CATCH ALL THE ACTION: A live audio feed as well as live stats will be available for this weekend's non-conference series against Long Beach State. Live audio and live stats will also be available for the Titans two-game midweek series at Nebraska. A live video feed will also be available, although a subscription is required. Audio feed is free but fans must complete the sign-up process to listen. All links can be found at FullertonTitans.com.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Follow @BaseballTitans on Twitter for daily updates during the 2015 season. Fullerton baseball is also now on Instagram, so make sure to follow the 2015 team all season @CSF_TitansBaseball.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS:
FRIDAY
CSF - RHP, Thomas Eshelman (2-2, 1.93 ERA) vs. LBST - RHP, Kyle Friedrichs (3-1, 1.97 ERA)
SATURDAY
CSF - RHP, Justin Garza (1-1, 2.25 ERA) vs. LBST - RHP, Tanner Brown (3-0, 1.65 ERA)
SUNDAY
CSF - LHP, John Gavin (2-0, 4.81 ERA) vs. LBST - RHP, Chris Mathewson (1-2, 2.65 ERA)
POLL POSITION: After an 0-4 week, the Titans dropped out of the Baseball America poll after being ranked No. 23 by the publication last week. The Titans are still receiving votes in the USA Today Coaches' Poll.
CRAZY EIGHT: The Titans defeated CSU Bakersfield 11-0 on Wednesday night and are now 9-4 in home games this season. That game also marked the last time the Titans will play at Goodwin Field for two weeks as they begin an eight-game road swing beginning with a trip to Blair Field this weekend to take on rival Long Beach State in a non-conference series. The Titans will then head to Nebraska for a two-game midweek series and then conclude the road swing by opening up Big West Conference play on March 27 at CSUN, which is currently atop the conference standings with a 15-5 record going into this weekend.
CSF vs. LONG BEACH STATE • ALL-TIME SERIES
First Year Played/Last Year Played 1975/2014
Overall Record 133-63
Current Streak Won 1
PCAA/Big West Conference Record 70-42
SCBA Conference Record 30-7
Overall Conference (PCAA/Big West and SCBA) Record 98-48
Big West Conference Tournament Record 4-2
NCAA Regional Record 0-1
Overall NCAA Postseason Record 0-1
Home Record 68-30
Road Record 64-32
Neutral Record 1-1
Longest Winning Streak 15 games (4/12/85 to 4/10/88)
Longest Losing Streak 5 games (5/24/02 to 3/28/03)
Extra Innings 4-3
Most Runs Scored in a Game 26 runs (5/2/80)
Most Runs Scored in a Game by Opponent 17 runs, 2 times (last on 5/19/01)
Largest Margin of Victory 17 runs (3/31/81)
Largest Margin of Defeat 12 runs, 2 times (last on 5/16/99)
LONG BEACH STATE NOTES: Long Beach State won six of their first seven games to start the season but have lost four of their last six including a series loss at Arizona State in their last weekend series.
· The rivalry resumes this weekend as Long Beach State hosts Cal State Fullerton in the annual nonconference series between the two programs. The Dirtbags and Titans have met six times in each of the previous four and revive the tradition this year.
· Cal State Fullerton has been in and out of the national rankings this year but bounced out this week after being swept at Indiana last weekend and falling to 9-9 on the season.
· Last year, the two teams split six games as each team won its home series 2-1 with the Titans winning the nonconference series and the Dirtbags taking the Big West series. The Dirtbags are 83-139 all-time against the Titans.
· Both teams feature solid rotations and pitching staffs as both rank in the top-10 in the nation in strikeout to walk ratio.
· The Dirtbags will be back on the field on Friday after an eight-day layoff. Long Beach State's last game was a 6-0 win over George Washington last Wednesday.
· Next week, the Dirtbags will not play in a midweek game either as they travel up to UC Santa Barbara for a Big West-opening weekend series.
· Over a month into the season, Long Beach State continues to be one of the national leaders in strikeouts. The Dirtbags are currently racking up the strikeouts at the rate of 10.1 Ks per game, which ranks second in the country behind Charleston Southern.
· After striking out at least 11 in each of the first five games, the Dirtbags have cooled off on the strikeout total a bit but still have nine games this year with double digit strikeouts.
· Kyle Friedrichs leads the strikeout surge with 42 Ks this year, which rank 11th in the nation. His average of 12.46 strikeouts per nine innings also rank 24th in the country.
· Saturday starter Tanner Brown has been stifling the opposition this year to the tune of a .149 batting average against him. He has allowed just 14 hits and only one has gone for extra bases through his first 27-plus innings.
· His 14 hits and four walks combine for a 0.66 WHIP, which ranks 11th in the country.
· Brown's 1.65 ERA also leads a Dirtbags pitching staff whose stinginess has been making headlines all year. His ERA also ranks sixth in the Big West.
· With last weekend off, Brown came out of the bullpen last Wednesday and pitched two scoreless innings while striking out three and issuing one walk.
· Garrett Hampson stole another base last week to up his total to eight this season. He currently ranks third in the Big West.
· Hampson has been caught stealing only twice this season.
· He is just one off the stolen base total from his freshman season when he went 9-for-15.
· As a team, the Dirtbags rank third in the conference with 23 stolen bases in 32 attempts.
· The Dirtbags have spent the majority of the early season at home, playing 13 of their first 17 at Blair Field. After this weekend it will be 16 of the first 19 games at home to start the year.
· After this weekend, the Dirtbags only have 15 more home games, leaving 19 road dates left on the schedule.
· The Dirtbags have taken advantage of the home-heavy schedule with a 9-4 record at Blair Field this year. The offense has a slightly higher output at 4.5 runs per game while the pitching staff sports a 2.67 ERA.
· All four starting pitchers have held opponents to a batting average of less than .180 while the pitching staff as a whole has limited visitors to Blair to a .184 batting average.
· Friedrichs has especially taken advantage of his time at home where he own a 1.38 ERA in four starts. He has not allowed a run at home in 19.2 innings with back-to-back scoreless starts at Blair.
· Sophomore reliever Austin McGeorge leads the team with nine appearances out of the bullpen this year. Every time he has trotted out of the bullpen it has been with at least one runner on base.
· He has entered the game with the bases loaded twice this season and worked out of the jam by retiring the side without a run across. In total, McGeorge has stranded 13 of the 16 runners on base when he entered the game.
· Against LMU, he entered with two outs and produced an inning-ending comebacker to the mound to limit the damage.
· Against George Washington, he was placed on the mound with the bases loaded and no outs. A strikeout gave him the first out and a ground ball to third started a 5-4-3 double play to end it.
TITANS AND THE BIG WEST: Overall, Cal State Fullerton has posted a dominant 709-249-1 (.739) conference record over 40 seasons. Rick Vanderhook, the school's fifth Div. I head coach, has compiled a 54-21 Big West Conference record in his three seasons at the helm and won consecutive conference titles in 2012 and 2013, following in the footsteps of his predecessors, Augie Garrido (14). Larry Cochell (1), George Horton (7) and Dave Serrano (3). Overall, the Titans have won 27 conference titles.
A further breakdown has the Titans winning three PCAA conference championships (1975-76, 1987), eight straight SCBA titles (1977-84), and 16 while playing under the Big West name (1990-91, 94-95, 1997, 1999-2001, 2004-06, 2008, 2010-13). The Big West absorbed the PCAA records in 1990 upon its formation, giving the Titans 19 total Big West championships and a 533-203 (.724; 32 years) PCAA/Big West Conference record.
CSF vs. NEBRASKA • ALL-TIME SERIES
First Year Played/Last Year Played 1984/2014
Overall Record 8-0
Current Streak Won 8
NCAA Regional Record 2-0
NCAA College World Series Record 1-0
Overall NCAA Postseason Record 3-0
Home Record 5-0
Road Record NA
Neutral Record 3-0
Longest Winning Streak 8 games (3/8/84 to present)
Longest Losing Streak NA
Extra Innings 0-0
Most Runs Scored in a Game 9 runs (3/8/84)
Most Runs Scored in a Game by Opponent 7 runs (3/8/84)
Largest Margin of Victory 4 runs (5/30/14)
Largest Margin of Defeat NA
NEBRASKA NOTES: After playing 20 non-conference games to start the season, the Nebraska baseball team (14-6, 0-0 Big Ten) is set to open Big Ten Conference play this weekend when they host the Michigan Wolverines (11-8, 0-0 Big Ten) for a three-game series at Hawks Field. The Huskers and Wolverines have played 15 games all-time and the Huskers hold a 8-7 advantage in the series. 11 of the 15 games have come since 2012 when the Huskers joined the Big Ten Conference, and during that time frame the Huskers are 7-4 against the Wolverines, including a 2-0 record at the Big Ten Tournament. This weekend's match comes right in the middle of Nebraska's 16-game home stand and the Huskers enter Friday a perfect 7-0 at Hawks Field this year. The Wolverines have played all 19 of their games away from Ann Arbor, as they won't play their first home game until Tuesday, March 24, against Bowling Green. The Wolverines are 4-4 in true road games this year, with 11 of their 19 games played at neutral sites. Senior Chance Sinclair is scheduled to start for the Huskers on Friday night and he will face sophomore lefty Brett Adcock. Last season, Sinclair pitched the second game of NU series at Michigan and gave up just one unearned run over 7.1 innings in a 3-1 win. Adcock saw 1.0 inning of relief in the series finale, giving up two runs on two hits, while striking out two. Senior Kyle Kubat is set to start on Sunday and will look to improve to 4-0 all-time against the Wolverines. The 6-1 Kubat started each of Nebraska's two wins over Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament, including a career-high 8.2 inning outing last season in Omaha. Michigan is set to counter with freshman right hander Ryan Nutof. A native of South Elgin, Ill., Nutof is 1-1 on the year in five starts with a 2.67 ERA over 27.0 innings of work. Nutof has given up 15 hits and walked 15, while striking out 19. Sophomore Derek Burkamper will start on Sunday for the Huskers, it will be his sixth career start and his first during league play. Burkamper has gone at least 6.0 innings in each of his last three starts and will be looking for his second straight win. The Wolverines have yet to announce a starter for Sunday.
VERSUS THE BIG-10 CONFERENCE: The Titans currently hold a 27-11 record against teams currently in the Big-10 Conference. Of the 13 teams in the conference, Fullerton has never played seven of them including Iowa, Maryland, Michigan State, Purdue, Northwestern, Penn State and Rutgers. Fullerton dropped their first ever series against Indiana this past weekend, suffering a three-game sweep in Bloomington. The Titans hold an 8-0 record against Nebraska, Fullerton's best mark against any team in the conference. This will be Fullerton's first trip to Lincoln five of the previous eight meetings occurred at Goodwin Field. The teams met twice at the Stillwater Regional last year where the Titans took both matchups. The other meeting came at Rosenblatt Stadium at the 2001 College World Series. The Titans are also unbeaten against Michigan (3-0) and have beaten Ohio State in five of six overall meetings. Minnesota and Illinois are the only teams in the conference to have beaten the Titans on multiple occasions as Fullerton holds a 4-2 record against Illinois and a 7-5 mark against Minnesota all-time.
BACK TO BIG-10 COUNTRY: The Titans head back to the midwest when they travel to Lincoln, Neb. to take on Nebraska in a two-game midweek series. Fullerton just wrapped up a trip to Indiana where the Titans got swept by the Hoosiers in a three-game set. Following this trip to Nebraska, the Titans will have just two trips left outside the state of the California. They will head to Marylan on April 17 to take on yet another opponent from the Big-10 Conference and then they will wrap up the plane trips on May 15 when they head to Hawaii for a three-game conference series against the Rainbow Warriors. Overall, the Titans will log more than 11,000 miles of flight distance for their 2015 road schedule with trips to South Florida, Indiana, Nebraska, Maryland and Hawaii.
BRAVO!: Junior third baseman Jerrod Bravo is currently on a seven-game hitting streak and has reached base in nine straight games. Bravo recorded his second multi-hit game of the season when he went 2-for-2 with a run scored against CSU Bakersfield on Wednesday. The feat was even more impressive as he did that after coming into the game as a substitution in the seventh inning. Overall, Bravo is batting .375 (9-for-24) in 11 games played. He has two doubles, one triple and eight runs scored to go along with a pair of RBIs. Bravo is also slugging .542 with a .531 on-base percentage.
GETTING THE FIRST ONE OUT OF THE WAY: Freshman Hunter Cullen and junior Dalton Blaser each recorded their first career hit as a member of the Titans on Wednesday. Cullen sliced a two-run double over third and down the left field line to drive in a pair of runs in the first inning while Blaser laced a single back up the middle in his only at-bat in Fullerton's 11-0 shutout win over CSU Bakersfield.
OPERATION CONDOR: Freshman Connor Seabold set a new career high with five and 2/3 innings pitched and matched his career best with six strikeouts, earning his second career win in the Titans 11-0 win over CSU Bakersfield on Wednesday. Prior to Wednesday, Seabold had never pitched more than four innings in a game and had not recorded a victory as a starter.
GOTCHA!: Catcher A.J. Kennedy is amongst the nation's leaders this season in preventing the stolen base. Kennedy, a member of this season's initial Johnny Bench Award Watch List, has caught 50 percent of would-be base stealers this season. Kennedy has caught seven base runners trying to steal while allowing seven stolen bases overall, placing him in a tie for 14th place in the country as of March 16.
FEEL THE BREEZE: This weekend's series will feature two of the nation's best pitching staffs in terms of strikeouts. The Titans come into the series against the Dirtbags ranked No. 4 in the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio and No. 20 in strikeouts per nine innings. The Titans have fanned 171 batters while allowing 38 free passes for a 4.50 average and are also at 9.2 strikeouts per nine innings.
The Dirtbags come into the weekend ranked No. 2 in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings, averaging 10.1 per game. They are also ranked eighth in the country in strikeout-to-walk ratio with a 3.62 mark, having fanned 170 to go along with 42 walks.
LEADING OFF: The Titans have done a solid job of getting the leadoff hitter on base this season. In 19 games this season, the Titans have gotten the leadoff man on 66 times in 163 opportunities (.405), led by Josh Estill and Jake Jefferies who have each reached eight times to start off an inning. Bravo leads the team in percentage, having reached six of eight times (.750) to lead off an inning. On the other side, the Titans pitching staff has only allowed leadoff hitters to reach at a .304 clip.
