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Every Thursday, FullertonTitans.com will feature a member of the 2015 Cal State Fullerton Athletics Hall of Fame class, the sixth in its history. Today, the focus is on Titans baseball star and member of the 1995 NCAA National Championship team Ted Silva. He played at Fullerton from 1993-1995.
FULLERTON, Calif. – Every great team needs an ace and former Cal State Fullerton right-hander Ted Silva was just that for the Titans in 1995.
The Redondo Beach, Calif.-native was outstanding on the mound for Fullerton that season, finishing 18-1, the best record in the country. He posted a 2.83 ERA in 29 appearances and 19 starts that season, fanning 142 batters in 152 and 2/3 innings pitched and added six saves for a team that many consider the greatest NCAA baseball team ever put together.
The 1995 Titans finished the year ranked No. 1 in the nation with a 57-9 overall record and 18-3 in conference. They annihilated the Baton Regional, outscoring their opponents 41-21 in four games en route to their second straight College World Series.
In Omaha, the Titans continued to roll as they won all four games at Rosenblatt Stadium.
Silva started the opener and got the victory in a 6-5 win over Stanford. He went seven and 1/3 innings and fanned four as the Titans scored three in the bottom of the seventh to break a 3-3 tie.
The Titans historic season culminated in the championship game as Fullerton beat Southern California 11-5, powered by seven runs in the first two innings. In that game, Silva got the ball on the bump and recorded his second win of the CWS, once again going seven and 1/3 innings. He allowed five runs, only two earned, on six hits and struck out five without issuing a walk to lead the Titans to their third NCAA National Championship.
What made the 1995 season even more spectacular for Silva was the fact that he had never started a game for Fullerton until that year.
In his first two seasons with the Titans, Silva made 65 appearances, all out of the bullpen. He recorded 20 saves in his first two seasons including 13 in 1994 as a sophomore. He pitched 112 innings combined in his first two years with the Titans before his outstanding 1995 season.
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Silva was a two-time All-American (2nd team in 1994, consensus 1st team in 1995) and was the Big West Conference Pitcher of the Year in 1995.
Overall, Silva made 94 career appearances with the Titans in three seasons. He went 26-7 with a 2.92 career ERA and recorded 257 strikeouts in 264 and 2/3 innings pitched. His 26 career saves currently ranks third in the Fullerton all-time record book.
Silva also pitched for Team USA in 1994 and would go on to be drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 21st round of the MLB First Year Player Draft in 1995.
Silva eventually returned to Fullerton to serve as an assistant coach in 2005 and 2006, going to the CWS as a coach in his last season.
He would go on to spend four seasons as the pitching coach at UC Irvine and Loyola Marymount, respectively. In 2011, Silva was hired as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Nebraska. He was promoted to Associate Head Coach in 2014. Last season, the Cornhuskers produced a team ERA of 3.12, the lowest by a Nebraska pitching staff since 2005.
The sixth class of the Cal State Fullerton Athletics Hall of Fame will be inducted on Oct. 15 at the Phoenix Club in Anaheim with a cocktail hour beginning at 6 p.m.
Individual tickets are $90 with tables of 10 for $800. Online Registration for Hall of Fame.
For more information, contact Marcela Lucero at (657) 278-7016 or malucero@fullerton.edu.
Next Week's Hall of Fame Spotlight: Mark Covert (Cross Country/Track and Field)
