Replay highlights from the Titans-San Diego State game Tuesday night.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Titans Score Late to Beat Aztecs
GAME 4: TITANS 8, SAN DIEGO STATE 6
From GoAztecs.com
SAN DIEGO - The Titans prevail with two late runs in sloppy contest on a night in which the game's first eight runs were scored with only three hits, seventh-ranked Cal State Fullerton used a pair of late tallies to edge San Diego State, 8-6, at Tony Gwynn Stadium. Eight of the game's 14 total runs were of the unearned variety as errors and pitching control issues were the story of the evening. The outcome evened both school's early-season record at 2-2.
Aztec freshman Ryan O'Sullivan made his collegiate pitching debut and pitched well overall although the final result left him with a no-decision. In his five innings of work, he allowed five runs (three earned) on five hits with a pair of strikeouts and three walks.
O'Sullivan retired the first batter he faced to open the game before Christian Colon reached on a fielding error. That seemed affect O'Sullivan's concentration as he walked the ensuing better, Josh Fellhauer, before giving up an RBI double to Jared Clark. Fellhauer then scored on a ground out and the Titans were quickly up 2-0.
San Diego State came back to score four runs in its half of the second, all without the benefit of a base hit. After walks to Cory Vaughn and Josh Chasse were sandwiched around a pair of strikeouts, catcher Matt Parker lofted a routine fly ball to left field that was dropped by outfielder Tyler Pill allowing both runners to score. A hit batter (Pat Colwell) and walk (Mitch Blackburn) loaded the bases. Another walk to Brandon Meredith scored Parker and Colwell later came home on a passed ball. The four unearned runs gave the home side a 4-2 lead.
A pair of walks, a balk and a single gave two of those runs back to Fullerton as the Titans tied the score at 4-4 in the top of the third.The teams traded runs over the next three frames and the score stood at 6-6 going into the seventh when the visitors took the lead for good as Colon walked, stole second, advance to third on ground out and came home on a wild pitch. That run would make a winner of reliever Travis Kelly (1-0) despite his having given up the tying one an inning earlier. Junior Kegan Sharp (0-1) would be tagged with the loss
Fullerton added an insurance run in the ninth when Fellhauer scored from third on a safety squeeze after he had walked and gone to third on an errant pickoff attempt by Aztec pitcher Andrew Leary.
Titan closer Michael Morrison came on in the bottom of the ninth and retired the side in order to record the save in his first appearance of the season.
SDSU second baseman Mitch Blackburn finished the evening with a pair of hits and two walks while teammate Cory Vaughn had a single, two walks, two runs scored and a pair of stolen bases.
For the second consecutive game, outfielder Pat Colwell was hit by pitch twice and has now moved into the number-two spot on the SDSU career list with 22 in his two-plus seasons as an Aztec.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Frogs Take Series Finale
GAME 3: TCU 11, TITANS 6
By Don Hudson
The outcome of Sunday's game was too depressing to get into details, so instead here are some photos from today's ceremonies honoring the 1979, 1984 and 2004 CWS championship teams. (Forgive the quality, as I am just learning how to use a new camera. I always dreamed of being Grantland Rice - not Ansel Adams!)
By Don Hudson
The outcome of Sunday's game was too depressing to get into details, so instead here are some photos from today's ceremonies honoring the 1979, 1984 and 2004 CWS championship teams. (Forgive the quality, as I am just learning how to use a new camera. I always dreamed of being Grantland Rice - not Ansel Adams!)
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Saturday Pitching Pains
GAME 2: TCU 8, TITANS 6
By Don Hudson
If pain is the price paid for life's lessons, the tuition was raised last night on the Titans' pitching staff in losing to TCU, 8-6. We entered the season knowing that pitching is a work-in-process and that our patience would be tested - did we have to get a pop quiz the second day of class?
Kyle Witten clearly did not have his best stuff from the game's onset. Leadoff man Ben Carruthers stroked an 0-2 pitch into the gap past a diving Khris Davis. Josh Fellhauer made a nice play cutting the ball off and making a great throw to second to nail Carruthers attempting to stretch it into a double. The second batter hit a moon shot that Felly caught against the wall deep in center field, while Jeff Newman made a nice grab of a sizzling line drive to end the inning.
After a scoreless bottom of the first inning, Witten's first pitch was hammered on a line to left field, with Newman making another nice shoestring grab. Four batters and four outs - but the tone was set. The Titans struck for the game's first run in the bottom of the second on Khris Davis' home run that appeared to skim the top of the fence and off the scoreboard.
Witten allowed a single and a wild pitch in the third inning, but he stranded a Horned Frog at third base to end the frame. His shutout ended in the fourth inning: following a single, double and HBP, Witten uncorked a wild pitch to tie the game at one apiece. TCU took a 2-1 lead on a sacrifice fly.
As they did every time the Frogs scored on Friday night, the Titans' offense immediately bounced back. Davis led off with a sharp single, stole second base and scored on a double to right field by Nick Ramirez, who gave the Titans a 3-2 lead following a wild pitch and ground-out by Joe Scott.
The Frogs knocked Witten from the box with just one out in the fifth inning following two doubles and a single that gave TCU a 4-3 lead. Michael Morrison entered the game and looked sharp, striking out two after plunking the first batter he faced.
When Morrison pitched a crisp 1-2-3 sixth inning, it looked like the storm had passed and things had settled down. Au contraire, mon frere: this was the dreaded Saturday night special about to unfold. After the Titans tied the score at 4-4 in the last of the sixth on a Felly bunt single and another sharp double by Nick Ramirez, Carruthers led off with a single (0-2 pitch) to left field and Morrison's control appeared to disappear on a four-pitch walk. Things looked up when Garneau caught the lead runner at third base on the front end of an attempted double steal, but Chris Ellington tied the score on a double (1-2 pitch) over the third base bag.
Tie score, runner on second, one out: pretty easy decision, eh? Intentionally walk the next hitter (Curry) and set up the double play situation. Unfortunately, Morrison's first offering on the intentional walk sailed way over Garneau's head and Ellington advanced to third on the wild pitch. The second pitch came all too close to the plate and crossed up Garneau, also sailing to the backstop. (Fortunately, the ball ricocheted favorably for Fullerton and the runner could not advance.) Morrison struck out the next hitter following the IBB, but he uncorked another wild pitch to give TCU a 6-4 lead.
The Titans' offense responded with a run in the bottom of the seventh on a Gary Brown triple and RBI grounder by Newman, who reached on an error. TCU worked out of the jam by inducing a double-play ball from Colon and a Clark strikeout.
Kevin Rath took the bump for Fullerton in the eighth inning and he surrendered a run on a walk, two groundouts and a single by Carruthers: his third hit of the evening on 0-2 pitches.
Trailing 7-5 entering their half of the eighth inning, the Titans scored once on a single and two stolen bases by Fellhauer (I would have ruled the second one "defensive indifference") and an error.
Rath came out for the ninth inning, charged with maintaining the one run deficit. He walked the leadoff man and was aided by a pretty 'round-the-horn double play started by Brown and turned nicely by Shima. Unfortunately, the momentum of the douple-play was short-lived, as Matt Curry drove Rath's next pitch over the fence, the trees and the 57 Freeway. The Titans went quietly in the ninth inning to absorb their first loss of the season by a score of 8-6.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
So what did we learn last night?
The pitching staff still has a long way to go. Witten was hit hard and he and Morrison each had two wild pitches. Two balls thrown off the backstop during an intentional walk. Five hits (out of TCU's eleven) were on 0-2 or 1-2 counts. Five walks and three hit batsmen. Zeros in just four of the nine innings pitched.
The offense has some work to do also. There were twelve strikeouts last night and some very feeble swings chasing pitches far out of the strike zone.
On the positive side, Nick Ramirez continues to crush the ball (6-8 in two games); Felly also has five hits already. After his four-whiff night Friday, it was great to see Khris Davis come out Saturday with a homer and single: he is batting 1.000 when he puts the ball in play. Garneau threw out a couple would-be base stealers and both Fellhauer and Newman made a couple good defensive plays in the outfield.
I'm really looking forward to today's battle of heralded freshmen pitchers. Let's win today and take something positive into our upcoming games against San Diego State and Stanford.
By Don Hudson
If pain is the price paid for life's lessons, the tuition was raised last night on the Titans' pitching staff in losing to TCU, 8-6. We entered the season knowing that pitching is a work-in-process and that our patience would be tested - did we have to get a pop quiz the second day of class?
Kyle Witten clearly did not have his best stuff from the game's onset. Leadoff man Ben Carruthers stroked an 0-2 pitch into the gap past a diving Khris Davis. Josh Fellhauer made a nice play cutting the ball off and making a great throw to second to nail Carruthers attempting to stretch it into a double. The second batter hit a moon shot that Felly caught against the wall deep in center field, while Jeff Newman made a nice grab of a sizzling line drive to end the inning.
After a scoreless bottom of the first inning, Witten's first pitch was hammered on a line to left field, with Newman making another nice shoestring grab. Four batters and four outs - but the tone was set. The Titans struck for the game's first run in the bottom of the second on Khris Davis' home run that appeared to skim the top of the fence and off the scoreboard.
Witten allowed a single and a wild pitch in the third inning, but he stranded a Horned Frog at third base to end the frame. His shutout ended in the fourth inning: following a single, double and HBP, Witten uncorked a wild pitch to tie the game at one apiece. TCU took a 2-1 lead on a sacrifice fly.
As they did every time the Frogs scored on Friday night, the Titans' offense immediately bounced back. Davis led off with a sharp single, stole second base and scored on a double to right field by Nick Ramirez, who gave the Titans a 3-2 lead following a wild pitch and ground-out by Joe Scott.
The Frogs knocked Witten from the box with just one out in the fifth inning following two doubles and a single that gave TCU a 4-3 lead. Michael Morrison entered the game and looked sharp, striking out two after plunking the first batter he faced.
When Morrison pitched a crisp 1-2-3 sixth inning, it looked like the storm had passed and things had settled down. Au contraire, mon frere: this was the dreaded Saturday night special about to unfold. After the Titans tied the score at 4-4 in the last of the sixth on a Felly bunt single and another sharp double by Nick Ramirez, Carruthers led off with a single (0-2 pitch) to left field and Morrison's control appeared to disappear on a four-pitch walk. Things looked up when Garneau caught the lead runner at third base on the front end of an attempted double steal, but Chris Ellington tied the score on a double (1-2 pitch) over the third base bag.
Tie score, runner on second, one out: pretty easy decision, eh? Intentionally walk the next hitter (Curry) and set up the double play situation. Unfortunately, Morrison's first offering on the intentional walk sailed way over Garneau's head and Ellington advanced to third on the wild pitch. The second pitch came all too close to the plate and crossed up Garneau, also sailing to the backstop. (Fortunately, the ball ricocheted favorably for Fullerton and the runner could not advance.) Morrison struck out the next hitter following the IBB, but he uncorked another wild pitch to give TCU a 6-4 lead.
The Titans' offense responded with a run in the bottom of the seventh on a Gary Brown triple and RBI grounder by Newman, who reached on an error. TCU worked out of the jam by inducing a double-play ball from Colon and a Clark strikeout.
Kevin Rath took the bump for Fullerton in the eighth inning and he surrendered a run on a walk, two groundouts and a single by Carruthers: his third hit of the evening on 0-2 pitches.
Trailing 7-5 entering their half of the eighth inning, the Titans scored once on a single and two stolen bases by Fellhauer (I would have ruled the second one "defensive indifference") and an error.
Rath came out for the ninth inning, charged with maintaining the one run deficit. He walked the leadoff man and was aided by a pretty 'round-the-horn double play started by Brown and turned nicely by Shima. Unfortunately, the momentum of the douple-play was short-lived, as Matt Curry drove Rath's next pitch over the fence, the trees and the 57 Freeway. The Titans went quietly in the ninth inning to absorb their first loss of the season by a score of 8-6.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
So what did we learn last night?
The pitching staff still has a long way to go. Witten was hit hard and he and Morrison each had two wild pitches. Two balls thrown off the backstop during an intentional walk. Five hits (out of TCU's eleven) were on 0-2 or 1-2 counts. Five walks and three hit batsmen. Zeros in just four of the nine innings pitched.
The offense has some work to do also. There were twelve strikeouts last night and some very feeble swings chasing pitches far out of the strike zone.
On the positive side, Nick Ramirez continues to crush the ball (6-8 in two games); Felly also has five hits already. After his four-whiff night Friday, it was great to see Khris Davis come out Saturday with a homer and single: he is batting 1.000 when he puts the ball in play. Garneau threw out a couple would-be base stealers and both Fellhauer and Newman made a couple good defensive plays in the outfield.
I'm really looking forward to today's battle of heralded freshmen pitchers. Let's win today and take something positive into our upcoming games against San Diego State and Stanford.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Won and 'Oh'
GAME 1: TITANS 7, TCU 6
By Don Hudson
The Titans won a hard-fought battle with a walk-off pinch-hit double by Tyler Pill in the bottom of the ninth inning on Friday night, with Fullerton prevailing by a 7-6 score over TCU. There were several encouraging performances, as well as a few reminders that there is a big difference between 'high expectations' and 'high performance.'
Daniel Renken started and pitched 5 2/3 reasonably strong innings, tarnished only by two solo homers that knocked even more lights out of the Goodwin Field scoreboard. Renken and the Horned Frogs' Tyler Lockwood locked up in a scoreless pitchers' duel through three innings before Jason Coats gave TCU a 1-0 lead with a two-out homer to left field. The Titans responded in the bottom half of the fourth inning with a solo tally on a single by Jared Clark, a passed ball and a two-out RBI single by freshman DH Nick Ramirez.
Shortstop Taylor Featherston gave TCU a 2-1 lead with a long home run to left field in the top of the fifth inning. Once again, the Titans responded promptly with a tying run in their half of the frame: Joe Scott walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch and to third on a single by Gary Brown. Jeff Newman followed with a successful safety squeeze to knot the score at 2-2.
Renken breezed through the first two batters in the sixth inning before allowing a single by Matt Curry on his 89th pitch of the evening. With Coats coming to the plate, the chess game began in earnest between coaches Serrano and Schlossnagle: when Dave headed to the mound, the 2,155 assistant coaches in attendance assumed it was simply to discuss how to pitch Coats, lest the ball leave the yard again - but Dave waved towards the bullpen for Travis Kelly. After Coats roped a single, Kelly worked out of the jam by inducing an infield pop-up that seemingly entered the flight path of a French satellite. Schlossnagle went to his bullpen in the bottom of the sixth and the score remained tied after Fellhauer singled and was thrown out stealing (for the second time in the game) and Khris Davis struck out, the third of the night for him en route to the golden sombrero.
The Horned Frogs came out ripping at Kelly's offerings in the seventh inning, with two solid hits putting runners at the corners with nobody out to greet reliever Kyle Mertins. He surrendered an RBI single to Corey Steglich and a sacrifice fly gave TCU a 4-2 lead.
Trailing by two runs following "Take me Out to the Ballgame," the Titans rallied once again. Nick Ramirez led off with another sharp single (he was 4-4 in his dazzling debut) and Garneau was plunked by a pitch (one of four Titans' HBP) to place the tying run on base. Joe Scott did his job with a sacrifice bunt, made better than dreamed when pitcher Steven Maxwell's throw sailed into Riverside County. Ramirez scored on the play and Garneau came in to tie the score at 4-4 on a sacrifice fly by Gary Brown. Newman reached base again on a HBP. With Newman running on a hit and run, Colon smacked a hard single past the moving infielder: Scott scored from third base and Newman scored all the way from first on the single, with the aid of Coach Bergy's aggressive waving him around and catching TCU off guard. Although the Titans took a 6-4 lead, the inning could have been much bigger: Colon was picked off, followed by a Clark walk and a Fellhauer single. Davis struck out, leaving the menacing Ramirez in the on-deck circle, to end the bottom of the seventh inning.
Mertins pitched a stellar 1-2-3 eighth inning for the Titans. Fullerton threatened again in the last of the eighth inning when Ramirez led off with a double. After pinch-runner Shima was bunted to third base and Scott was hit by a pitch, Brown hit a chopper along the third base line that Matt Carpenter made a nice 'do or die' play on: there was no chance to nab the speedy Brown at first, but he made an off-balance throw home to nail Shima.
The coaching wheels continued to grind. Do you bring your closer in to start the ninth inning with a two run lead when the guy out there looked so great in the eighth? Mertins was allowed to start the ninth inning: a leadoff walk and a hit batter put the tying runs on base with nobody out before Ryan Ackland was summoned. After an infield ground-out moved both runners into scoring position, Ben Carruthers hit a towering blast towards the left field corner: perhaps a home run in the earlier innings, but a game-tying double nonetheless in the cool, damp ninth inning air. The cat-and-mouse game continued between Serrano and Schlossnagle - both excellent coaches - Ackland struck out Coats to leave the bases juiced after a pair of intentional walks.
Colon led off the ninth inning with a HBP and advanced to second base on a wild pitch, which led to an intentional pass for Jared Clark. With Fellhauer at the plate (three hits already) and the on-deck hitter with four K's on the night, do you have Felly bunt? If you are TCU, what do you do with the next batter if there is a successful sacrifice? Felly laid down a pretty good bunt, but pitcher Marshall fielded it cleanly and threw a pea to third base to force out the lead runner. As Davis looked towards the coaching box for the signs, freshman Tyler Pill emerged from the dugout and put on his helmet and his best "What, me worry?" look. When the count went to 2-1, Pill hammered a shot deep into the gap over the head of the center-fielder. Clark trotted home easily with the winning run before the Titans swarmed out of the dugout to congratulate Pill.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
So what did we learn here tonight? You could not help but be impressed and encouraged with the way Nick Ramirez swung the bat: his three singles and one double in four at-bats were all hit hard. When you add in Pill's hit, it is great to see two true freshmen combine for a 5-5 night at the plate.
Fellhauer had three hits and provides great protection in the line-up behind Clark. This isn't exactly breaking news, but it was nice to see him get off to a good start.
None of the pitchers was flawless, but each got some key outs. Notwithstanding the two intentional walks by Ackland, Fullerton pitchers allowed only one other walk Friday night.
Perhaps the most encouraging part of the game is that whenever the opponent scored, the Titans immediately responded. You could feel that the Titans confidence never waned the three times they fell behind this quality opponent.
On the "things could have been better" side of the ledger, the aggressive offense resulted in five "unforced" outs on the basepaths: Ramirez out at second after his single; Colon picked off first; Fellhauer out stealing twice (although one looked like a possible missed sign on a hit and run); Brown out at third base after rounding the bag wide on an infield hit by Colon. In the long run, the aggressive style will produce many more runs than it prevents, but tonight came up short.
The bullpen allowed four of the five inherited runners to score. This is going to be a situation that will be interesting to see develop. Inherited runners stranded in June are much more important than in February.
It will also be important to see how Fellhauer is protected by the #6 slot in the batting order.
Tonight should be another interesting game and a chance to see a pitcher considered key to an Omaha run. Not only will you get to see two excellent teams and their coaches, but I can't wait to see Mike "Crappy" Gilmore's first home plate umpiring assignment since his debacle last year down at Blair Field.
By Don Hudson
The Titans won a hard-fought battle with a walk-off pinch-hit double by Tyler Pill in the bottom of the ninth inning on Friday night, with Fullerton prevailing by a 7-6 score over TCU. There were several encouraging performances, as well as a few reminders that there is a big difference between 'high expectations' and 'high performance.'
Daniel Renken started and pitched 5 2/3 reasonably strong innings, tarnished only by two solo homers that knocked even more lights out of the Goodwin Field scoreboard. Renken and the Horned Frogs' Tyler Lockwood locked up in a scoreless pitchers' duel through three innings before Jason Coats gave TCU a 1-0 lead with a two-out homer to left field. The Titans responded in the bottom half of the fourth inning with a solo tally on a single by Jared Clark, a passed ball and a two-out RBI single by freshman DH Nick Ramirez.
Shortstop Taylor Featherston gave TCU a 2-1 lead with a long home run to left field in the top of the fifth inning. Once again, the Titans responded promptly with a tying run in their half of the frame: Joe Scott walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch and to third on a single by Gary Brown. Jeff Newman followed with a successful safety squeeze to knot the score at 2-2.
Renken breezed through the first two batters in the sixth inning before allowing a single by Matt Curry on his 89th pitch of the evening. With Coats coming to the plate, the chess game began in earnest between coaches Serrano and Schlossnagle: when Dave headed to the mound, the 2,155 assistant coaches in attendance assumed it was simply to discuss how to pitch Coats, lest the ball leave the yard again - but Dave waved towards the bullpen for Travis Kelly. After Coats roped a single, Kelly worked out of the jam by inducing an infield pop-up that seemingly entered the flight path of a French satellite. Schlossnagle went to his bullpen in the bottom of the sixth and the score remained tied after Fellhauer singled and was thrown out stealing (for the second time in the game) and Khris Davis struck out, the third of the night for him en route to the golden sombrero.
The Horned Frogs came out ripping at Kelly's offerings in the seventh inning, with two solid hits putting runners at the corners with nobody out to greet reliever Kyle Mertins. He surrendered an RBI single to Corey Steglich and a sacrifice fly gave TCU a 4-2 lead.
Trailing by two runs following "Take me Out to the Ballgame," the Titans rallied once again. Nick Ramirez led off with another sharp single (he was 4-4 in his dazzling debut) and Garneau was plunked by a pitch (one of four Titans' HBP) to place the tying run on base. Joe Scott did his job with a sacrifice bunt, made better than dreamed when pitcher Steven Maxwell's throw sailed into Riverside County. Ramirez scored on the play and Garneau came in to tie the score at 4-4 on a sacrifice fly by Gary Brown. Newman reached base again on a HBP. With Newman running on a hit and run, Colon smacked a hard single past the moving infielder: Scott scored from third base and Newman scored all the way from first on the single, with the aid of Coach Bergy's aggressive waving him around and catching TCU off guard. Although the Titans took a 6-4 lead, the inning could have been much bigger: Colon was picked off, followed by a Clark walk and a Fellhauer single. Davis struck out, leaving the menacing Ramirez in the on-deck circle, to end the bottom of the seventh inning.
Mertins pitched a stellar 1-2-3 eighth inning for the Titans. Fullerton threatened again in the last of the eighth inning when Ramirez led off with a double. After pinch-runner Shima was bunted to third base and Scott was hit by a pitch, Brown hit a chopper along the third base line that Matt Carpenter made a nice 'do or die' play on: there was no chance to nab the speedy Brown at first, but he made an off-balance throw home to nail Shima.
The coaching wheels continued to grind. Do you bring your closer in to start the ninth inning with a two run lead when the guy out there looked so great in the eighth? Mertins was allowed to start the ninth inning: a leadoff walk and a hit batter put the tying runs on base with nobody out before Ryan Ackland was summoned. After an infield ground-out moved both runners into scoring position, Ben Carruthers hit a towering blast towards the left field corner: perhaps a home run in the earlier innings, but a game-tying double nonetheless in the cool, damp ninth inning air. The cat-and-mouse game continued between Serrano and Schlossnagle - both excellent coaches - Ackland struck out Coats to leave the bases juiced after a pair of intentional walks.
Colon led off the ninth inning with a HBP and advanced to second base on a wild pitch, which led to an intentional pass for Jared Clark. With Fellhauer at the plate (three hits already) and the on-deck hitter with four K's on the night, do you have Felly bunt? If you are TCU, what do you do with the next batter if there is a successful sacrifice? Felly laid down a pretty good bunt, but pitcher Marshall fielded it cleanly and threw a pea to third base to force out the lead runner. As Davis looked towards the coaching box for the signs, freshman Tyler Pill emerged from the dugout and put on his helmet and his best "What, me worry?" look. When the count went to 2-1, Pill hammered a shot deep into the gap over the head of the center-fielder. Clark trotted home easily with the winning run before the Titans swarmed out of the dugout to congratulate Pill.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
So what did we learn here tonight? You could not help but be impressed and encouraged with the way Nick Ramirez swung the bat: his three singles and one double in four at-bats were all hit hard. When you add in Pill's hit, it is great to see two true freshmen combine for a 5-5 night at the plate.
Fellhauer had three hits and provides great protection in the line-up behind Clark. This isn't exactly breaking news, but it was nice to see him get off to a good start.
None of the pitchers was flawless, but each got some key outs. Notwithstanding the two intentional walks by Ackland, Fullerton pitchers allowed only one other walk Friday night.
Perhaps the most encouraging part of the game is that whenever the opponent scored, the Titans immediately responded. You could feel that the Titans confidence never waned the three times they fell behind this quality opponent.
On the "things could have been better" side of the ledger, the aggressive offense resulted in five "unforced" outs on the basepaths: Ramirez out at second after his single; Colon picked off first; Fellhauer out stealing twice (although one looked like a possible missed sign on a hit and run); Brown out at third base after rounding the bag wide on an infield hit by Colon. In the long run, the aggressive style will produce many more runs than it prevents, but tonight came up short.
The bullpen allowed four of the five inherited runners to score. This is going to be a situation that will be interesting to see develop. Inherited runners stranded in June are much more important than in February.
It will also be important to see how Fellhauer is protected by the #6 slot in the batting order.
Tonight should be another interesting game and a chance to see a pitcher considered key to an Omaha run. Not only will you get to see two excellent teams and their coaches, but I can't wait to see Mike "Crappy" Gilmore's first home plate umpiring assignment since his debacle last year down at Blair Field.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Midnight Madness
By Don Hudson
"The first team to practice and the last team to play" is the rallying cry for the 2009 edition of the Cal State Fullerton Titans baseball team. Things got underway one minute past the stroke of midnight this morning and ended eerily at the exact prescribed time of 4:00 a.m. just as fog began to engulf the field.
The crowd began to trickle in just after 11:0p.m. and was greeted by the hospitality of the Diamond Club. Many thanks for their generosity and tireless efforts: the sausages, tri-tip, snacks, coffee and hot chocolate were very much appreciated by the hearty attendees, especially as the evening temperature continued to dip. As midnight approached, people started to arrive in waves: I'm not sure the headcount, but it appeared to be on the order of a couple hundred people at the peak.
After a little over an hour of warming up, stretching and batting practice (when is the last time you sat and watched B.P. at one o'clock in the morning?), the scrimmage began. The match featured the presumed starting team (home) vs. substitutes (visitors).
Home: Garneau (C), Clark (1B), Scott (2B), Brown (3B), Colon (SS), Newman (LF), Fellhauer (CF), Davis (RF), Nick Ramirez (DH).
Visitors: Marcoe (C), Harkey (1B), Orloff (2B), Shima (3B), Moore (SS), Siddons (LF), Kingsolver (CF), Fahey (RF), Corey Jones (DH).
Tyler Pill (home) and Michael Morrison (visitors) were the starting pitchers.
After a quick first inning on the hill by Pill, the home team posted three quick runs. Gary Brown led off with a walk and the rest of the inning featured base hits and larceny of all types: straight steals, delayed steals and double steals. It should be a portent of the type of pressure Coach Bergy will apply on opposing pitchers, catchers and defenses. Brown in particular seemed to be on base all night long (all morning, I should say).
"The first team to practice and the last team to play" is the rallying cry for the 2009 edition of the Cal State Fullerton Titans baseball team. Things got underway one minute past the stroke of midnight this morning and ended eerily at the exact prescribed time of 4:00 a.m. just as fog began to engulf the field.
The crowd began to trickle in just after 11:0p.m. and was greeted by the hospitality of the Diamond Club. Many thanks for their generosity and tireless efforts: the sausages, tri-tip, snacks, coffee and hot chocolate were very much appreciated by the hearty attendees, especially as the evening temperature continued to dip. As midnight approached, people started to arrive in waves: I'm not sure the headcount, but it appeared to be on the order of a couple hundred people at the peak.
After a little over an hour of warming up, stretching and batting practice (when is the last time you sat and watched B.P. at one o'clock in the morning?), the scrimmage began. The match featured the presumed starting team (home) vs. substitutes (visitors).
Home: Garneau (C), Clark (1B), Scott (2B), Brown (3B), Colon (SS), Newman (LF), Fellhauer (CF), Davis (RF), Nick Ramirez (DH).
Visitors: Marcoe (C), Harkey (1B), Orloff (2B), Shima (3B), Moore (SS), Siddons (LF), Kingsolver (CF), Fahey (RF), Corey Jones (DH).
Tyler Pill (home) and Michael Morrison (visitors) were the starting pitchers.
After a quick first inning on the hill by Pill, the home team posted three quick runs. Gary Brown led off with a walk and the rest of the inning featured base hits and larceny of all types: straight steals, delayed steals and double steals. It should be a portent of the type of pressure Coach Bergy will apply on opposing pitchers, catchers and defenses. Brown in particular seemed to be on base all night long (all morning, I should say).
The most outstanding player was Tyler Pill, who pitched five strong shutout innings. He used a variety of speeds and locations and seemed to have command throughout, even on the few times he fell behind in the count. As the home team stretched its lead to 8-0 and the clock was somewhere between 2 and 3, the crowd thinned out - perhaps more because of coldness than fatigue. (I wish I was as well prepared as Troy Brown with his portable heater and Dunkin Donuts thermos.) The visitors made a late rally and ended up on the short end of an 8-5 final score.
Right on cue, the game ended at 4:00. How often do you see the scoreboard lit up (albeit missing a few bulbs) to say "4:04 A.M."? HereWeGoTitans looked as fresh as a daisy and was ready for the second game of a double-header. As for me, I wish I could say I was fooling around and closed my eyes for that last picture; it wasn't until I looked this morning that I realized how exhausted I was. Nevertheless, I believe this was a great event and hopefully the start of what will become a Titans tradition.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
New Day in Titan Baseball
Greetings!
I am starting this project not to replace the current board at Titan Central, but to complement it. This web site, dedicated to all things Titans Baseball, will be a place to present more dynamic features on a daily basis.
It is my hope that this will be the place where all Titan fans - and college baseball fans (yes, even Dirtbag fans are welcome here) - can find game stories, analysis, statistics, videos, and even live blogs during games. It will also serve as a host to an ambitious archives project, chronicling the triumphant 35 years since Cal State Fullerton baseball moved up to Division I.
A little bit about myself: I am a CSF graduate (Journalism, '91), a former Daily Titan sports editor and later worked at the San Francisco Chronicle/Examiner, Contra Costa Times and Pasadena Star-News. I am currently the editor of RealClearWorld and the author of the Media Watch blog at RealClearPolitics.
But I might be best known as the BCS Guru.
I have enlisted a number of Titan Central regulars to contribute to this site. And I would like to recruit more. Please contact me if you're interested in becoming a part of this project and/or if you have any questions. We're just two months away from the 2009 season, and I hope to hit the ground running.
Thank you and Go Titans!
I am starting this project not to replace the current board at Titan Central, but to complement it. This web site, dedicated to all things Titans Baseball, will be a place to present more dynamic features on a daily basis.
It is my hope that this will be the place where all Titan fans - and college baseball fans (yes, even Dirtbag fans are welcome here) - can find game stories, analysis, statistics, videos, and even live blogs during games. It will also serve as a host to an ambitious archives project, chronicling the triumphant 35 years since Cal State Fullerton baseball moved up to Division I.
A little bit about myself: I am a CSF graduate (Journalism, '91), a former Daily Titan sports editor and later worked at the San Francisco Chronicle/Examiner, Contra Costa Times and Pasadena Star-News. I am currently the editor of RealClearWorld and the author of the Media Watch blog at RealClearPolitics.
But I might be best known as the BCS Guru.
I have enlisted a number of Titan Central regulars to contribute to this site. And I would like to recruit more. Please contact me if you're interested in becoming a part of this project and/or if you have any questions. We're just two months away from the 2009 season, and I hope to hit the ground running.
Thank you and Go Titans!
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