24 runs driven in.
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. Hardman 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 ON HOLD: Ryan Schreppel will miss his scheduled
Saturday start for the first time this season as he is nursing a knee
injury suffered at Blair Field while covering first base on a ground ball.
Athletic Trainer Chirs Mumaw is awaiting results of tests taken to determine
the severity of the injury. Schreppel (Jr. LHP, Stockton, Calif.) has
been putting together quite a season, breaking out of his statistical
funk of last season. The lefty has been no less than superb from the hill
going 4-0 with a 2.00 ERA. Opponents are hitting just .148 against the
lefty, whose good change-up has been a key factor to his success.
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 five saves on the season, and one his freshman campaign, Pestano
is just one shy of Greenlee’s season-best seven in 1997. Pestano
could tie and pass Greenlee this weekend versus UC Irvine, knocking Greenlee
off of the media guide listing of career saves. But who’s watching?
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... Ryan Schcreppel is day-to-day
until further notice with a knee injury suffered whil covering first bast
in his start vs. Long Beach State on Mar. 25. He will likely miss his
scheduled start vs. UC Irvine on Apr. 2.
ATTENDANCE:
Home Attendance 21,093
Home Average Attendance 1,757
Home Dates 12
Away Attendance 28,779
Away Average Attendance 2,398
Away Dates 12
Total Attendance 49,872
Total Average Attendance 2,078
Total Dates 24
