Titans Salvage Series Finale

GAME 27: TITANS 5, UC IRVINE 4 (10 Innings)

By Don Hudson

Folks, I have a 3:30 a.m. alarm clock set to go off to get me to a ridiculously early flight back east, so I'm going to try to be brief in these recaps.

Saturday, April 4th: Anteaters 6, Titans 1

UCI got excellent pitching for the second consecutive game of this Big West Conference series, along with steady defense and clutch hitting.

The Titans' hitting sucked and their late-game defense fell apart.

Believe it or not, the Van Raaphorst/Finley/Pflugradt umpiring team managed to do an even worse job than the nationally televised debacle on Friday. (More comments on that later.)

Sunday, April 5th: Titans 5, Anteaters 4 (10 innings)

Trailing throughout most of the game and the series, the Cal State Fullerton Titans came from behind this afternoon at Goodwin Field to defeat the UCI Anteaters, 5-4, in 10 innings.

As he did Saturday night, Jeff Cusick got UCI on the board with a first inning home run. The Titans tied the score in their part of the first inning when Christian Colon led off with a single and went to second on a Jeff Newman sacrifice, to third on a wild pitch and scored on a fielder's choice/ROE by Josh Fellhauer. After a single by Jared Clark, UCI pitcher Crosby Slaught avoided further damage by inducing a double-play ball from Pill.

The woes of the previous two games came back in the top of the second inning as UCI scored thrice, aided by two errors and three singles and an HBP allowed by Pill. At that point, it did not look like we would be seeing much of Mr. Pill on the hill this day.

But he regrouped and showed great composure. He made good use of his pitch count and held the Anteaters scoreless all the way from the fourth through the eighth innings.

During the middle innings, the Titans offense began to shake off its recent cobwebs and put runners on base, but the clutch two-out hitting that we saw through Moustache March continued to be missing in April. There were also runners cut down on the bases that seemed overly aggressive considering the three run deficit.

The Titans finally got some runs for their efforts in the bottom of the seventh inning. Joey Siddons reached on a leadoff single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. One out later, Tony Harkey rolled a ball in front of the plate and was safe when the throw from catcher Frances Larson was high and puklled Cusick off the base. Josh Fellhauer drove in Siddons on a groundout. After Harkey advanced on a wild pitch (barely making it ahead of the throw to third), Jared Clark made it 4-3 with an infield single.

With momentum shifting towards the Fullerton side, Pill pitched a strong 1-2-3 eighth inning. Irvine opted to bring in Eric Pettis, its closer, for an attempted two inning save. With one out, Bill Marcoe banged out his third hit of the day and advanced to second base on a ground out by Nick Ramirez, who had pinch-hit for Joe Scott. (With Gary Brown coming into the game the next inning because of the Scott substitution, wouldn't you think you'd bring him in to pinch run for Marcoe as the tying run at second base?) Joey Siddons made it a moot point as he knocked an RBI single that scored Marcoe easily. Perhaps sensing he might need to help Marcoe score, Siddons got held up (unnecessarily) in a rundown between first and second bases to end the inning with the score tied, 4-4.

Michael Morrison came into the game and sent me searching through my backpack for my blood pressure pills. He loaded the bases with two walks and a single before coming up with a huge strikeout and a harmless flyball to centerfield.

The Titans had a golden opportunity to win the game in regulation play. Colon led off with a single and went to second on a Tony Harkey sacrifice bunt. When Fellhauer was wakled to set up a double-play situation and a righty/righty matchup for Pettis, Clark hit a groundball that forced out Felly but missed doubling Clark. But Colon never stopped coming around third base and was thrown out at the plate by a great margin.

Morrison's adventure continued in the tenth. After getting Ben Orloff in an 0-2 hole, Michael's next pitch was drilled into rightfield for a base hit. With the next hitter presumably prepared to surrender an out in exchange for advacing the runner into scoring position, Morrison walked Derigasch on four pitches and Dave Serrano came out with the hook. Ryan Ackland came in and proved to be an unsung hero of the game: he got Cusick on a "strike'em out - throw'em out" double-play and ended the inning with an easy groundball to third base.

With the Irvine bullpen depleted by their earlier strategic matchup substitutions, Pettis was forced to pitch into his third inning of work - which may have been his undoing. Pill led off with a walk and was replaced by pinch-runner Shevis Shema. After two failed bunt attempts, Khris Davis banged a 2-2 pitch into centerfield for a base hit. A perfect sacrifice bunt by Garneau placed the winning run at third base with just one out. UCI skipper Mike Gillespie made all the right moves to try to get out of the desperate situation: he had Fellhauer intentionally loaded to set up a force play at every base and he set up a five man infield and a drawn in infield.

That brings Joey Siddons to the plate, already 3-3 on the day and hitting the ball hard - a hero in the seventh and eighth inning rallies. Naturally, you let him hit, eh? Wrong! Coach Serrano opted to go for the more powerful lefthanded-hitting Matthew Fahey, who had hit the ball deep and solid in his only at-bat the previous night. When the count ran to 2-2, Fahey blasted a shot into left-centerfield, far past the drawn in outfielders. What a great comeback win and how wonderful it was to see contributions from so many players that play so sparingly.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

So what did we learn in the last 24 hours?

I think we got an up-close look at what we already knew: Irvine has an excellent team and is as strong as anybody the Titans have played this season.

With the offense scoring just one run in the nine innings of regulation play in five of the seven previous games, it was no surprise to see some shake-up in the Fullerton line-up today. Christian Colon batted leadoff (instead of second); Jeff Newman batted second (instead of ninth); Tyler Pill was the DH (instead of Nick Ramirez); Billy Marcoe caught (as he has been doing in at least one game per series) and Joey Siddons played third base (instead of Gary Brown).

Marcoe and Siddons both had three hits, making the case for more playing time for a team in an offensive funk. Marcoe dropped a throw at the plate that allowed Irvine's fourth run to score, and Siddons' two errors was a considerable factor in the runs allowed early by Pill, so the balance between offense and defense still must be considered.

With his two caught stealings today, Marcoe is now 4-4 on the year in nailing would-be base pilferers.

One of the most encouraging things that happened in the last 24 hours was the way the two freshmen battled back after early game adversity. Noe Ramirez fell behind 3-0 before the Dodgers fans had even arrived in the first inning, but he pitched very well after that and ended up going 7 1/3 innings and allowed just one run after the first inning gopher ball. Today, Pill looked like he had nothing early on, giving up a first inning home run to Jeff Cusick and three runs in the second on three hits and a hit batter (plus two errors). But after the shaky start, he was magnificent: he allowed just one hit and no runs from the fourth to the eighth innings.

Finally, I want to throw in my two cents worth on the umpiring in this series and the Big West in general. I thought my Friday post may have been too critical - until they were even worse on Saturday. Dwayne Finley, whose lack of hustle and physical fitness has him chronically out of position to make calls, asked for trouble in the first inning by granting Ben Orloff (UCI) first base when he leaned into a soft breaking ball and then calling Gary Brown back in the bottom of the inning when he got drilled by a fastball.

Did the umpires determine the outcome of any game this series? Not really - although the inconsistent and ridiculous strike zones of Van Raaphorst and Finley certainly impacted the outcome of many at-bats directly. (I loved the guy that walked down the aisle behind the plate and yelled at Finley, "It's a strike zone - not an area code!") Multiple partisan Irvine supporters have told me that Colon was not tagged out on the high throw that pulled the first-baseman off the bag (although Pflugradt called him out) and Van Raaphorst blatantly missed the pickoff at second base by Witten late in the game.

Last night, I sent a note to Dennis Farrell, the Vince McMahon of the Big West Conference, asking him what they were doing about the embarrassing situation with substandard umpiring. I noted how the quality of programs, players and coaches has made this perhaps the best baseball conference top-to-bottom in the country, but the umpiring has not gotten one lick better since the days long gone by when the conference was Fullerton and the Seven Dwarfs.

I must say I am genuinely impressed that I got a reply from him today, even if it is just a form letter they mass mail the day after Dwayne Finley or Mike Gilmore umpires behind the plate somewhere:

Dear Fan:

Please know that the Big West Conference takes its officiating very seriously in all sports. In the sport of baseball, all umpires go through a rigorous NCAA certification process before being assigned to officiate at this level. Then, all Big West umpires are evaluated every time they step onto the field by not only our coaches, but by independent evaluators as well.

Our coordinator of baseball umpires, who himself worked at the highest level of collegiate baseball and umpired several College World Series championship games, also evaluates our umpires throughout the season and communicates any concerns he may find.Finally, at the end of every season our coordinator files a report with our head coaches who then make recommendations for altering our umpiring roster.

Thank you for your continued support of Big West Conference baseball and I hope this has shed some light on our processes for continuing the improvement of our umpiring program.

Sincerely,

Dennis Farrell
Commissioner

Anteaters Handle Titans Again

GAME 26: UC IRVINE 6, TITANS 1

From The Orange County Register

By Al Balderas

Jeff Cusick's first home run of the season could not have come at a better time.

The junior first baseman out of Santa Margarita High hit a three-run blast in the first inning Saturday night to propel UC Irvine to a 6-1 victory over top-ranked Cal State Fullerton at Goodwin Field.

The victory was the sixth in a row for the eighth-ranked Anteaters (19-7, 4-0) and their second consecutive triumph over the Titans, clinching the three-game series.

The last time Fullerton lost a series at home was May 25-27 in 2007 against Long Beach State.

"We can't start doubting ourselves," said Titans coach Dave Serrano, who watched his team lose its third consecutive game for the first time this season. "We have to get back to what was working when it was working."

Trying to figure out the Anteaters pitchers would be a good place to start.

One night after being stymied by Daniel Bibona, the Titans had a tough time against the tandem of Christian Bergman (4-1) and Brock Bardeen.

Bergman started and held the Titans to one run through 5 2/3 innings. Bardeen pitched 3 1/3 shutout innings for his first save of the season.

Titans starter Noe Ramirez (3-1) had the rough first inning. Ben Orloff and Eric Deragisch singled and Cusick turned on an inside pitch and hit it high over the left-field wall.

"I just went up there with the same approach, trying to use the big part of the field," Cusick said. "He threw one inside and I got the big part of the bat on it."

Ramirez settled down after giving up a leadoff single to D.J. Crumlich in the second inning. He retired the next 11 batters until Orloff singled with two outs in the fifth.

"He came out and probably had a little bit of nerves," Serrano said of his freshman pitcher. "How he responded after that first inning was no different than the guys who have been in this program for two or three years."

The Titans got hits from Christian Colon and Josh Fellhauer in the inning but came up empty.

Gary Brown was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Plate umpire Dwayne Finley ruled that Brown didn't make an effort to avoid the pitch. Brown remained at the plate and struck out.

The Titans (19-7, 2-3) finally scratched for a run in the fourth inning when Jared Clark singled and eventually came home on a single by Dustin Garneau.

Fullerton had runners at first and third in the fifth inning but Clark grounded to first to end that inning.

Post-Game Interviews (UCI Game 1)

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.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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.