Titans Championship Videos

It's time to relive some of the greatest moments in Titan history. Below are a few videos of Fullerton's championship seasons.

(User's guide: If you click on the video and it does not play, click on it again and it should take you directly to the YouTube video site and it should play automatically.)

2004 Season

1995 Season

1992 Season

Editor's Note: Yes, we realize that we didn't win it all that year. This remains the most-heartbreaking episode in Titan baseball history. But the players deserved to be honored for the Herculean effort put in at this CWS, particularly with an elimination game played in a monsoon, 12 hours before the title game, as criminally sanctioned by the NCAA and CBS.

Pill: The Right Medicine

GAME 16: TITANS 4, RHODE ISLAND 3

By Don Hudson

STILLWATER, Okla. - The Cal State Fullerton Titans completed their long southern odyssey on Sunday morning/afternoon with a 4-3 hard-fought comeback win over the scrappy University of Rhode Island Rams in a contest played before 72 fans at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium in Stillwater, OK. With the Rams' 5-4 win over the host team Oklahoma State Cowboys in the series finale, the Titans "won" the tournament with a record of 3-1. (I wonder if the team dogpiled on the plane when the pilot announced the final score of the OSU/URI game?)

The game pitted CSUF's freshman pitcher Noe Ramirez against Eric Smith, the ace of the URI staff: he entered today's action with an ERA of 1.38 and an opponents' batting average of .182.

The ushers had barely seated the 72 fans when Gary Brown laced a triple into the gap in left-center field to start off the game. His incredible speed and quickness was in evidence when the URI catcher muffed a pitch, which rolled barely to the edge of the home plate circle - Brown was off like lightning and simply beat Smith to the plate. I've seen a couple hundred thousand baseball games and I don't think I've ever seen a runner score on a passed ball or wild pitch so close to the plate.

Smith allowed a double by Fellhauer after Brown put the Titans up 1-0, but Smith was tough and struck out Christian Colon and Nick Ramirez and retired Jared Clark on a groundball.

Noe Ramirez seemed snakebitten in the first inning when leadoff man Zoe Angolo hit a routine grounder to third and reached when Clark could not scoop Brown's low errant throw out of the dirt. Oliver Palmer followed with a double and both runners scored on a base hit by Rob DeVeney. Noe's control was off in the first inning, as he hit Jeff Cammans with a pitch, which was followed by an RBI single by Mike LeBel. The damage was minimized to a 3-1 deficit when the Titans executed correctly on defense when the Rams attempted to steal a fourth run by getting LeBel caught in a rundown between first and second: Cammans was thrown out at the plate to end the first inning.

For the next five innings, Smith pitched masterfully and the Titans hit like a team in a hurry to catch a plane. Smith was overpowering at times and had Titans hitters swinging at "pitcher's pitches" much of the day. He scattered his hits and didn't walk anybody or hit any batters. Two of the few Titans to reach base were removed on unsuccessful steal attempts (in one case, a foiled hit and run when Smith threw high heat up and in to Joe Scott.)

Fortunately for the Titans, Noe settled down and pitched a great game after the shaky first inning. After allowing three hits in the first, he permitted just one harmless hit over the next six innings. It is a remarkable luxury to have a pitcher of this caliber as the fourth starter.

The Titans finally got something going in the seventh inning. Khris Davis hit a one-out double into the left-field corner and advanced to third base when Jeff Newman beat out a beautiful drag bunt to the right side. The always-alert Newman saw second base uncovered and he sped towards the bag when the Rams' first-baseman tossed the ball back to the pitcher without calling time-out.

With runners at second and third and one out, Billy Marcoe lifted a fly ball towards short center field. Rhody CF DeVeney came in quickly and made a nice catch while tumbling to the ground. Unfortunately, Davis was not in position to tag up on the play and he had to remain at third base, bringing Joe Scott to the plate with the tying runs on base.

In the immortal words of the late, great Joe Besser, "Not so fast!" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfKZvi6PwVE)

Tyler Pill came up to the plate to bat for Scott. Just as he had done in the season opener against TCU, Pill came through with a clutch double to tie the score, 3-3. He hit a rocket between the first-baseman and the first-base line: he never had a chance. Rhody coach Jim Foster came out with the hook for his ace and brought in his closer, Luke Lemko, a 6-6 289 pound pitcher from Gilford, NH. Lemko retired Brown on a groundout to end the inning.

After Noe pitched a perfect seventh (and final) inning - including two strikeouts - Colon led off the eighth inning with a sharp single up the middle and advanced into scoring position on a two-strike surprise sacrifice bunt by Felly. Clark was semi-intentionally walked before Nick Ramirez dumped a short fly ball into no-man's land in right-center. Both runners had to hold up to see if the ball would be caught, so the bases were loaded with Davis coming to the plate with one out. Khris did his job perfectly, launching a sacrifice fly to give the Titans a 4-3 advantage. Lemko escaped further damage by striking out Newman.

Ryan Ackland entered the game in the bottom of the eighth and had his best stuff, easily retiring the three batters he faced. After Lemko threw a scoreless ninth inning against the Titans, Michael Morrison came in attempt to nail down the save.

Good thing I took an extra Lisinopril (blood pressure pill) this morning. DeVeney led off the inning with a five-hopper into the shortstop hole. Colon appeared to have no play, but with his cannon arm, we've thought wrong about that before. Unfortunately, Jared Clark could not scoop Colon's errantly low throw out of the dirt and the Rams had the tieing run at second base with no outs.

With Cammans attempting to bunt DeVeney to third base, Morrison threw some filthy pitches and struck him out. Morrison seemed to have matters in hand when he struck out Pete Mastors following a frightening play in which Khris Davis' gave us his best Spiderman impersonation - he was hustling all out to catch a foul ball when he struck the wall and flipped completely over it.

The game got more interesting than Titans fans wanted: with the strike zone tightening, Morrison walked LeBel and Adams to load the bases. Michael then induced a game ending dribbler to second base by Dan Haverstick. Whew!

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So what did we learn this morning/afternoon?

We learned what type of character this team has throughout this road trip. They faced righties and lefties. They played in hot weather and igloo weather. They faced ace pitchers entering games with microscopic ERA's. They played in front of big crowds and gatherings smaller than the family picnic. They played in front of super-friendly people (Hattiesburg), a fervent student crowd (Texas A&M) and people as cold as their weather (Stillwater). If anybody had asked you how many games you thought Fullerton would win on this eight-game southern tour, would you have been satisfied to know they would go 7-1, sweep Southern Miss, beat Texas A&M by ten runs in front of their frenzied crowd and win the Oklahoma State Tournament? Hot ziggity!

Did you see some of the stats listed in the article at the school website: some incredible stuff! The team batted .392 on the trip, with 23 doubles, 4 triples and 17 home runs. Felly left home hitting .289 and arrived back at John Wayne Airport with a .459 batting average.

Jared Clark's twelve-game hitting streak ended today, but he, Nick Ramirez and Khris Davis were a force in the 4-5-6 spots in the batting order: pick your poison. We also saw some hitting spark off the bench, especially towards the end of the trip. Tony Harkey and Billy Marcoe are each hitting .556 (5 for 9) and Tyler Pill is at .500.

We saw the trio of freshmen - Nick Ramirez, Tyler Pill and Noe Ramirez - continue to grow and develop into top flight contributors. It has to be tempting to try to find more playing time for Pill in between starts. Notwithstanding his costly dropped fly ball at SDSU, it may be time to give him another shot in left-field. Jeff Newman has been a major contributor defensively and does a lot of "small ball" things very well - like taking second base today when Rhody didn't call time-out - but his bat is a deficiency and we need a stick in the seventh spot to back up Davis. Harkey could be that stick against lefthanded pitchers, but so far he looks like a first-baseman-trying-to-play-left-field.

I found it curious that the official scorer gave Newman a double on his heads-up play. It seems to me last year that Christian Colon was credited with a stolen base when he did essentially the same thing last year against U.C. Davis; I've also seen it scored as advancing on the throw (back to the pitcher), which is how I think I would have scored it.

I still think it was Mickey Mouse that the host team, Oklahoma State, was designated as home team in all four of their games. That makes no sense in a three-team round robin format where you play each opponent twice. I was very glad to see my home-state Rhode Island team beat them on their own field.

I think Rhody coach Jim Foster played it perfectly the way he lined up his pitching. His team was clearly overmatched and it would have been suicidal for them to try to win three or four games this weekend. By saving good pitchers for today's games against Fullerton's and Oklahoma State's #4 guys, he very nearly came away with a 2-2 record: had URI beaten CSUF today, all four teams would have gone 2-2, which would have been a major victory for the Rams. They could be a very live #4 seed later this spring.

Now the Titans get to sleep in their own beds and enjoy a home-cooked meal before starting a three-game series Thursday night against Oral Roberts University. I hope they get rousing support from the home fans for the awesome success they had on this road trip. Our expectations are so high at Goodwin Field that I sometimes think they get more love from the fans at road games. We are spoiled by seeing this caliber of team all the time, while fans at places like Southern Miss gave them the respect of the best team they have seen in the last thirty years. Let's really make some noise on this homestand!

All Good Things Must End

GAME 15: OKLAHOMA STATE 10, TITANS 6

By Don Hudson

STILLWATER, Okla. -Throughout their eleven game winning streak, the Cal State Fullerton Titans won as a team: an explosive offense with speed and power; steady and oftimes spectacular defense; and solid pitching that got the big outs whenever needed. The Titans winning streak came to a crashing halt Saturday evening by a score of 10-6 to the Oklahoma State Cowboys, in a game played at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium in Stillwater, OK. Indeed, this outcome was a team effort, as several of the steadiest strengths of the team had the inevitable off night.

Throughout the winning streak, the Titans demonstrated that good teams take advantage of every mistake made by their opponent and go for the jugular when the other guy gives them an opening. Last night, the shoe was on the other foot: Fullerton was the team making the mistakes and Oklahoma State was the team meting out the punishment. Aided by four Titans errors (and a couple more which could have been ruled errors), the Cowboys offense exploded with a power barrage that included nine extra-base hits.

The visiting team Titans jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the first inning when Gary Brown led off with a walk, advanced on a groundout and scored on an RBI single by Josh Fellhauer. Kyle Witten pitched a strong 1-2-3 first inning.

Nick Ramirez led off the second inning with a home run. The third run of the game scored that inning: Tony Harkey singled and advanced to third on a double by Joe Scott. After Gary Brown was hit by a pitch, Christian Colon hit a groundball to the shortstop, who hesitated just slightly in tossing the ball to second, allowing the speedy Brown to beat the throw and giving Fullerton a 3-0 lead.

After another strong inning by Witten, the Titans squandered an opportunity to break the game open early. Jared Clark and Khris Davis had singles and a double steal, but strikouts by Harkey and Garneau left them stranded in scoring position.

The Cowboys showed they were not going to be pushed around, as Michael Dabbs blasted a two-run homer to cut the Fullerton lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the third inning. However, the Titans responded immediately with two runs in the top of the fourth on a Brown single, an RBI double by Colon and an RBI single by Clark, giving the Titans a shortlived 5-2 lead.

Witten gave up a couple hits in the fourth inning, but struck out the side and posted a zero. Ninth-place hitter Tyrone Hambly doubled to lead off the fifth inning and later scored on a sacrifice fly which made the score 5-3.

Josh Fellhauer homered in the fifth inning to give CSUF a 6-3 lead. Comfortable? Not at this ballpark, on a night in which neither temperature nor wind would be a factor (unlike Friday night).

The roof caved in for Witten and the Titans in the last of the sixth inning. Doug Kroll led off with a double before the turning point in the game. Neil Medchill skied a foul ball that looked like it might stay in play in front of the OSU dugout. Garneau camped under it, with Brown hovering in the area. The ball seemed to come back farther than he had judged and popped out of Garneau's glove for an error that extended the at-bat. Two pitches later, the lefthanded-hitting Medchill crushed one that turned the three-run lead into a narrow 6-5 edge.

Dean Green followed with a single and was forced out at second on a nice play by Brown on an attempted sacrifice bunt. The ninth-hitter, Hambly, then crushed a monster home run that gave the Cowboys their first lead of the night, 7-6. Exit Witten, enter Jason Dovel, who promptly plunked the first batter he faced. One out later, with Travis Kelly on the mound for Fullerton, Kevin David hit a sizzler past Clark into right-field for an RBI double and an 8-6 lead.

The inning gave the Cowboys and their small but partisan crowd a huge adrenaline injection. Pitcher Tyler Lyons seemed to be throwing harder in the seventh inning than early in the game. He threw easy 1-2-3 innings in the seventh and eighth innings.

Things really came unglued for the Titans defensively in the eighth inning after Kelly retired the first batter. The second batter up (Hambly) struck out, but the ball eluded Garneau momentarily and his throw to first base struck Hambly in the back for Garneau's second error of the evening. After Hambly was forced out at second base, the third out eluded the Titans when Joe Scott's feet slipped from under him and he booted a groundball. Kyle Mertins relieved Kelly, who pitched pretty well considering the defensive lapses, and walked Kevin David to load the bases. Tom Belza then hit a soft fly towards left-field that Harkey charged well, got to - and couldn't hold on to. It was ruled a double and the lead was stretched to 10-6. (So much for getting a runner aboard and bringing the tieing run to the plate in the ninth inning.)

Closer Randy McCurry struck out the side (sandwiched around a Fellhauer single) in the ninth inning to end the streak.

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So what did we learn last night?

First, we learned that the host team has a distinct advantage in a three-team round robin tournament format. When each team plays the other teams twice, wouldn't you expect every team to be home once and visitors once against each opponent? The deck was stacked so that OSU was the home team in both games against Fullerton.

In Tyler Lyons and Andrew Oliver, the Titans faced two of the country's premier lefthanded starting pitchers and posted fourteen runs in the two games: it us tough to score an average of seven runs a game against quality pitchers like that and only get a split. However, it is a good indicator of the offense's capability to hit elite pitching, not just score a pile of runs against weaker arms.

It would be a misstatement to call home plate umpire Ben Harlow a "homer"; he was absolutely dreadful calling pitches for both teams. The guy was so bad that it kind of evened out, but it seems that some of the biggest Cowboys' hits happened after an apparent third strike was called a ball. I guess an umpire is fair if both teams thought he sucked, but isn't a good umpire supposed to be the guy you hardly even notice he is on the field?

Sunday's opponent, URI, has taken two beatings from the superior Fullerton and Oklahoma State teams, pitching their third and fourth starters. We will be up against their ace, who pitched 8 2/3 shutout innings in the Rams' 3-0 win over Miami. The game is being moved up to 11:30 a.m. CDT to accomodate the Titans' travel plans and it is the final game of remarkable but grueling road trip. It is another great test of the mental toughness of this team: it would be perfectly understandable for this team to "mail it in" against an inferior opponent and head to the airport for a well-deserved trip home, but I expect these guys ready to show up Sunday and end this sojourn on a high note. Beware the Ides of March, Titans!

Winning pitcher Tyler Lyons (3-0) got stronger as the game wore on: he was getting hit early and it looked like his pitch count limit would be surpassed quickly, but he settled down and pitched well. Witten started stronger, but Lyons finished better. Lyons pitched eleven games last summer with the undefeated Team USA (which included Fellhauer, Colon and Clark) and allowed no earned runs.

Even with Lyons giving up some early hits and runs, he avoided the two things that have killed opposing pitchers during the Titans hot run: he gave up just one walk and one HBP. The Titans have had an uncanny knack for driving in runners that have reached base "the easy way", which Lyons avoided.

It was a little surprising that Witten stayed in the game as long as he did, considering the Titans had hoped to get 5-6 strong innings from him (his first extended duty since leaving the USM game with a tightened glut muscle; he pitched a little bit Tuesday against Texas A&M) and then use Jason Dovel to either contain the strong stretch of lefthanded hitting of OSU or to cause lineup changes to get weaker righthanded hitters in off the bench. Even though Witten's defense let him down in the sixth inning, he surrendered a three-run lead and gave up some long bombs to lefthanded hitters while Dovel waited in the bullpen.

Garneau made two errors and Colon and Scott had one each. There were a couple of tough plays in left-field that Jeff Newman, as well as he has played defensively, might have made. Pitches were left up and the price was paid.

We seem to be giving up a lot of extra-base hits to eighth and ninth batters lately. This may be merely reflective of the top-to-bottom quality of good teams, or is it something else?

We also learned that Reynolds Stadium plays different when the wind isn't blowing straight in: the ball jumped off bats and really carried - unlike Friday. Back in 1984, Oklahoma State outfielder Pete Incaviglia (you remember him with the Texas Rangers?) slugged an unimaginable 48 home runs (in 75 games). Even playing a few more games than today's teams that advance deep into the NCAA tournament, that is still a lot of homers, even if you are hitting golf balls with titanium bats. The stadium (which opened in 1981) had to have something to do with it.

Prior to the game, the Diamond Club held a gathering at a nearby restaurant. Coach Sergio Brown was the guest speaker and he gave an enthusiastic insight into how the team has really come together as a tight-knit family during this arduous road trip. I really like this coaching staff and the job they have done. Baseball lends itself to resolution-free arguments (should you bunt a lot or swing away? do you play a better defensive outfielder or one that hits better? do you stick with the starter or go to the bullpen?) The part of Sergio's speech that interested me most and made me proudest was when he talked about the quality of the young men in this program. There is a "Titan Way" for even the small things - like how to close a hotel room door - that teaches lessons that last long after the spikes and pinstripes have been replaced by wingtips and business attire.

I also enjoyed the impromptu introductions made by all meeting attendees. (Great idea, Larry!) After going to games for a few years now and poking my head in at a tailgate party now and again, the faces are familiar but the stories behind them aren't. It was great to learn about the identities and lives of the people stricken with this same addiction to Titans baseball as I am. Whether it is guys like Milt Bower and Matt Helm who played on the very first Titans baseball team back in 1963/64 or parents of players in their first year in the program, this is an outstanding group of people with successful lives and stories to tell.

Finally, the Titans' loss was not my only disappointment on Saturday. After a delicious breakfast at Mom's Diner, I set out to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, all set to see the exhibits honoring greats like Lou Thesz, Bruno Sammartino, George "The Animal" Steele, Captain Lou Albano, King Kong Bundy, Haystacks Calhoun, Killer Kowalski, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, Rowdy Roddy Piper and all my other favorite athletes. Guess what? The place was bereft of tributes to any and all of the sport's legends: this place was all about honoring that phony-baloney college wrassling stuff. What a disappointment!

Titans Conquer Triskaidekaphobia

By Don Hudson

STILLWATER, Okla. - Neither Friday the 13th, frigid weather nor playing two games against opponents who entered play today with combined records of 18-4 could derail the red-hot play of the Cal State Fullerton Titans in the opening day of play of the Oklahoma State Tournament at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium in Stillwater, OK. The Titans won the opener against the University of Rhode Island Rams by a 17-3 score, behind the solid pitching of Tyler Pill and another offensive onslaught that included sixteen hits and five hit batsmen. In the nightcap, the Titans won an 8-4 verdict against the host team and perennial powerhouse Oklahoma State Cowboys, beating nationally recognized lefthander Andy Oliver on the strength of a fourteen hit attacked led by Jared Clark (5-5), Josh Fellhauer (3-5 with an RBI) and Tony Harkey (2-2 with 4 huge RBI).

Game 1 Recap: Cal State Fullerton 17, Rhode Island 3

URI came out swinging in the first inning looking like the little train that could: hitting the ball sharply despite blustery cold playing conditions made tougher by steady winds that made it feel even worse. Pill surrendered a run in the first on sharp double by Oliver Palmer following a single by Zoey Angulo. The Rams' 1-0 lead was shortlived, however, as Fullerton responded with two in the bottom of the inning on a two-out double by Nick Ramirez, driving in Gary Brown and Christian Colon, who had each singled.

After a LeBel triple and Adams double tied the score for Rhody in the top of the second, the Titans continued to work deep into the counts against starting pitcher Tim Boyce. The Titans scored three runs (and lost another when Billy Marcoe, substituting to allow Dustin Garneau to rest for the nightcap, led off with a single but was promptly picked off) on a Joe Scott HBP, another Brown single, a Colon HBP, a sacrifice fly by Josh Fellhauer and a two-ribby hit by Jared Clark.

The Titans broke the game wide open in the third inning with four runs after Pill had pitched a 1-2-3 frame. The rally was started by the bottom third of the order: Newman led off with a single and stole second; Marcoe walked and Scott was hit by a pitch. Gary Brown hit a two-run double and subsequently came around to score on Felly's two-run single.

From that point on, the game was a matter of avoiding frostbite - both in the stands and dugout and on the field. Jared Clark spiked another monster home run through a stiff breeze blowing in. You know the game has gotten out of hand when the focus of our fans was discussing the respective merits of the diners at small Southern California airports. Flo's Country Kitchen at the Chino Airport was the concensus winner, but strong support was given for the diners at Brackett Field (La Verne), Cable Airport (Upland) and Corona Municipal Airport.

Pill ended up going seven innings, surrendering three runs on eleven hits, walking none. With the win, Pill upped his record to 3-0 on the season. Derrick Dingeman pitched the last two innings, finishing strong after allowing a four-pitch walk and a single when he entered the game in the eighth inning.

Game 2 Recap: Cal State Fullerton 8, Oklahoma State 4

In a battle of top-flight pitchers, Cal State Fullerton was able to prevail largely because Daniel Renken played Houdini during his 5+ innings - working out of some very tight jams with minimal damage - while his teammates were able to come up with clutch hits against the very formidable left-hander Andy Oliver. (That guy threw some gas on a very cold night and was consistently around the corners - I thought he was the best starting pitcher we've yet to face this year.) The Cowboys stranded thirteen runners, to just six for the Titans.

After a scoreless first inning in which both pitchers looked sharp, the Titans scored a run in the top of the second on a Jared Clark double and a clutch two-out RBI single by Tony Harkey, making his first start of the season in left-field in order to get another potent right-handed batter in the line-up against a tough southpaw.

Daniel Renken pitched into and out of his first big jam in the bottom of the second. Oklahoma State loaded the bases with nobody out on a Doug Kroll walk and singles by Neil Medchill and Dean Green. This is when Renken got tough: he struck out Tyrone Hambly and Michael Dabbs and retired Dusty Harvard on a grounder to Scott.

After Oliver pitched a dominant 1-2-3 third inning, the Cowboys got Renken back on the ropes in their half of the inning. Davis Duren led off with a walk and went to third on a single by Kevin David (their catcher can stroke the ball): runners at the corners with nobody out. Cleanup hitter Tom Belza lifted a short fly ball to left field - brought back even closer to infield by the wind, which made it too short to tag up. Renken got Kroll to pop up to Colon and Medchill grounded to Scott to end the inning harmlessly - but with a mounting pitch count.

The Titans scored thrice in the fourth inning, including two situations where attempted bunts were unsuccessful and were followed by two-strike hits. After singles by Felly and Clark, Nick Ramirez bunted foul and then sliced an opposite field double to drive in the game's second run. After Tony Harkey fouled off a bunt on an attempted squeeze play, he delivered a solid two-run single to give Fullerton a 4-0 advantage.

Oklahoma State has an excellent team and they weren't going down without a fight. Renken started the fourth inning with two strikeouts; unfortunately, the second K was a wild pitch that allowed Hambly to reach base and trot around when the ninth batter in the lineup, Dabbs, hit a home run to right field to make it a 4-2 game. Renken seemed temporarily flustered and worked into another jam following the homer: he allowed two walks and two wild pitches, putting the tying run at second base with just one out - go ahead run at the plate. One of the game's most critical plays followed: David smashed a ball down the third base line, which Brown fielded cleanly with a nice backhand stop. Rather than take the out at first and allow the third run to score, he threw home, where Garneau tagged out Harvard.

After both Oliver and Renken pitched unblemished fifth innings, the Titans scored two more runs to extend their lead to 6-2. The Titans loaded the bases with one out on a Felly double, a Clark single and a walk by Khris Davis (after spoiling a bunch of tough pitches). Harkey's squeeze bunt drove in Fellhauer; when Harkey got tangled up with the second-baseman covering first, Clark alertly came around to score the inning's second tally.

Renken's night came to a close in the sixth inning following a home run by Hambly and a beautiful drag bunt single by Dabbs. Nick Ramirez came in from the bullpen and continued his recent success on the mound for the Titans. Ramirez got out of the inning with the 6-3 lead intact on the strength of a strikeout and a nice diving stab by Joe Scott.

Ramirez escaped another bases-load-one-out situation in the seventh inning with a strikeout and pop-out to catcher Dustin Garneau.

The Titans added a couple insurance runs in the top of the ninth. Garneau was hit by a pitch, advanced on a passed ball and a Scott sacrifice and scored on Gary Brown's single through a drawn-in infield. Brown stole second and scored on an RBI single by Felly, who also stole third. With the score 8-3 (hardly a blowout), the Cowboys coaching staff was not thrilled with the stolen base attempts and were totally pissed when Felly attempted to steal the plate. (The catcher had the ball in time and stuck his mitt out in front of the plate and hoped Felly slid into it. The call was "out", but they still haven't tagged him yet.)

With a five-run lead, Nick took the hill again in the bottom of the ninth and was touched for a solo homer by Medchill. Michael Morrison entered the game and induced a popout to Garneau and a strikeout to end the game: his sixth consecutive scoreless outing.

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So what did we learn today?

First, we learned just how cold it can be but still have the game played well. It was too cold for me to push the button on my camera, so how do these guys snap off sharp breaking balls or hit line drives - in some cases without even wearing batting gloves? I love the psychological advantage gained by the Titans when their opponents are all bundled up, but our base coaches aren't even wearing jackets: Bergy wasn't even wearing sleeves!

This has been a remarkable road trip: these guys have written a new chapter in Titans history which will be long remembered. The question has to be asked: when is their success described by "they are on a red hot streak" become "this is a great team"? Winning on the road against quality opponents is a great indicator just how good this team can be - but this is still March.

Several guys had great days at the plate on Friday. Jared Clark was 7-9 with 5 runs and 4 RBI: he even stole two bases! Felly was 5-8 with 2 runs and 4 RBI, while Brown was 4-9 with 4 runs and 4 RBI.

Perhaps the day's unsung hero was Tony Harkey, who went 3-3 with 6 RBI. With Oklahoma State starting two outstanding lefties, it made sense to try to find a big right-handed bat, particularly to provide protection in the seventh spot batting behind Davis. Teams have recently seemed willing to pitch around Davis and take their chances with Jeff Newman: Harkey takes away the appeal of that option. Siddons has yet to hit much, so it appears that Harkey will be the right-handed half of the left-field platoon.

Speaking of Newman, he made a couple more highlight reel catches today. Not only does he get a great jump on fly balls, but he also "closes" on balls hit away from him as well as any outfielder in recent memory. The defense made zero errors in the double-header: I think the fielders welcomed the ball being hit to them just so they could stay warm.

Renken was uncharacteristically wild pitching in the frigid weather: in 5+ innings, he gave up four walks and had three wild pitches, in addition to seven hits. It wasn't one of his better outings, but give him credit for coming up with some huge pitches to an excellent team in their home environment. With the win, his record goes to 3-0. It seemed the weather affected the pitchers more than the hitters, especially on breaking balls.

Nick Ramirez gave the pitching staff a shot in the arm with his 3 1/3 innings of stellar relief pitching. Not only did he nullify Oklahoma State's lefthanded oriented line-up, he triggered switches to righthanded pitchers that were easily retired: you try sitting around a windy 38 degree stadium all day and then come off the bench and try to get a hit.

Between the weather and Oklahoma State playing a Big 12 Conference basketball game on Friday night, the crowd tonight at the big showdown game was just 823. It wasn't much, but it was a far cry better than the crowd at the afternoon game against URI: 111.

I'm interested in how URI coach Jim Foster will allign his pitching the rest of the tournament. Today he started Tim Boyce - his #3 weekend starter - against Fullerton's #3 guy . Eric Smith and Nick Greenwood are their two best starters. As the underdog, Rhody has a big advantage in that they will not face a #1 or a #2 starter from either Oklahoma State or Fullerton. Foster is a sharp coach: don't be surprised if he can get one or two close games against these powerhouse opponents in the games pitched by Smith and Greenwood.

Tomorrow night's rematch with Oklahoma State could have some sparks. They weren't happy with the coaching staff have Felly attempting steals of third and home with the score 8-3. (I think they are full of crap - are you telling me a team with 19 CWS trips has never overcome a five run deficit at home? Cut me a break!) The weather is going to be a little warmer and the hoops team got eliminated, so I'd expect a bigger crowd and a little attitude. It is a great opportunity for Kyle Witten to match up with another nationally prominent pitching opponent - I can't wait!

Titans Bat Around in Ninth for Ninth Straight

GAME 12: TITANS 15, TEXAS A&M 5

From The Eagle (College Station, Texas)

By Richard Croome
richard.croome@theeagle.com

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Seventh-ranked Cal State Fullerton pounded out 21 hits for the game and scored eight runs in the ninth inning to win a rare midweek battle of Top 10 teams, beating No. 8 Texas A&M 15-5 on Tuesday at Olsen Field.

The Titans came in batting .306 as a team and did nothing to hurt that number, going 21 for 43. In their last six games the Titans are batting .383 with 19 home runs and have scored 68 runs.

"That's the best offense I've seen in a long time, 1 through 9, in their commitment to their game plan and their two-strike approach," A&M coach Rob Childress said.

In the ninth, Fullerton (10-2) sent 12 batters to the plate, had seven hits -- two for homers and two for doubles -- to break open a close game that had two ties and two lead changes.

"You only have so many opportunities, and we made some pitches to get out of some jams and get to that point but we didn't cash in early and couldn't keep it close in the ninth," Childress said. "To be down two [runs] in the ninth, I like our chances at home to at least make it close or make [Fullerton] a little bit nervous and have a shot."

A&M (11-4) sent four pitchers to the mound in the ninth but was unable to get the final out when the game was still within reach. Six of the final eight runs were scored with two outs.

Joe Scott's bases-loaded double that Brooks Raley just missed catching and back-to-back homers by Gary Brown and Christian Colon were the key hits that broke it open in the ninth for the Titans.

"It was a great game for eight innings, we were just unable to finish the game," Childress said. "[We] hit 1 for 11 with runners in scoring positions, and not cashing in in the first and third inning changes the whole middle to late innings of that game."

The Aggies continued their long-ball assault after hitting six homers on Sunday against Utah. Brodie Green made starter Noe Ramirez pay for hitting Kyle Colligan with a pitch, knotting the score at 2-2 with his third home run of the season over the left-field fence.

Colligan put A&M ahead in the bottom of the fourth with his second homer of the season, a liner over the Big 12 logo on the left-field fence.

"I thought [Colligan] had a great night, I really did. He went for every ball and tried to make every play," Childress said. "I was really glad to see his approach at the plate and him swing the bat well, which is one of the positives of the night."

Colligan raised his average from .161 to .200 with three hits.

A&M chased Ramirez in the fifth when Brooks doubled down the left-field line and Dylan Petrich hit the second base bag for a single and an RBI.

The Titans, who scored double-digit runs in all three games last weekend against Southern Mississippi, took their hacks at A&M starter Clayton Ehlert.

Ehlert gave up a season-high 10 hits in 4 2/3 innings. The last four batters he faced reached base, with a two-run homer by Josh Fellhauer being the big blow.

Ehlert had two outs at the time. He struck out the leadoff hitter, and catcher Kevin Gonzalez caught Gary Brown stealing for the second out.

Fellhauer hit his homer on the first pitch, and Jared Clark lined the first pitch he saw to right to end Ehlert's night.

The other two runs off Ehlert were created by doubles from Khris Davis and Brown. A Dustin Garneau single scored Davis in the second, and Fellhauer plated Brown with a single up the middle in the third.

Kyle Witten (2-0), the Titans' regular Saturday starter, got the win. He went 1 2/3 innings, giving up one hit and one unearned run.

A&M's Adam Smith scored the one run off Witten after leading off the sixth with a single, going to third on Witten's errant pickoff attempt and then running home on a wild pitch.

Aggie freshman Ross Hales (3-1) took the loss, giving up two runs in 1 2/3 innings after coming on in the fifth.

Davis hit Hales' first pitch in the sixth for a home run to right. It was his team-leading sixth homer.

One out later Garneau missed a homer by a couple of feet on a triple, and then he came home on a Scott ground out.

NOTES -- Dylan Petrich made a diving catch on Nick Ramirez's looping fly ball to left-center to save a run in the seventh when the Titans were leading 6-5. ... A&M's home game vs. Northwestern State on Wednesday was moved to March 25 because of the threat of rain.

Titans Complete Sweep in Convincing Fashion

GAME 11: TITANS 11, SOUTHERN MISS 3

By Don Hudson

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Early in Sunday's series finale between visiting Cal State Fullerton (blue jerseys) and home team Southern Mississippi (white home unis), a man sitting behind me had brought his Little League-aged son Johnny to the game to teach him some of the game's finer nuances. As the Titans mounted their third consecutive display of awesome hitting and defense, Dad's cell phone rang: it was Grampa, who advised, "Make sure to tell Johnny to learn from the blue team."

Behind six strong innings by Tyler Pill and a potent offensive display, led by Gary Brown's three hits and home runs by five different players, the Cal State Fullerton Titans completed a series sweep of the University of Southern Mississippi by a score of 11-3 on Sunday afternoon at "The Pete" in Hattiesburg.

Gary Brown once again gave the Titans a jump start when he led off with a single, stole second, advanced to third on a grounder by Christian Colon and scored on an RBI single by Josh Fellhauer. Further damage was averted when the Eagles induced a double-play ball from Clark.

After Tyler Pill pitched a scoreless first inning, Nick Ramirez led off with a single that brought a sudden cloudburst downpour. As the fans scampered for cover, Khris Davis squared to bunt before the pitcher even reached his set position: as poorly as USM had defensed the bunt all series, you've got to figure the Titans are going to apply even more pressure making them field a bunt on a slick infield, right? Wrong! It was the butcher boy play: Davis got upright from out of the bunt position and lined a shot off the light stanchion in left field for a two-run homer. By the time the ball landed, there was bright sunshine.

The Golden Eagles bounced back in the bottom of the second frame, with all the damage coming after two quick outs. Joey Archer doubled, Michael Ewing walked and Tyler Koelling drove them both around on a gap-job double.

The game was tight early on mainly because the Titans grounded into double-plays in each of the first three innings.

The wheels began to fall off the Southern Miss wagon in the middle innings. Nick Ramirez led off the fourth inning with a no-doubt-about-it home run, his third straight game with a bomb. The lead was stretched to 5-2 when Davis reached on an error, advanced to third on a wild pitch and a groundout and scored on a Dustin Garneau grounder.

Clark made it 7-2 with a two-run blast in the fifth inning: it was a nice shot, but looked quite mortal compared with Friday's moon launch.

Pill continued to pitch well as his teammates pounded away at Southern Miss pitching on a windy day in Hattiesburg. The Titans ran away and hid with four more runs in the seventh inning. After hitting a long "foul ball home run" with one out, Dustin Garneau knocked the next pitch over the left field wall for a "fair ball home run." Joe Scott and Gary Brown followed Garneau with base hits before Christian Colon belted a three-run homer, his first of the season. It was the fifth Fullerton home run of the game and the tenth of the series.

Pill surrendered a solo homer in the last of the sixth inning to James Ewing. He left after six innings with an 11-3 lead and his second collegiate win well in hand.

Nick Ramirez made his first pitching appearance since his Hindenburg-esque outing against TCU and was very impressive: six up and six down. The pitching has relied almost exclusively on righties so far, but it is imperative that we have some portside strength, even if it is for just one hitter or one part of the batting order. Between Nick Ramirez, Jason Dovel and Kevin Rath, it is important that at least one (and preferably more) of them can be counted on in big game situations.

Other than more Titan hit batters (seven total in game) and more USM double plays (four total), the last few innings were just a barrier between the Titans and an evening in The Big Easy. Michael Morrison went out for the last inning just to shake off the rust of no save situations in a week: he walked a couple guys but presumably benefited just by getting in some work.

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

So what did we learn there yesterday?

First, we learned to always listen to the advice of Grampa. The Titans conducted an absolute baseball clinic all weekend. It remains hard to gauge just how good Southern Miss is, because I don't remember the Titans playing that well in a long time. Surely USM lacks top-tier pitching, but the way the Titans swung the bats this weekend was incredible and the defense (despite several defensive stalwarts making their first errors of the season) made some spectacular web-gem plays. Jeff Newman made a couple of eye-popping catches in left-field on Sunday. Tony Harkey also made two excellent diving stops playing first-base in the ninth inning.

Several lifelong USM fans opined that they had never seen a team play better at The Pete in 30+ years and Jared Clark's tape measure home run Friday remained the talk of the town. It was the first time the Golden Eagles had been swept at home by a non-conference opponent since William Carey College did it to them thirteen years ago. (Bring on Bill Carey College!)

There were lots of comments to the effect that "this is baseball the way it was meant to be played." I think sometimes the bar has been set so high at Fullerton by the success of the past few decades that we might take for granted (even if it's just slightly) just how good a quality of baseball this team treats us to year in and year out.

The series run totals of 37-11 hardly tells the gap in play. The Titans hit into four double-plays on Sunday and held down the scoring two of the games by making mid-game substitutions and playing station-to-station baseball once the leads became comfortable.

Gary Brown had his second consecutive three hit game. He played a great all-around series. After hitting just six home runs as a team in its eight previous games, the Titans flexed their muscles with ten home runs in a three-game series. There wasn't one of them that was cheap. The field is short in the power alleys, the wind blew out and the opposing pitching wasn't very good, but nevertheless it was a sight to behold. I just hope the payback isn't two weeks of warning track flyouts.

We learned that business should be brisk this week at the local jewelry store that gives away gift certificates whenever the Eagles pull off a double-play.

We learned that Christian Colon is human defensively: he made his first two errors of the season on Sunday. He has been making every play - the routine ones and the spectacular ones - so I'll settle for his first couple errors coming in an 11-3 win.

As great as the baseball was, perhaps the most enduring memory of this trip will be the people. The Titans were treated like baseball royalty in every respect and everybody we met was remarkably friendly. It was a privilege for both me (left) and Titans ardent supporter Tim Munroe (right) to spend some time with Butch Davis (center); a.k.a "Easy Eagle Rider." If you recall, Butch is a retired businessman who rode his Honda motorcycle across country last season to watch the CSUF/USM series played in Fullerton. (The thread is still available in the archives at www.titancentral.com. You will also be able to read his blogs from that trip in the Hattiesburg American website archives.)



He has ridden his motorcycle in every state - except Alaska. Guess where he is headed this summer on his motorcycle? Yep - Alaska - possibly routed through Omaha.



So it was off to LSU today to practice while en route to Texas A&M for a Tuesday showdown. I'll be curious how the pitching is arranged for that game and the four game tournment at Oklahoma City, especially with Noe Ramirez making an unplanned appearance Saturday following Witten's early injury-related departure. Hopefully the weather will cooperate: things were looking gloomy when I connected through Houston today. I'm sorry to miss the A&M game at one of college baseball's most enthusiastic environments, but I'll be back out there again for the Stillwater event.

Return of Small Ball ... and Hidden Ball Trick

GAME 10: TITANS 11, SOUTHERN MISS 6

By Don Hudson

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Cal State Fullerton Titans were up to their old tricks today (hit batsmen, bunting, applying pressure on the defense and forcing mistakes - and even the ol' hidden ball trick) as they clinched their weekend series in Hattiesburg against the University of Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles by a score of 11-6 this afternoon at "The Pete." Seven of the game's runs were unearned: it wasn't very pretty, but it was a win nevertheless.

Once again, the Titans got on the board early and often. Gary Brown led off the game with the first of his three hits, followed by a Christian Colon HBP and Josh Fellhauer reaching on a misplaced sacrifice bunt. Jared Clark plated the first run on sacrifice fly. The red-hot Khris Davis knocked in two more runs with a clutch two-out single. Sign that things are going well: Davis took a big lead and broke for second while the pitcher still had the ball. Fortunately for the Titans, pitcher Cody Schlagel's pickoff throw was way over the first baseman's head and rolled into "no man's land" as Davis circled the bases to give Fullerton a 4-0 advantage before the Golden Eagles came to bat.

Kyle Witten looked very sharp in the home half of the first, setting Southern Miss down in order.

Pitcher Schlagel was on a short leash: he was yanked after surrending a leadoff walk to Dustin Garneau in the second inning. Garneau scored the Titans' fifth run on a Joe Scott sacrifice and an RBI single by Gary Brown.

Trouble struck for the Titans in the bottom of the third inning. Witten was breezing along, aided by a spectacular bare-handed do-or-die play by Brown on a ball chopped deep to third base: we were all so stunned by the beauty and athleticism of Brown's play that we didn't immediately notice Witten hobbling around the mound. Dave Serrano and trainer Chris Mumaw came out check him out: Witten is tougher than the breakfast steak at the Hattiesburg Diner and he remained in the game. The next batter walked and was followed by a base hit to right field that Khris Davis misplayed and the Golden Eagles had an unearned run. Kyle Mertins was then summoned to replace Witten.

The score remained 5-1 in favor of CSUF until the Golden Eagles struck in the bottom of the fifth inning off Mertins, who gave up singles to Tyler Koelling and Taylor Walker leading off the inning. Kameron Brunty hit a hard ground ball to Clark that had 3-6-3 double play written all over it - unfortunately, the ball went under his glove for an error and the score was suddenly 5-2 with runners at second and third and nobody out. Brian Dozier's infield single made it 5-3 with runners on the corners and nobody out. After a sacrifice fly made it 5-4, the Eagles made a baserunning gaffe when Dozier broke early to attempt a steal and was easily picked off. Mertins escaped further damage by striking out DH Kyle Maxie to end the inning with the Titans clinging to a narrow one run lead.

Fullerton's small ball offense caused pain for USM in the top of the sixth inning. After Davis led off with another hit, Newman's sacrifice bunt was misplayed by pitcher Kyle Lindsey when he threw wide of first base. When Garneau followed with another bunt, Lindsey attempted to gun down davis at third base; unfortunately, the third baseman was charging to play the bunt and the throw went down the left field line and allowed Davis to score and Newman and Garneau to reach scoring position. Now trailing by two runs and the game getting late, the USM infield was drawn in and the new RBI machine, Joe Scott, bounced one up the middle to score both runners and give Fullerton an 8-4 edge.

Southern Miss responded in their half of the inning with a one-out Graves single and a Koelling walk that drove Mertins from the game and brought in Noe Ramirez, on just three days rest following his seven inning outing against SDSU. Things looked grave for the Titans when Noe was immediately greeted by a Walker double, scoring Graves and sending Koeller to third base.

This is when a very pivotal play occurred. Before heading back up on the hill, Noe Ramirez kneeled down to tie his shoes - looking every bit the part of the nervous freshman pitcher - but it was all a decoy: Brown had held onto the ball and he tagged out Koelling for a huge out. Head coach Corky Palmer made a half-hearted attempt to convince the umpires that Ramirez was on the mound (which would have constituted a balk), but the third base coach was too embarrassed to have any part of that fuss. Noe induced a fly ball to end the inning and take the wind out of the Eagles' sails.

The other Ramirez - Nick - helped put the game out of reach with a line drive home run deep over the fence in right-center field in the top of the seventh inning. After Noe pitched a 1-2-3 bottom half of the seventh, the Titans posted their eleventh and final tally in the eight inning. Gary Brown legged out a one-out triple and made it safely back to the bag on a fielder's choice grounder that allowed Colon to reach first base. Out came another old Titans trick: Colon broke for second base and stopped halfway while Brown scampered across the plate.

After Noe pitched a scoreless eighth inning, Ackland gave up a harmless ninth inning run on a walk and two singles.

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

So what did we learn today?

Freshman pitcher Noe Ramirez won his second game of the week by virtue of a rule that gives discretion to the official scorer to determine which reliever pitched the most effectively when a starting pitcher leaves the game before five complete innings with a lead that is never relinquished (except on designated staff days). Mertins and Noe Ramirez both pitched the same number of innings (2 2/3), but Noe gave up no runs on just one hit and one walk, while Mertins gave up four runs (three earned) on five hits and three walks.

I'm not a doctor (but I am staying at a Howard Johnson's), so I won't begin to speculate on the nature or extent of Kyle Witten's injury. Suffice to say, though, that the reliance on freshmen pitchers Pill and Noe Ramirez will be even greater if he misses any starts.

We also learned that it is very tough to win games against topflight opponents the caliber of Cal State Fullerton when your two best starting pitchers give you just 2 1/3 combined innings in the Friday and Saturday games. After Pat McInnis was knocked out of the box after 1 1/3 innings last night, Schlagle lasted just 1+ today.

Brown and Davis led the ten hit Titan attack with three hits each. Davis is making excellent contact consistently - my worst fear was that his three home run game was going to get him swinging for the fences every at-bat, but he is going with the pitches and hitting the ball hard with consistency. Brown has played two stellar games this series and he looks like he is ready to explode.

We learned that even in the midst of a winning streak, the defense can break down occassionally. Davis and Clark made errors that led to unearned runs, while Felly's ninth inning error caused only runner advancement. On the flip side, Gary Brown and Jeff Newman each made a great defensive play, and Colon, Scott and Garneau were as steady as usual.

We learned once again that you just can't beat good ol' fashioned southern hospitality. The people of Mississippi that follow this program love baseball and make each game an event. Beyond the fence arching from center to right field, there is an area where space is reserved (by virtue of season ticket purchases and booster club contributions) to the hardcore tailgating crowd. Walking by wearing the "F" hat, compliments for our baseball program and offers of adult beverages were ubiquitous. The Diamond Club was hosted today by the Golden Eagles' booster club: it was a great display of hospitality and camraderie: thank you!

We also learned that former Raiders punting great Ray Guy (pictured above) is a regular member of the USM baseball tailgating society. He is a graduate of Southern Mississippi and was a great athlete - not just a great punter. The only punter ever drafted by an NFL team in the first round of the draft, Guy once held the NCAA record for longest field goal and his eight interceptions as a standout defensive back is still (I believe) a single season school record. It is a complete travesty that he has never been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame - the old guard just won't bring down the wall that prevents any pure punters from enshrinement. Pro football is a game of field position and Ray Guy totally revolutionized both the game and the punting position.

Lastly, we learned that WCWarEagles knows his barbeque. In a recent thread, he suggested restaurants for various types of food and Leatha's was his nomination for barbeque. Acting on his advice, I left my luxury pad at HoJo's and went there - the food was awesome, 87-year-old matriarch Leatha was there and the place was packed with players, coaches, family, friends and fans of both programs. It put a great finish on a very nice day.