CATCH ALL THE ACTION: Titans fans can catch all the action for this weeks games by following the links at FullertonTitans.com. Live stats will be available for all four games this week. Audio broadcasts will also be available.
TV TIME: Tuesday night's game at USC will be televised courtesy of the PAC-12 Networks Los Angeles. Game time is set for 6 p.m. and a video stream will also be available online. The stream requires a valid login from a participating cable provider.
TITANS AND HIGHLANDERS ON ESPN3: The first two games of the Titans three-game set at UC Riverside will be broadcast courtesy of ESPN3. Links to the video feed can be found on the baseball schedule page at FullertonTitans.com. The broadcast can also be seen on mobile devices and tablets with the WatchESPN app.
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THESE EXCELLENT TITANS BASEBALL TICKET OFFERS!
The Titans may be on the road this week but Titans fans can still take advantage of these great deals to catch Fullerton in action at Goodwin Field.
-Three-game Flex Plan: Fans can pick any three remaining home games against UC Santa Barbara, UCLA or Long Beach State for $30.
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.
ANOTHER WEEK ON THE ROAD: The Titans are back on the road this week as they take on No. 13 USC for a midweek game followed by a three-game set against UC Riverside at The Plex. This season, the Titans are 8-12 in road games.
ONE MONTH TO GO: There are four weeks left in the 2015 regular season and the Titans will look to finish strong in order to secure their 24th consecutive trip to the NCAA Postseason. Fullerton has 14 games left in the year with seven on the road and seven at home.
RPI AND TOURNAMENT WATCH: The Titans are ranked No. 43 in this week's RPI report released by the NCAA Monday after taking two games from UC Irvine in a pivotal conference series.
CSF vs. USC • ALL-TIME SERIES
First Year Played/Last Year Played 1975/2015
Overall Record 49-39-1
Current Streak Lost 1
NCAA Regional Record 2-4
NCAA College World Series Record 1-0
Overall NCAA Postseason Record 3-4
Home Record 25-16
Road Record 20-20
Neutral Record 4-3-1
Longest Winning Streak 6 games (2/23/82 to 5/29/84)
Longest Losing Streak 5 games (2/7/89 to 2/5/91)
Extra Innings 1-3
Most Runs Scored in a Game 17 runs, 2 times (last on 5/20/14)
Most Runs Scored in a Game by Opponent 14 runs (04/15/08)
Largest Margin of Victory 14 runs, 2 times (last on 5/20/14)
Largest Margin of Defeat 10 runs (4/15/08)
USC NOTES: This will be the second meeting of the season between the two teams. The Trojans scored a 6-4 win against the Titans in Fullerton's home opener back on Feb. 17.
-BERNARDO FLORES - Tuesday's projected starter, Bernardo Flores threw three innings at Cal State Fullerton earlier this season in relief, allowing two runs on three hits with four strikeouts. Last year at Cal State Fullerton in a 17-3 loss, Flores threw two complete innings in relief, allowing two runs on two hits with one walk and three strikeouts. In his two outings vs. Fullerton, Flores has thrown 5.0 innings, allowing four runs on five hits with seven strikeouts and one walk.
GOLDEN SPIKES - Bobby Stahel and Garrett Stubbs were added to the 60-player midseason watch list for the prestigious Golden Spikes Award, given to the top amateur baseball athlete in the nation by USA Baseball. The honor is the first of each's career and they are the first Trojans since Ricky Oropesa was named to the preseason watch list in 2011. Catcher Jeff Clement was named a finalist for the award in 2005 and Mark Prior won it in 2001.
-RANKINGS - The Trojans are ranked as high as No. 12 in the NCBWA rankings. In Baseball America and the D1baseball.com rankings, the Trojans are No. 13. The Trojans are also ranked 16th by Collegiate Baseball. The Trojans haven't been ranked this high since 2003.
-FASTEST TO 25 WINS - The Trojans reached the 25-win mark in 31 games, the fastest since they completed the same feat in 1998, the last year they won the College World Series. The Trojans are just two wins away from hitting their entire win total from last season.
-HITTING LAST YEAR'S TOTAL - Last season in the Trojans had their first winning season since 2005, and they have already tied their win total from last season at 29-10. Last year they finished 29-24 and were one of the last four teams left out of the NCAA Tournament.
-FASTEST TO 30 WINS - The Trojans are currently sitting at 30-12 on the season. The Trojans reached 30 wins through 40 games, the fastest since 1996.
IN THE NATIONAL STATS - The Trojans rank in many national categories. Bobby Stahel is 10th in the nation with a .404 batting average. As a team their batting average of .296 ranks 41st nationally. The Trojans are averaging 1.62 stolen bases per game, 30th in the nation. The team's ERA of 3.13 ranks 27th nationally.
-HITTING STREAK - Bobby Stahel's 22-game hitting streak, the longest since James Roberts had a streak of 21 games in 2012 was snapped on Saturday at Oregon State with an 0-for-5 day at the plate. The program high is 28, set by Jacque Jones in 1995.
VERSUS THE PAC-12 CONFERENCE: The Titans are 1-4 against PAC-12 Conference teams this season. The Titans currently hold a 285-211-3 mark against teams from the Pacific-12 conference, with their most victories (65) coming against UCLA in 97 games. The Titans have also played Arizona 97 times, holding a 63-34 record. Fullerton has played Stanford on 99 (43-56) occasions, the most against any PAC-12 team. Stanford is one of just three teams in the conference to hold a winning record over the Titans all-time along with Arizona State (26-30) and Washington State (5-7).
CSF vs. UC RIVERSIDE • ALL-TIME SERIES
First Year Played/Last Year Played 1978/2014
Overall Record 35-21
Current Streak Lost 1
Big West Conference Record 21-18
Home Record 21-8
Road Record 12-14
Neutral Record 0-0
Longest Winning Streak 9 games (3/28/09 to 5/18/12)
Longest Losing Streak 4 games (5/12/02 to 5/4/03)
Extra Innings 2-3
Most Runs Scored in a Game 18 runs (3/29/09)
Most Runs Scored in a Game by Opponent 13 runs (5/2/03)
Largest Margin of Victory 17 runs (3/29/09)
Largest Margin of Defeat 10 runs (5/2/03)
UC RIVERSIDE NOTES: The Highlanders currently sit in last place in the Big West Confernece standings after dropping their fourth consecutive conference series at CSUN. The Highlanders held the lead in the bottom of the ninth but surrendered two runs to the Matadors to suffer the walk-off loss. After winning four of their first five games, the Highlanders have gone into a tailspin, going 9-27 since. But RIverside has had success against the Titans at home where the Highlanders hold a winning record against Fullerton, although the Titans have had more success recently as they have won the last three series' (2013, 2011, 2009) at The Plex. Last year, the Highlanders scored a series win over the Titans at Goodwin Field for the second straight time after they won two of three from Fullerton at Goodwin Field in 2012.
TITANS AND THE BIG WEST: Overall, Cal State Fullerton has posted a dominant 717-253-1 (.738) conference record over 40 seasons. Rick Vanderhook, the school's fifth Div. I head coach, has compiled a 62-25 Big West Conference record in his four 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 541-207 (.723; 32 years) PCAA/Big West Conference record.
PICKED TO WIN IT: Cal State Fullerton was picked as the favorite to win the 2015 Big West title as selected by the nine conference head coaches that voted in the Big West Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll. The Titans received five of the nine first-place votes and 74 points overall, edging 2014 Big West Conference champions Cal Poly, which received three first-place votes and 73 points overall. UC Santa Barbara claimed the third spot, receiving the final first-place vote and 62 points overall while UC Irvine (56 points) and Long Beach State (48 points) rounded out the top five spots.
VARGAS LEADING THE OFFENSE: Josh Vargas has been on an absolute tear for the Titans at the plate. In his last 10 games, Vargas is batting a team-best .457 (16-for-35) with a .548 on-base percentage and .543 slugging percentage. He has three doubles, three RBIs and nine runs scored during that stretch. He's also been perfect on stolen bases, going 4-for-4. Overall, Vargas is leading the team with a .356 batting average, which ranks fifth in the Big West to go along with a .473 on-base percentage. He also leads the squad in hits (42) and is second on the team in walks (19) and tied for third in triples (2).
DON'T WALK: The Titans find themselves in a familiar position as they lead the nation in walks allowed per nine innings. The pitching staff has allowed just 74 walks in 372.2 innings pitched, good for a 1.79 average. Illinois is second with a 1.88 clip and Texas Christian ranks third in the country with a 1.99 average. Those three teams are the only ones in the country averaging fewer than two walks per nine innings. Meanwhile, Thomas Eshelman leads the nation with a 0.55 walks-per-nine average as he has allowed just five walks in 81.1 innings pitched.
CROSS 'EM OUT AND PUT A "K": The Titans are currently ranked first in the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio with a 4.68 average, trailing only TCU which holds a 4.81 average. In addition, Thomas Eshelman is currently ranked fourth in the country and first in the Big West with a 15.80 ratio and also ranks 26th in the nation in overall strikeouts with 79, which also places him second in the conference.
THREE BAGS PLEASE: The Titans are currently ranked 19th in the country and are second in the Big West Conference with 16 triples this season. Individually, David Olmedo-Barrera is currently ranked 17th in the nation and also leads the Big West with five triples, three behind national leader Kent Blackstone of George Mason. Scott Hurst has three triples this year for the Titans, which ranks fifth in the conference.
CLOSE EDGE: The Titans are now 7-8 this season in one-run games following their 5-4 loss to UC Irvine in 10 innings on Saturday. Last season, the Titans led the nation with 26 one-run games. They went 13-13 in those contests.
