FULLERTON, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton will play an exhibition game against Korean team NC Dinos on Feb. 23 at Goodwin Field, it was announced Friday.
The Titans will host NC Dinos, a member of the Korean Professional Baseball League, following Fullerton's first weekend home series of the 2015 season against Stanford.
NC Dinos were founded in 2011 and played their first season in the Korean Baseball Organization in 2013. NC Dinos play their home games at Masan Baseball Stadium in the city of Changwon, Gyeongsangnam-do,South Korea.
The four-time national champion Cal State Fullerton baseball program has been selected to represent the United States at the 2015 World University games from July 3-14 in Gwangju City, South Korea.
The World University Games is the American term for "Universiade," an international multi-sport event organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The Universiade, which began in 1959, is an international sporting and cultural festival, staged every two years in a different city around the world, representing both winter and summer competitions.
The 2015 Summer Games in Gwangju City, South Korea will have U.S. representation in up to 21 sports by 550 people which will be, by far, the largest American team in the history of U.S. participation in the Games. By contrast, the 2013 American team had 400 athletes and staff in Kazan, Russia.
The Titans are coming off the 40th consecutive winning season and 30-win season in the program's NCAA Division I history. Fullerton advanced to its 23rd consecutive NCAA Tournament in 2014.
After having seven players selected in the 2014 Major League Baseball First-Year Player draft, star pitchers Thomas Eshelman and Justin Garza headline the returners to the team for the 2015 season. Eshelman has led the nation in walks allowed-per-nine innings in his first two seasons with Cal State Fullerton, including setting a national record with a 0.23 mark as a freshman.
Garza recorded the fourth no-hitter in Cal State Fullerton history in his sophomore season, holding CSUN without a hit on May 23, 2014. He walked three and struck out 12, matching his career high. After two seasons, Garza currently ranks sixth in the Titans career record book in fewest walks allowed per nine innings (1.49) and is tied for eighth with a 5.0 strikeout-to-walk ratio. His 2.49 career ERA also currently ranks eighth while his .224 opponent's batting average ranks 10th in the record book.
During the summer, both pitchers were selected to the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team, becoming the 24th and 25th Titans to represent Cal State Fullerton on the team dating back to 1987. It was also the sixth time multiple Titans have been named to the squad.
Joining Eshelman, Garza and the rest of the returners will be a recruiting class that was ranked No. 10 by Collegiate Baseball. It will feature five players that were selected in the 2014 MLB Draft (Tristan Hildebrandt, Connor Seabold, Jordan Hand, Chris Hudgins and John Gavin) along with 2014 signees and summer baseball standouts Chad Bible and Scott Hurst.