Irvine Wins Battle of the Daniels

GAME 25: UC IRVINE 2, TITANS 1

By Don Hudson

In a pitching duel between Daniel Bibona (UCI) and Daniel Renken (CSUF), the eighth-ranked U.C. Irvine Anteaters upended top-ranked Cal State Fullerton by a score of 2-1 in a nationally televised game Friday evening at Goodwin Field.

After a trouble-free first inning by Renken (aided by a great diving grab by 3B Gary Brown), controversy struck in the bottom of the first inning. Brown laced a line drive on which UCI RF Eric Deragisch made a great diving attempt and appeared to have the ball initially. Both Brown and first base umpire Dwayne Finley apparently saw the ball roll under the prone fielder, as Brown motored to third while Finley emphatically motioned with a safe sign. At the request of UCI coach Mike Gillespie, the umpiring crew conferred and the two umpires 200-250 feet away from the play apparently had a better look than the guy 40-50 feet away: the call was reversed, to the chagrin of Coach Serrano, who argued vehemently with plate umpire Billy Van Raaphorst and third base umpire Frank Pflugradt. Notwithstanding the call reversal, the actions of Van Raaphorst to scold Serrano on the way back to the dugout were bush league and unnecessary.

Audience question: to those watching at home on ESPNU, was the call correct? From where I sat behind the plate, I never saw the ball dislodged, but my view was as bad as Van Raaphorst's and nowhere near as good as Brown's and Finley's. Reply in "Comments" just to set the record straight on that call.

Renken got into a little bit of trouble in the second inning on a couple infield singles, but he escaped unscathed, with Dustin Garneau making a nice play to nail the lead runner at third base on an attempted sacrifice bunt.

The Titans did not get a baserunner aboard until Dustin Garneau led off with a walk in the bottom of the third. After he was sacrified to second by Joe Scott, he was stranded when Bibona retired Jeff Newman and Gary Brown.

The 'Eaters put the game's first run on the board in the top of the fourth inning on a long home run by catcher Frances Larson. After another hitless frame by Bibona, UCI added a second run on a double by Casey Stevenson, a sacrifice by Cory Olson and a two-out single by Deragisch past the diving Jared Clark.

The Titans finally got their first hit of the game in the fifth inning when Nick Ramirez led off with a hit and went to third on a double by Khris Davis. Now we're cookin': runners on second and third with nobody out. But the wheels quickly came off the wagon: Garneau struck out and Scott's attempted suicide squeeze bunt was caught in the air by hard-charging 1B Jeff Cusick, who easily doubled Ramirez off third to end the inning. You could feel the momentum sucked out of the dugout and stadium.

From that point on, Bibona and Renken were the show. In the sixth through eighth innings, Renken allowed no hits and just one base runner (a HBP). Bibona was equal to the task, allowing just two harmless singles in his last three innings worked.

After Kyle Mertins pitched a scoreless ninth inning, closer Eric Pettis came on to protect UCI's 2-0 lead. After Gary Brown was called out on strikes on a curve ball about a foot off the plate, Christian Colon drove a base hit into leftfield. Josh Fellhauer got an infield single and both runners moved into scoring position on a throwing error. But Pettis was equal to the task against the Titans 4-5 hitters: Clark was retired on an RBI groundout and Nick Ramirez grounded out to first base to end the game, 2-1.

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So what did we learn last night?

For the second consecutive BWC game, Daniel Renken pitched an excellent game but was a hard luck loser when his team could manage just one run. He continues to battle hard and has pitched eight innings in each of last two outings.

The offense is really struggling right now: just one run scored in regulation nine innings in four of the last six games. Baseball has a way of balancing things out: the Titans couldn't possibly have been as good as the way they were hitting during the road trip, nor as bad as they have been since conference play began. Truthfully, every team goes into a funk at least once during a season (usually more), so I'd rather see it now than in June. Give credit to UCR, ASU and UCI: they have had outstanding pitching and defense, the likes of which stand head and shoulders above what we saw from teams in other regions of the baseball landscape.

During the hot streak, I was actually worried because everybody was hot at the same time and now they seem to have gone cold at the same time. But we know the bats will get out of their funk and hopefully soon.

Notwithstanding the controversial first inning call, I thought Van Raaphorst (shown making dinner plans with Gillespie) did one of the worst jobs I've ever seen calling balls and strikes. Curveballs off the plate were strikes and fastballs on the corner were balls. (To his credit he was consistent - even if that means consistently awful.) He baited the Titans dugout all night long - his rabbit ears must have been upgraded to high definition. Gary Brown is one of the best-mannered players around and even he slammed his bat on the plate on the ninth inning strike three that could have been mistaken for a pitchout.

Finally, there were a group of Big West Conference empty suits seated behind home plate last night, yukking it up and having a grand time. One dude - let's call him Geppetto - seemed to be pulling Van Raaphorst's strings throughout the game.


The level of play in the Big West Conference has become frightfully good in the past few years. I would take the teams in this conference, top to bottom, against any other conference in the country. But there is one real sore spot that they should be working on: while the caliber of the teams continues to get better and better, the quality of the umpiring is still substandard. In the past few years - and certainly during this year's arduous road trip - the umpiring we see on the road is vastly superior to what we see in the Big West.

After the game, I "interviewed" Geppetto (okay, "yelled at" might be more accurate), asking him what the league was doing about incompetent umpires like Van Raaphorst and Gilmore and showboats like Rorke Kominek. Geppetto replied, "I have no idea what you are talking about." Sadly, I believe his response is true.

UC Irvine Series Preview

By FullertonBaseballFan
(Courtesy Titan Central)

Cal State Fullerton got off to a strong start in conference play last weekend with a big series win at Riverside, which has been a chamber of horrors for the Titans over the years.

After splitting two midweek games at Arizona State, ranked #3 by Baseball America, next up for Fullerton is another important Big West series against UC Irvine, who is having another strong season with the Anteaters off to a good start at 17-7 and ranked #8 by Baseball America and coming off of a sweep of Cal Poly.

Irvine came into 2009 with high expectations after going to Omaha in 2007 and nearly returning to the College World Series last season, winning their regional at Nebraska and nearly winning their super regional at LSU. They have a very experienced team that lost only one position player from last year’s lineup who was a factor in their offense and return several pitchers who were major factors in their success last season. The Anteaters have kind of been chugging along, dropping a game every weekend due to inconsistent hitting and inconsistent relief pitching that has cost them some games but finding ways to come out ahead each weekend. Irvine went 3-1 at Hawaii, 2-1 at the Houston Tournament, 2-1 at the Baylor Tournament, 2-1 against Tulane and 2-1 against Nevada and really didn’t put things together for all three games until sweeping what had previously been a red hot Cal Poly team.

OUTLOOK

There are some interesting dynamics at work in this series. Fullerton has been the much better offensive team over the course of the season but lately has struggled to score runs, being held to one run in regulation in three of the last five games, while Irvine was struggling offensively before Ronnie Shaeffer was inserted into the lineup and now the Anteaters are averaging over 10 runs per game over the last two weeks. Irvine has the starting pitching and closer to match Fullerton’s but there is a wide disparity in the pitching depth of the two teams, which could be a key factor in deciding the series.

The coaching staff at Fullerton is obviously very familiar with many of the Irvine players since they coached those players two years ago, something that was a factor in last season’s series. If the Fullerton pitchers continue to pitch like they have been (staff ERA is 2.65 since the TCU series) and cool off the Irvine attack while the Fullerton offense bounces back to form, the Titans should win this series.

Sun Devils Salvage Split with Titans

GAME 24: ARIZONA STATE 3, TITANS 1

From Arizona Republic

By Jonathan Frankel

TEMPE, Ariz. - Great pitching and power hitting prevented Arizona State from dropping its third consecutive game.

The third-ranked Sun Devils held off top-ranked Cal State-Fullerton for the 3-1 victory in front of 3,489 Wednesday night at Packard Stadium in the second half of a two-game set.

With the game tied 1-1 in the sixth inning, Zack MacPhee pulled a two-run home run over the left-field fence off Fullerton starter Kevin Rath for his first homer of the season.

ASU starting pitcher Seth Blair dazzled with seven innings of four-hit ball, allowing only one unearned run. The right-hander had three strikeouts and no walks and helped the Sun Devils improve to 20-5 on the season.

Left-hander Josh Spence worked the final two innings for the save.

"Needing two pitchers against Fullerton, and not give up an extra-base hit on a night like tonight in this offensive ballpark," ASU coach Pat Murphy said. "This stadium is not used to this 3-1 stuff."

Fullerton got on the board first in the fourth inning.

Christian Colon led off with a single to left field, and moved to second base when ASU first baseman Riccio Torrez couldn't handle a pickoff throw from Blair. Jared Clark knocked Colon in with an RBI single to right.

ASU struck back with a run in the fifth. Drew Maggi started it with an infield single, and came around to third on a wild pith and sacrifice bunt to set the table for Matt Newman, who lined an RBI double to the left-field warning track.

"Newman had some good at-bats," Murphy said. "It takes something to get you out of that rut. He was kind of in a rut there. Newman put a good swing on the ball. . . . It was a turning point."

Titans Win By a Whisker

GAME 23: TITANS 7, ARIZONA STATE 5

By Don Hudson

TEMPE, Ariz. - Playing their final game of Mustache March, the Cal State Fullerton Titans defeated the Arizona State Sun Devils last evening at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark by a final score of 7-5. Jared Clark led the offense with a home run and a double, while Nick Ramirez earned his first win with 4 1/3 innings of dazzling no-hit relief.

The Titans jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead when Josh Fellhauer singled with two outs and came around to score on Jared Clark's RBI double. In the bottom half of the inning, Kyle Witten walked two and hit one to load the bases, but escaped unscathed with the help of a nice play by shortstop Christian Colon.

The Titans extended their lead to 3-0 in the top of the second, driving ASU starting pitcher Matt Newman from the hill. Khris Davis opened the stanza with a single, stole second and went to third on Dustin Garneau's sacrifice bunt. Joe Scott lined a base hit to rightfield for an RBI and he scored on Gary Brown's two-out double. Jason Franzblau entered the game in relief and was aided by Brown straying too far off the base on a blocked pitch in the dirt and getting caught in a rundown.

The Titans defense faltered in the bottom of the seond inning and ASU tied the score, 3-3. After a leadoff single by Maggi, Matt Newman hit a groundball to Joe Scott - has double-play written all over it - but Joe made a rare boot and everybody was safe. Ninth-place hitter Raoul Torrez was sent up to bunt the runners into scoring position. When Witten registered two strikes, the defense played back and may have been surprised when Torrez laid down an excellent bunt. Brown charged the ball to no avail: it was a base hit and Brown's errant throw went into right field and the Sun Devils had a run and two runners in scoring position with nobody out. After MacPhee's sacrifice fly cut the lead to 3-2, Jason Kipnis stroked a base hit to tie the score.

Franzblau pitched very effectively (despite taking the loss), including retiring the Titans 2-3-4 hitters easily in the third inning on easy ground-balls. Witten allowed a double to Newman, but he seemed to settle down a little in the third inning. But after walking the leadoff man in the bottom of the fourth inning of the tie game, Witten was replaced on the mound by Nick Ramirez, who induced a 4-6-3 double-play ball from the always dangerous Kipnis.

The Titans had a golden opportunity to break the game open in the fifth inning - but came up empty-handed. After a leadoff single by Jeff Newman, Gary Brown hit a fly ball to centerfield which kept carrying. With nobody out and uncertainty whether the ball would be caught. Newman was not able to score. No problem, right? Heart of the order coming up! But Franzblau did a great job pitching out of the jam: he got Colon out on a "comebacker" to the mound and struck out Fellhauer. After walking Clark, Franzy got Nick Ramirez to ground out with the bases loaded. Ouch!

The Titans finally broke the tie in the sixth inning. Dustin Garneau hit a one-out single and then began an adventure on the basepaths. He stole second base and headed for third when the catcher's throw bounced into centerfield: he looked like a dead duck, but the throw was a little off and Garneau made it with a headfirst slide. When Joe Scott chopped a ball down the third base line, Garneau had to dive back into the bag ahead of an attempted tag (before Scott was thrown out). Newman came up with a big hit - a flare into "no man's land" in left-centerfield - giving the Titans a 4-3 lead.

Jared Clark made it 5-3 with a solo home run in the top of the seventh inning. Meanwhile, Nick Ramirez continued his no-hit pitching for Fullerton.

The never-say-die home crowd began evacuating Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark in the eighth inning when the Titans pushed across another run on a Garneau HBP, a Scott sacrifice and a two-out RBI single by Brown. Walks to Colon and Fellhauer (and steals by Brown and Colon) brought Clark to the plate with the bases loaded, but he went down swinging and the score was 6-3.

Ackland came on with one out in the bottom of the eighth an retired two lefthanded pinch-hitters, which is generally his area of vulnerability.

The Titans added an insurance run in the ninth inning when Nick Ramirez walked and Khris Davis reached on a fielder's choice, advanced on a groundout and scored on an RBI single by Scott.

After looking strong in the eighth inning, Ackland came out to start the ninth with a four run cushion. In the middle of a stretch of eight games against ranked opponents in ten days, I'm sure Dave would have preferred to avoid using his closer. But with one out, Ackland walked a batter and gave up a long home run to Kipnis - his ninth of the season. Michael Morrison then came in to shut the door with a flyout and strikeout.

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So what did we learn last night?

The Titans ended Mustache March with a 15-2 record, which included big wins against ranked opponents, the epic road trip and contributions made by players up and down the roster. It will be interesting to see if anybody in the visitor dugout at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark tonight will still be sporting their crumb catchers. As far as team building activities go, you'd have to rate this a success - although I'm sure there is some relief today from team members and their loved ones.

Speaking of relief, the Titans got plenty of it last night. Kyle Witten started and once again was not able to find his stride: he hasn't seemed to find a mound yet that was to his liking. He did record some very big outs early when his defense had some uncharacteristic mistakes, but departed after 3+ inninings with 76 pitches already thrown: 46 strikes and 30 balls. Facing an ASU scattered liberally with lefthanded hitters, freshman southpaw Nick Ramirez was summoned from the bullpen and he responded in fashion. His strike/ball ratio wasn't great either - 33 strikes and 26 balls - and he walked two and hit one batter, but zero runs and zero hits allowed in 4 1/3 innings was the difference in the game.

Ryan Ackland did a great job in "his" inning (e.g. the eight), but faltered when he was stretched into the ninth, walking a batter and giving up a two-run blast to lefthanded-hitting Jason Kipnis. Michael Morrison was nails in his role as closer.

The Titans have shown a "bend but don't break" strength like few other teams I've ever seen. The three-run ASU outburst in the second inning could have been worse and it could have gotten the team down: they didn't let that happen. Not scoring in the fifth inning after getting runners at second and third with nobody out and the heart of the order coming up could have been a back breaker - but it wasn't. This team plays with great composure and confidence - let opponents call it "swagger" - whatever you want to call it, it's working.

Titans pitchers allowed six walks and two HBP - more than the three games combined against UCR. If Kevin Rath has the command he displayed the first four innings he pitched against Oral Roberts, he could have a good outing tonight.

In addition to Jared Clark's big game (home run and double), Gary Brown had three hits (including two doubles) and Joe Scott added two clutch RBI singles. The Titans outhit the Sun Devils, 12-6.

Entering the game, the Sun Devils had thrown out 40% of would-be base stealers. The Titans put them to the test, stealing five (Brown, Colon, Davis, Garneau and Scott) of six attempted.

ASU coach Pat Murphy had the umpires scratching their heads and turning their line-up cards into SuDuko puzzles as he brought position players into and out of pitching. The starting pitcher (Newman) was also the designated hitter and usually plays righfield. The rightfielder (Naturally) came into pitch, and was succeeded by the first-baseman (Who). Who came in to pitch and looked into Today for his signals - Naturally.

Murphy credit for using the match-up against a top-ranked rival to give his young team some invaluable experience: nine freshman and three JUCO transfers played last night for ASU. How do you think they will work Murph's name into the Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark formula. The all-time series record now stands 26-25 in favor of ASU in their head-to-head matchups against CSUF.

Finally, I saw several Titans players of the past few years in attendance at the game. Several of them will be playing spring training games this afternoon around the Phoenix area. What a great way for a fan to spend an afternoon awaiting tonight's second game against the Sun Devils.

Arizona State Series Preview

By FullertonBaseballFan
(Courtesy Titan Central)

Cal State Fullerton started off Big West play last weekend with one of the program’s most satisfying series wins in a long time, putting an end to the hex that had plagued the Titans in Riverside by winning two out of three games against the Highlanders.

Before Fullerton takes on UC Irvine in a key Big West series, the Titans will be taking a two game road trip to Arizona State, one of the few programs with a history that can match Fullerton’s.

ASU once again looks like a contender to play in the College World Series, rebuilding on the fly by getting off to a 19-4 start and being ranked in the top five in all of the major rankings. The Sun Devils lost a large number of major contributors to last year’s draft who were responsible for helping to get ASU to Omaha in 2007 and nearly returning in 2008, losing in the super regional to the red hot and eventual national champion Fresno State Bulldogs.

ASU has not played that strong of a schedule for a western team (#52 according to Boyd’s World) and played their first twenty games at home, in contrast to Fullerton’s lengthy road trip around the southern part of the country. The Sun Devils finally played their first series on the road last weekend at USC. ASU has played some solid teams in going 11-4 against Missouri (2-1), Oregon State (1-0), Kansas (2-1), Kansas State (1-1), Arizona (3-0) and USC (2-1) and padded their stats with eight other games against Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Northern Illinois and Holy Cross.

There figures to be plenty of offense scored in this series because both of these teams can put lots of runs up on the scoreboard. Fullerton has scored 6+ runs in 18 of 22 games while ASU has scored in double digits eleven times. In addition to the hitting that both of these teams will bring into this series, Packard Stadium is a bandbox that helps inflate offensive numbers by 20%, according to Boyd’s World, with dimensions of 338 feet down the lines, 368 feet in the power alleys and 395 to straightaway center. Also, the infield grass is usually cut short and tends to be hard as a rock due to the desert heat as balls skip through the infield.

LINEUP

With all of the newcomers to ASU’s lineup, their offense isn’t quite as prolific as last season. The Sun Devils are hitting .301 (.275 against the legitimate teams on their schedule) with 28 HR’s after hitting .342 with 88 HR’s last season and their OBP (.414; .456 in 2008) and SLG (.507; .545 in 2008) numbers are down also. ASU’s hitters have a patient approach at the plate, walking about five times per game while striking out about seven times per game. The Sun Devils won’t do much bunting (12 in 23 games – two hitters with 4 SAC’s each) but will put runners in motion (37-49 SB’s) so the Fullerton P’s and C’s need to be on their toes with runners on. ASU has a solid fielding team with a .969 fielding % and the Sun Devils are especially strong up the middle at C, 2B, SS and CF.

Infield

C – JC transfer Carlos Ramirez (RH – .296-8-28-0) had a tough act to follow taking over for Petey Paramore and has been one of the two main power bats in the lineup. Ramirez leads the team with 23 K’s. He has done a good job defensively, allowing only 14 WP’s/PB’s and baserunners are 12-20 on SB attempts.

1B – FR Riccio Torrez (RH – .298-1-13-2) has started to play more after being part of a platoon earlier in the season. The Torrez brothers at 1B and 3B show the difference between this year’s ASU team and the 2008 version when Brett Wallace and Ike Davis combined for 38 HR’s and 159 RBI’s.

2B – FR Zack McPhee (RH – .286-0-12-0) has done a decent job at the plate but has been good defensively, making only 2 E’s. McPhee is tied for the team lead with 4 SAC’s. All-American pitcher JR Mike Leake (RH – .345-0-4-0) might also see time at 2B.

SS – JC transfer Jared McDonald (LH – .189-2-6-2) has struggled offensively but has been outstanding with the glove, making only one error. McDonald has good range and has been a big reason why ASU’s pitchers have done well.

3B – JR Raoul Torrez (RH – .311-0-12-5) is one of the team leaders as the only returning starter on the infield. Torrez is tied for the team lead with 4 SAC’s. 2008 stats – .341-2-35-12. Torrez is solid defensively and played 2B last year.

LF – JC transfer Kole Calhoun (LH – .260-3-14-5) is a good athlete who is also a relief pitcher. Soph Andy Workman (RH – .320-0-7-0) might also see time in LF or RF.

CF – JR Jason Kipnis (LH – .469-8-36-11) has been one of the best players in America. It was surprising that Kipnis came back to school after a big 2008 (.391-14-73-24) when he was drafted in the 4th round as a draft eligible Soph. He is also patient at the plate with 20 BB’s.

RF – Soph Matt Newman (LH - .308-2-14-2) is a gamer who is a good all around player and one of the few returning players. He is also a pitcher and likely to pitch in this series. 2008 – .322-3-28-2.

DH – FR Zach Wilson (RH – .333-0-6-0) has gotten off to a good start and figures to hit for more power as he makes the adjustment from HS to D1 pitching.

PITCHING

ASU struggled with on the mound last season with a team ERA of 4.64 and allowing 45 HR’s, although they were solid in holding opposing batters to a .258 BA. The pitching staff for the Sun Devils has been outstanding this season with a 2.37 ERA while allowing only 10 HR’s and holding opposing batters to a paltry .209 BA. The ASU pitchers have been allowing around 2.5 BB’s per 9 IP while striking out an average of 10 batters per 9 IP, an outstanding 4-1 ratio.

RHP Mike Leake and LHP Josh Spence have been superb, combining to go 11-1 in 12 starts with a 1.37 ERA. However, since this is a midweek series they aren’t likely to see much action on the mound, if any, with ASU having a series at Washington coming up this weekend. But, nothing is a surprise when it comes to Pat Murphy and his handling of the pitching staff, as he often had Sat SP Josh Satow also start midweek games last year, including one of the two games at Fullerton.

The two midweek SP’s for ASU are usually OF/LHP Matt Newman (1-0, 0.63 ERA, 4 apps, 3 starts, 14 IP, 13 H, 2 BB, 13 K, .232 BA) and RHP Jason Franzblau (1-0, 2.70 ERA, 6 apps, 3 starts, 13 IP, 13 H, 5 BB, 14 K, .265 BA). Sunday SP RHP Seth Blair (2-1, 3.86 ERA, 5 starts, 21 IP, 21 H, 11 BB, 23 K, .256 BA) had been pitching well before getting pulled after allowing 4 R’s in 2 IP at USC and might pitch a couple of innings in this series.

The relievers likely to see action for the Sun Devils are LHP Mitchell Lambson (4-1, 3.26 ERA, 12 apps, 1 save, 30 IP, 22 H, 9 BB, 37 K, .208 BA), RHP Jordan Swagerty (0-1, 6.94 ERA, 11 apps, 3 saves, 12 IP, 11 H, 1 BB, 13 K, .234 BA), OF/LHP Kole Calhoun (0-0, 6.75 ERA, 6 apps, 5 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 5 K, .200 BA), RHP Kyle Brule (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 save, 6 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 7 K, .167 BA), RHP Jake Borup (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 apps, 4 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 3 K, .071 BA) and Jeeter Ishida (0-0, 3.86 ERA, 3 apps, 5 IP, 6 H, 4 BB, 7 K, .316 BA).

OUTLOOK

Fullerton and ASU come into this midweek series as two of the hottest teams in the country. The Sun Devils traditionally have a strong home field advantage at Packard Stadium but the Titans haven’t been intimidated by going on the road this season, winning 11 of 13 games away from Goodwin Field. Both teams have been hitting well and pitching well, although analyzing the pitching part kind of gets thrown out the window when you are talking about midweek games. This series will probably be similar to last season’s midweek series at Fullerton where the teams split two slugfests 10-8 and 10-9.

Titans Reverse the Curse

GAME 22: TITANS 18, UC RIVERSIDE 1

By Don Hudson

For the first time ever since U.C. Riverside elevated its baseball program to Division I status, the Cal State Fullerton Titans won a series played at the Riverside Sports Graveyard by winning this afternoon's rubber game, 18-1. Freshman pitcher Tyler Pill raised his record to 5-0, pitching seven innings of five-hit shutout ball, while the offense got untracked with some small ball lightning followed by long ball thunder. Khris Davis highlighted a nine-run fourth inning by hitting a double and a three-run homer in the frame.

After two tense pitchers duels to start the series, the same was expected today when Tyler Pill took the hill against UCR's Paul Applebee, who started the series statistically as the Highlanders' best starting pitcher. For the first couple innings, it looked like Sunday would be another low-scoring affair. Each team got one runner aboard in their half of both the first and second innings, but the pitching and defense held their respective opponent scoreless.

Vintage Titans small ball got Fullerton on the board in the third inning. Joe Scott, who obviously demonstrated his bunting prowess on Saturday tying the NCAA record of four sacrifices in a game, led off the inning by pushing a bunt between the mound and the first-baseman and beating the play easily. Jeff Newman came up to sacrifice and he executed nearly the identical play, beating the underhanded toss to the second-baseman covering first. One out after both runners advanced on a wild pitch, Christian Colon drove in the game's first run with a sacrifice fly. Josh Fellhauer followed with a single to left field that scored Newman with the second run.

The Titans ate up Applebee in the fourth inning - yet another pitcher with gaudy stats coming into the game that got knocked out early. After Nick Ramirez led off with a single, Khris Davis hit a rocket over the head of CF Carl Uhl for a double. Billy Marcoe's single to center field drove in Ramirez to make it 3-0. After Joe Scott got hit to load the bases, Jeff Newman lined a clean base hit into right field to make it 4-0 and Applebee was lifted, replaced by reliever Dustin Emmons.

Gary Brown reached on a fielder's choice (which could have easily been ruled a hit) as Newman easily beat the attempted force-out on a groundball to shortstop. Both Newman and Brown continued up a base when the play at second was mishandled. Emmons, whose wildness cost him six runs on just two hits, allowed both runners to score on wild pitches; Brown's run came when the final ball of a Jared Clark walk bounded a few feet away from the catcher.

With the game now broken open at 8-0, Nick Ramirez banged out his second hit of the inning, bringing up Khris Davis, who was apparently sick during the game. Davis hit one deep to center field, where the smog was blowing out: up and over the wall for his team-leading eighth home run of the year and a lead of 11-0.

From that point on, it was just a matter of the final score, how well the bench would play and how far Pill would go on the mound. After the Titans made it 15-0 with four runs in the top of the seventh on just one hit (Jared Clark's 2 RBI double) - aided by two walks and two HBP - Pill had a three-hit shutout going into the last of the seventh. He allowed two hits to start the inning, but finished off his day's work retiring the next three hitters, the last two on strikeouts.

Colin O'Connell made his Titans debut on the mound and gave up an unearned run in the eighth inning; Kyle Mertins got some work by pitching a scoreless ninth inning. Wes Borba got his first hit in a Titans uniform, knocking in two runs with a double to right-center.

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So what did we learn here today?

Dude, the score was 18-1, so we're not going to get deeply analytical here. But there are always a few things we can learn.

It was nice to see the ratio of runs to hits swing back to what we have become spoiled by: 18 runs on 15 hits. Five hit batsmen never hurt anybody - oops, unless you are the guy getting hit. A couple of the times Gary Brown got hit yesterday and today looked scary.

We learned that junkball pitchers that rely on batters chasing low pitches out of the strike zone will have to adjust their games against the disciplined Titans line-up.

Khris Davis is proof positive of the Titans development and maturing as a team. In his first two years, he displayed flashes of brilliance, but was too often stymied by poor pitch selection. He has improved as much in one season as any player in recent memory. Credit him not only for the amazing numbers he has posted in the sixth spot in the batting order, but also for eliminating any likelihood of opposing teams pitching around Nick Ramirez hitting ahead of him.

The Titans came within one pitch - the three-run homer by Michael Hur on Friday night - of sweeping a very good U.C. Riverside team. UCR finally made some mistakes today (both defensively and on the mound), but they are a very good team that will be a factor in the Big West Conference this year.

You've got to love the youth (a sophomore and two freshmen) and talent of this weekend's trio of starting pitchers. This is the combined weekend total for Daniel Renken, Noe Ramirez and Tyler Pill: 22 2/3 innings pitched, 3 earned runs (1.19 ERA), 14 hits, 2 walks and 14 strikeouts. Hopefully, Kyle Witten will get his mechanics worked out and make a statement against Arizona State this week. With the compressed schedule and the NCAA tournament format, four starting pitchers of that caliber will be a huge advantage for Fullerton in June.

Think how far the pitching has come since the TCU debacle. We have the aforementioned starting pitching and Michael Morrison and Ryan Ackland have been strong at the back end of the bullpen. Kevin Rath has had a couple good outings and that will hopefully continue over in Tempe. Between Mertins, Dingeman, Kelly, Dovel, Nick Ramirez and O'Connell, there are plenty of other good arms that have potential to become bullpen mainstays.

Finally, there is a very satisfying feeling about winning this series after losing the opener and knowing the ill fates suffered by previous Titans teams playing at the Graveyard. This team has a lot of character and toughness.

I also want to pay respect to the great job done by Coach Doug Smith putting the U.C. Riverside program in such strong standing. They look like the kind of team that is going to give somebody fits in the Regionals.

And while the UCR program is classy and most of the fans were supportive of their team, I always love when the Titans shut up the ignorant loudmouth that comes to the game for the sole purpose of making a spectacle of himself. Hecklers at college baseball games can be very entertaining, particularly if they are witty and original. (University of Arizona is always a favorite trip for me because their student hecklers are very bright, well prepared and hilariously funny.) But the guy last year at Irvine was a moron and the nitwit we heard so much from on Friday and Saturday at Riverside didn't have very much to say today. Do you think he had to leave early to study for mid-terms? Scoreboard, Baby!

Great Scott! Titans Win in Riverside

GAME 21: TITANS 4, UC RIVERSIDE 1 (10 Innings)

By Don Hudson

In a game that had more ups and downs than the playing surface at the Riverside Sports Graveyard, the Cal State Fullerton Titans scored three runs in the top of the tenth inning to win a 4-1 nail-biter against the U.C. Riverside Highlanders this afternoon. Joe Scott tied an NCAA record with four sacrifices in the game, which also saw a brilliant outing by freshman hurler Noe Ramirez in the first weekend start of his fledgling collegiate career. The loss was the Highlanders first at home this season after eight wins and was just the Titans second win in eleven tries at the Graveyard dating back to 2003.

In a game eerily similar to Friday night, Noe Ramirez and righthander Matt Montgomery (UCR) locked horns in a beauty of a pitching duel. The Titans had quiet 1-2-3 innings in the first and second innings, while the Highlanders managed just an infield hit off Ramirez in the first two frames.

The Titans posted the game's first run in the third inning after Dustin Garneau led off with a double and was advanced to third on the first of Joe Scott's four sacrifices. Seeing how good the pitching was, Riverside opted to play the infield in very early in the game, which worked out as Jeff Newman hit a grounder to second base which did not score Garneau, even though 2B Bryan Horst momentarily bobbled the ball. Fortunately for Fullerton, Gary Brown made sure the runner was not stranded when he lined a base hit on a 3-1 pitch.

The Titans had Montgomery on the ropes again in the fourth inning following singles by Josh Fellhauer and Jared Clark to open the inning. With the first-baseman holding the runner, the ball Nick Ramirez scalded down the line - which would have normally been a double into the corner - became a snappy 3-6-3 double-play. Felly was stranded at third base when Montgomery retired Khris Davis on a foul flyball to rightfield.

The Highlanders finally got a runner aboard in the fifth inning, after Noe had retired the previous nine batters almost effortlessly. Their leading hitter, Tony Nix, led off with a triple that bounced off the centerfield wall and skipped past a hard-charging Fellhauer. Joey Gonzales then hit a chopper to shortstop Christian Colon, who threw home to try to cut down Nix and the tying run. The throw and runner arrived pretty close: catcher Garneau and runner Nix got tangled several feet before the plate: out! Oops, the ball escaped Garneau for an error and Nix was safe on an unearned run. Scott helped minimize the damage by starting a pretty 4-6-3 double-play on a nice backhand stop of a hard-hit ball up the middle.


Matt Andriese entered the game in relief for UCR to start the seventh inning and he was met by a leadoff single by Dustin Garneau, who advanced to second on a Scott sacrifice and to third on a wild pitch. Jeff Newman followed with a fly ball to medium-deep centerfield, presumably deep enough to score the runner from third. But CF Carl Uhl looped a high throw to the plate; catcher Robert Brantly caught it high and away from the sliding runner (Garneau). It was a good throw that appeared to get there before the runner, but about the only person in the stadium who didn't see Garneau touch the plate ahead of the tag was our old friend, Mike "Crappy" Gilmore. Coach Serrano gave Crappy an earful; to no avail, as his hearing appears commensurate with his eyesight.

The Titans let UCR off the hook again in the eighth inning. Fellhauer walked with two outs and then stole second base with Clark at the plate. With first base open following the SB, the Highlanders intentionally walked the red-hot Clark. Nick Ramirez hit an opposite-field shot that had "bases clearing double" written all over it, but the ball held up and was run down by the leftfielder.

Noe Ramirez issued his only walk of the game with one out in the eighth inning. After retiring the next hitter on a short flyball, his pitch count reached 100 and he came off to a nice ovation as southpaw Kevin Rath came in to face lefthanded-hitting Carl Uhl, who hit the ball sharply, but came up empty when Gary Brown snared his sinking line-drive.

I considered taking up smoking in the Titans ninth inning. Khris Davis lined a long double to centerfield and Dustin Garneau walked, bringing Matt Larkins out of the UCR bullpen. Scott sacrificed both runners along - hey, this is great: second and third with just one out. Tyler Pill pinch-hit for Newman and hit the ball on the ground to the drawn-in second-baseman, who threw home to nail Davis on the "run on contact" play. With Brown at the plate looking for another clutch two-out hit, a pitch in the dirt bounded away from catcher Brantly. Garneau made a dash for the plate and was tagged out by the pitcher covering: the third Titan of the day thrown out at the plate!


There's an old joke: what do you do with an elephant with three balls? Answer: walk him and pitch to the giraffe. That story came to life in the bottom of the ninth, a tense game tied at 1-1. Ryan Ackland relieved Rath and easily retired the first two (righthanded) hitters before allowing a double to lefthanded-hitting Ryan Goetz. With the winning run at second base and first base open, righthanded Tony Nix (hitting .425 with .457 OBP and .685 SLG%) is coming to the plate, followed by lefthanded Joey Gonzales (.235 hitter, .300 OBP and .370 SLG%). Don't you walk the elephant and pitch to the giraffe? But Dave made the aggressive move: he brought in his closer (Michael Morrison) and rolled the dice: my best against your best. Morrison won the battle, striking out Nix to strand the potential winning run at second base. (In a game with a dozen plays that could be "the" play of the game, I thought this was "the" play of the game.)

Kolby Moore entered the game for UCR on the mound in the top of the tenth and was greeted by Gary Brown's base hit. Brown took off for second on the first pitch and Colon masterfully poked the ball through the hole vacated by the second-baseman, sending Brown easily to third base. Felly hit a grounder to shortstop that plated the go-ahead run - but it got even better: the throw to second for the force play on Colon got away and Colon ended up on third base and Felly on second.

A one-run lead was "nice", but Jared Clark had an opportunity to give the Titans some breathing room. The senior team leader came through in style, lining an 0-2 pitch into centerfield for a base hit that gave the Titans a 4-1 lead. Clark stole second base - making him 7-7 on the year in stolen bases - but was doubled off when he went too far on a hit-and-run play and was retired easily after a fly ball by Nick Ramirez.


The Highlanders had a modicum of hope in the bottom of the tenth inning when Joey Gonzales hit an 0-2 pitch from Morrison for a single. But Morrison threw some great pitches and struck out Brantly. With Clark playing back and not holding the runner, Gonzales headed towards second base on a 1-2 pitch to pinch-hitter Michael Nesbitt, assuming he would arrive uncontested on "defensive indifference." Wrong! Morrison blew a third strike past Nesbitt and Garneau made a strong throw that Colon scooped out of the dirt and applied the tag to end the ballgame.


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So what did we learn this afternoon?

Nineteen-year-old Noe Ramirez has handled every assignment given to him with great composure. He was brilliant today in his first weekend start, going 7 2/3 innings, 100 pitches, and allowing just three hits, one walk and one unearned run - wow!

How many times have you seen an offense perk up when a dominating starting pitcher is finally removed and they get a crack at the bullpen? Kevin Rath, Ryan Ackland and Michael Morrison combined in 2 1/3 innings of shutout relief to make sure the Titans didn't waste Noe's great outing.

All told, Titans pitchers allowed just five hits, one walk, one unearned run and ten strikeouts in ten innings of work on a hot, sunny day. Dustin Garneau led the offense with three hits. Scott's record-tying sacrifices and his stellar defense made him the game's unsung hero.

We learned that runs are going to be much tougher to come by in Big West Conference play. During the non-conference schedule, the Titans were recently enjoying sick ratios of runs to hits. For example, 16 hits against University of Rhode Island yielded 17 runs. While 9 hits against Oral Roberts University was good for 10 runs in a game last weekend, the same number of hits plated just one run Friday night against Big West Conference foe UCR. At one point today, the Titans had just one run on ten hits - combined 2 runs on 21 hits in the two games at that point - before posting three runs in the tenth inning. Teams in the BWC have deep, quality pitching staffs and tend to play good defense.

This year's team has some potent hitters and I love how the coaches have adapted their offensive strategy to take advantage of how well these guys can swing the bats. It will be interesting to see if the offensive style is reined in a little more during conference play when games are tighter and each run is precious.

Case in point: when is it right to take the bat out of Nick Ramirez' hands? He is a hitting machine like we have not seen in years: he is hitting .397, with .443 OBP and .740 slugging percentage and is second on the team in RBI. Like Erik Komatsu last year, Nick's at-bats are being maximized by letting him hit away, seemingly without regard of the situation. On Friday night, with the Titans leading 1-0 in a tight pitching duel against a quality left-handed pitcher, Jared Clark led off with a single. The Titans eschewed the bunt: Ramirez grounded into a 5-4-3 double-play, which cost a big run when Khris Davis and Dustin Garneau followed with hits. Today, Ramirez came to the plate with runners at first and second, nobody out, again with the Titans holding a slim 1-0 lead. He slammed the ball hard on the ground: 3-6-3 double-play and rally thwarted. In the tenth inning today, he batted with the Titans now leading 4-1 and Clark on second with nobody out. Again, he was allowed to hit away and another double-play resulted when Clark took off on a hit-and-run and was unable to get back to the base following Nick's flyball to rightfield. In "the old days", Clark might have been bunted to third to try to give the Titans the four-run lead that needs a grand slam to make it a one-swing game for the opponent.

This is what makes baseball the greatest game ever invented: we can sit in the cheap seats spitting our sunflower seeds all game long and second guess every call by the umpires and every decision by the coaches. It sure is easy up here in the bleachers - baseball is a game of decisions and consequences that occur quite quickly - talk about art imitating life!



This was a very big win for this team. With all the past failures at this field - described today as looking like a golf course with its rolling hills and bunkers - and every possible break seeming to go Riverside's way, these guys gutted it out and came away with a win. Sunday's rubber game should be another beauty - both teams will once again put a good pitcher on the mound and another tight game is expected. I hope to see you out at the Graveyard.