THIS WEEK
Fri. vs. Long Beach State @ 7:00 pm. (TV KVMD) Listen
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Sat. vs. Long Beach State@ 6:00 pm. (TV: CSTV) Listen
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Sun. vs. Long Beach State@ 1:00 pm.(TV: FOX CS) Listen
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ON TAP: One of the best rivalries in college
baseball is set to come to a head as the No. 10 Long Beach State 49ers
pack their bags for Fullerton bringing the nation’s best ERA to
face the Titans for a three-game Big West match-up with conference championship
implications. The No. 1-ranked Titans have six games to play in league
and they have a 3-game lead in the loss column over both second-place
Long Beach State and third-place Cal Poly. If the Titans win two out of
three from Long Beach, the 49ers are eliminated from contention and Cal
Poly would have to win all six of its remaining games plus get a sweep
by UC Riverside over Fullerton on May 27-29 to deny the Titans the automatic
berth. If Long Beach wins the series, 2-1, the Titans could still clinch
the NCAA berth and at least a co-title by winning two out of three at
UCR. If Fullerton sweeps the 49ers, it gets the NCAA berth. If the 49ers
sweep, they clinch the automatic berth by having tie-breakers over both
CSF and Cal Poly.
Earlier this week the University of San Diego stopped by Goodwin Field
to play its last contest of the 2005 season. The Titans came out victorious
as John Curtis launched a walk-off double over the head of Torero center
fielder Justin Snyder the bottom of the 13th to give Fullerton the 5-4
advantage. The Titans threw a season-high nine arms out on the mound to
get the victory with the last hurler, Jared Clark picking up his first
collegiate victory, improving to 1-1 on the year. Brett Pill had three
RBI-singles and Justin Tuner went 4-for-5 with three doubles to lead the
Titan offense.
LAST WEEK: Last week the Titans played only one game,
avenging a road loss to Pepperdine with a 13-4 victory at Goodwin Field.
A 7-run third inning highlighted by Brandon Tripp’s grand slam proved
more than adequate. The big news for post-season consideration was the
return of left hander Ryan Schreppel. Pitching for the first time since
March knee surgery, he went the first three innings to get the win and
improved to 5-0. He allowed only two hits and one run.
The balance of the week was spent reliving the 2004 NCAA championship
one more time. Twenty-two players from the Omaha roster (everyone except
Kurt Suzuki, Jason Windsor and Shawn Scobee; flying in were minor leaguers
Mike Martinez and P. J. Pilittere) plus the seven non-traveling players
were reunited in a visit with President Bush in the White House. Congressman
Ed Royce also hosted the entourage on a VIP tour of the Capitol Building.
And the Titans got to see 2003 teammate Chad Cordero pitch for the Washington
Nationals on Friday night at RFK Stadium against the Cubs.
PRIOR MEETINGS: Fullerton holds a 96-52 all time series
lead over the 49ers dating back to Fullerton’s Division I debut
in 1975. The two teams have only met one time in the post season as Long
Beach won the 2002 meeting 4-0, eliminating the Titans from the Stanford
Regional in Palo Alto, Calif. Though Fullerton holds a commanding lead
all time, the two teams have figured to be fierce competitors over the
past 16 years. Since 1989 (the beginning of Long Beach’s Dave Snow
era), the two teams have played to a 41-39 record with Fullerton earning
the two-game advantage. Since 1997 (the Beginning of the George Horton
era for Fullerton), Fullerton again holds a two-game advantage taking
29 of the 56 meetings between the two teams.
Earlier this season, Long Beach took the series from the Titans with victories
on Thursday and Saturday (3-2 and 3-1) of a Thursday, Friday, Saturday
set of games. It has figured to be the only weekend series the Titans
have dropped this season. The series versus the 49ers back in late March
at Blair field marked the Titans lowest hit output of the season over
a weekend series. They managed only 13 hits with Caesar Ramos tossing
a two-hitter in Friday night’s opener. Saturday night’s game
was won with a Ronnie Prettyman single in the top of the ninth inning
off the glove of the second baseman. Both pitching staffs combined for
10 hit batters, good for second in the NCAA record books. Sunday, Jared
Hughes shut down the No. 1 team in the country by tossing a 4-hit complete
game to capture the series.
AROUND THE HORN:
• The Titans have won both extra inning affairs they have had this
year. Coincidentally the two games that needed extra frames were against
teams from San Diego. On May 3 the Titans won a 4-3 game against Tony
Gwynn’s Aztecs of San Diego State on ESPN 2 in eleven innings. On
Tuesday, Fullerton played its longest game of the year when they took
the University of San Diego 13 frames before pulling out the 5-4 win in
just under five hours.
• In the Titans’ last weekend series versus Cal Poly (May
6-8), the seven runs they scored over the weekend was the lowest total
run output of any series this year. That includes a rain-shortened two-game
set with Fresno State, the Kia Bash and a broken three-game series with
USC. The Fullerton 16-hit effort was also the lowest hit production the
Titans have managed in a weekend series since their last meeting with
the 49ers in March where they managed only 13 total hits... Blake Davis
emerged as the only offensive standout over the weekend versus Cal Poly.
Davis hit .500 (6-for-12) including a double and a triple while scoring
three runs. The next closest hitter in average was catcher John Curtis
who hit just .200
• The Titans are winners of 12 of their last 13 games with just
six more remaining in the regular season. Fullerton has Long Beach State
and UC Riverside on tap for two Big West Conference weekend series to
wind down 2005. Postseason play begins June 3.
• Blake Davis, who leads the team in stolen bases was caught for
the first time two Sundays ago at Cal Poly. Though it looked as if he
may have gotten around the tag, the throw was there in plenty of time
breaking his 2005 consecutive streak of 13 swipes without getting caught.
• With the addition of the games televised KVMD, CSTV and FOX College
Sports this weekend, that will bring the season total to seven regular
season games televised for the Titans. The Titans won their first nationally
televised game versus Tony Gwynn’s San Diego State squad on May
3 by a score of 4-3 on a walk-off RBI single by designated hitter Evan
McArthur. That improved the Titans TV record to 3-1 on the year with their
only loss coming last month in Los Angeles when they lost to USC on a
KVMD game. In addition to the San Diego State win, the Titans have also
picked up televised wins versus Tulane and UC Davis.
• Since April 20 Vinnie Pestano has been almost unhittable. In 16
innings of work the side-armer has allowed only three hits not allowing
a single run to cross home plate. Prior to his scoreless three-inning
outing versus San Diego on Tuesday Pestano had quite the week (May 3-8),
getting three opportunities to shine, he managed them all with dominance.
Pestano pitched his longest outing of the year on Tuesday night on national
TV. He went 3.2 innings of scoreless baseball earning the win as Evan
McArthur singled in the winning run in the bottom of the 11th. Pestano
then notched his ninth and tenth saves on Friday and Sunday in both Titan
3-1 victories as well. Pestano finished the week with 7 scoreless innings
pitched, eight strikeouts while surrendering just two hits. Over his 16-inning
scoreless streak, Vinnie is 1-0 with five saves with opponents hitting
just .063 against him.
• The Titans have the eighth-best fielding percentage in the nation
with a .976 average. In 50 games the Titans have committed just 47 errors
as a team.
• Getting the results: Senior Scott Sarver has strung together six
impressive outings improving his record to 8-2 (actually a better winning
percentage than Ricky Romero). In his last five starts, Sarver has gone
5-0 with a 1.54 ERA. In 35 innings of work he has given up just six earned
runs while striking out 22. His only no decision came on Tuesday versus
San Diego where he pitch only
• Evan McArthur is Coach Horton’s ace in the hole as he is
hitting .429 (6-for-14) coming off the bench as a pinch hitter for Coach
Horton. Justin Turner, normally a starter has also come through when coming
off the bench. He is 3-for-4 when he doesn’t start the game.
• The Titans are 13-2 in conference play this year with shortstop
Blake Davis leading the way with his .500 (28-for-56) batting average.
Blake has nine more hits than the next closest teammates (Sergio Pedroza
and Ronnie Prettyman each have 19 conference hits). Davis also has scored
a team-leading 19 runs over those 15 games, only 13 of which he started...Sergio
Pedroza and Danny Dorn lead the home run department with 3 a piece...Justin
Turner is hitting below the Mendoza Line at just .191 (9-for-47) in Big
west match-ups.
• Fullerton hit just .144 against the 49ers in their last meeting
earlier this season. Blake Davis led the way hitting .444 (4-for-9) in
the three-game set that saw the Titans just get outscored on the weekend
10-8. Only Brandon Tripp (.286) and Davis (.444) hit above .285 for the
weekend, with Tripp collecting only two hits in seven at bats. Though
Fullerton lost the series, the pitcher got no runs support as they allowed
only seven earned runs in 25 innings of work (2.52 ERA) holing the 49ers
to a .236 average.
