Game 25-27
Cal State Fullerton vs. CSUN
Date: April 1-3, 2016
Time: Friday 7 p.m.; Saturday 6 p.m.; Sunday 1 p.m.
Location: Fullerton, Calif.
Venue: Goodwin Field
VIDEO: Friday on ESPN3; Saturday and Sunday on BigWest.TV
Live Stats: FullertonTitans.com
Audio: FullertonTitans.com
Series Record: Cal State Fullerton Leads 58-19
Game 28
Cal State Fullerton vs. San Diego
Date: April 5, 2016
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Fullerton, Calif.
Venue: Goodwin Field
VIDEO: BigWest.TV
Live Stats: FullertonTitans.com
Audio: FullertonTitans.com
Series Record: Cal State Fullerton Leads 54-12-2
FULLERTON, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton returns to Goodwin Field for a four-game home stand and starts up Big West Conference play against CSUN for a three-game set.
Tickets for all Titans home games can be purchased online at FullertonTitans.com, or at the Cal State Fullerton Athletics Ticket Office, located in the Titan House on campus off of Gymnasium Drive on the northeast side of Titan Gym. Game day sales and will call tickets will open an hour prior to the scheduled time at the specific venue. All Cal State Fullerton students with a school ID get free admission.
CATCH ALL THE ACTION:
Fans can follow the action for this weekend's games with live stats and a live audio stream. Live video streams of the last three games of the home stand will also be available through BigWest.TV. All links can be found on FullertonTitans.com.
FULLERTON STARTS ESPN SCHEDULE:
Friday night's opening game against CSUN will be broadcast on ESPN3. Links can be found on FullertonTitans.com. It is one of five games airing on ESPN3 this season, four of which will be from Goodwin Field. The Titans will also have their April 26 game against UCLA televised on ESPNU.
SOCIAL MEDIA:
Follow @BaseballTitans on Twitter for daily updates during the 2016 season. Fullerton baseball is also on Instagram, so make sure to follow the 2016 team all season @CSF_TitansBaseball.
PROMO - HAT GIVEAWAY:
Fans attending Sunday's finale against CSUN will receive a free hat while supplies last!
POLL POSITION:
For the first time this season, the Titans are not ranked or receiving votes in any of the five major polls this week.
CSF vs. CSUN • ALL-TIME SERIES
First Year Played/Last Year Played: 1975/ 2015
Overall Record: 58-19
Current Streak: Won 1
Overall Conference (Big West) Record: 35-10
Home Record: 32-8
Road Record: 26-11
Neutral Record: 0-0
Longest Winning Streak: 16 games (04/12/03 to 04/11/08)
Longest Losing Streak: 3 games, 2 times (last from 04/26/02 to 04/28/02)
Extra Innings: 0-3
Most Runs Scored in a Game: 24 runs (04/09/05)
Most Runs Scored in a Game by Opponent: 15 runs, 2 times (last on 04/13/08)
Largest Margin of Victory: 24 runs (04/09/05)
Largest Margin of Defeat: 14 runs (04/20/01)
CSUN NOTES:
The Titans and Matadors open Big West Conference action this weekend for the second straight season. Fullerton took two out of three from CSUN to start conference play at Matador Field. This season, the Matadors come in with the best non-conference record of any team in the Big West, having won 20 of 25 games so far this season.
Other Matadors Notes:
• CSUN enters Friday night's game having won 15 of their last 17 games. The Matadors lost their opening three-game series of the season, falling to CSU Bakersfield twice at home while beating the Roadrunners on the road. Since then, the Matadors have won every series.
• The Matadors dropped their series finale at Portland on Sunday night, the last game they've played. This season, CSUN has not lost back-to-back games.
• Left-hander Kenny Rosenberg will get the start for the Matadors on Friday night. He is coming off his second Big West Conference Pitcher of the Week award. Rosenberg tossed his first career complete game in CSUN's 2-1 win over Portland on Friday night, improving to 4-0 on the season. He allowed just four hits and struck out nine. Rosenberg, who missed the 2015 season due to injury, leads the team with 57 strikeouts and is 4-0 with a 1.96 ERA in 41 and 1/3 innings. Opposing batters are hitting .144 against him so far this season.
• CSUN currently leads the conference with a collective .281 batting average along with 15 home runs on the season. The Matadors are also ranked second in the conference with a 2.76 team ERA and lead the conference with 243 strikeouts, a 9.44 strikeouts per nine innings average which ranks 14th in the nation.
• Fred Smith currently leads the team with a .363 batting average and 41 hits. He has five doubles, 11 RBIs and 20 runs scored so far this season. He is one of three players batting better than .300 for CSUN this year.
• Branden Berry and Albee Weis are tied for the team lead with six home runs apiece. Berry leads the team with a .621 slugging percentage.
TITANS AND THE BIG WEST:
Overall, Cal State Fullerton has posted a dominant 728-254-1 (.740) conference record over 41 seasons. Rick Vanderhook, the school's fifth Div. I head coach, has compiled a 73-26 Big West Conference record in his four seasons at the helm and won consecutive conference titles in 2012 and 2013. He helped lead the Titans to another title in 2015, 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 28 conference titles.
A further breakdown has the Titans winning three PCAA conference championships (1975-76, 1987), eight straight SCBA titles (1977-84), and 17 while playing under the Big West name (1990-91, 94-95, 1997, 1999-2001, 2004-06, 2008, 2010-13, 2015). The Big West absorbed the PCAA records in 1990 upon its formation, giving the Titans 20 total Big West championships and a 552-208-1 (.725; 33 years) PCAA/Big West Conference record.
PICKED TO WIN IT:
Cal State Fullerton was selected as the favorite to win the 2016 Big West titles as selected by the nine conference head coaches in the Big West Preseason Coaches Poll. The Titans received four first-place votes and 71 points overall. UC Irvine received one first-place vote and 65 points. Long Beach State garnered three first-place votes and 62 points overall to slot in at third while UC Santa Barbara was picked fourth with 60 points overall. CSUN (44), Cal Poly (43), Hawai'i (27), UC Riverside (17), and UC Davis (16) round out the poll.
2016 Coaches Poll Results
1. Cal State Fullerton (4) - 71
2. UC Irvine (1) - 65
3. Long Beach State (3) - 62
4. UC Santa Barbara (1) - 60
5. CSUN - 44
6. Cal Poly - 43
7. Hawai'i - 27
8. UC Riverside - 17
9. UC Davis – 16
( ) First Place Vote
CSF vs. SAN DIEGO • ALL-TIME SERIES
First Year Played/Last Year Played: 1976/ 2015
Overall Record: 54-12-2
Current Streak: Won 1
Overall Conference (SCBA) Record: 20-3-1
NCAA Regional Record: 1-0
Overall NCAA Postseason Record: 1-0
Home Record: 33-7
Road Record: 19-5-1
Neutral Record: 2-0
Longest Winning Streak: 16 games (04/07/87 to 03/02/97)
Longest Losing Streak: 4 games (03/05/13 to 03/10/15)
Extra Innings: 3-1-1
Most Runs Scored in a Game: 17 runs, 2 times (last on 04/09/91)
Most Runs Scored in a Game by Opponent: 11 runs, 2 times (last on 04/04/81)
Largest Margin of Victory: 17 runs (04/09/91)
Largest Margin of Defeat: 5 runs, 2 times (last on 03/10/15)
SAN DIEGO NOTES:
The Titans and Toreros will meet for the one and only time this season on Tuesday. Last year, the teams played two games with each side taking a game on the other's home field.
Other Toreros Notes:
• The Toreros are currently 0-2 against teams from the Big West Conference. The dropped a 9-3 decision to UC Santa Barbara at the Tony Gwynn Memorial Classic on Feb. 28 and fell at UC Irvine, 9-2, Tuesday night at Fowler Park.
• San Diego hosts Loyola Marymount this weekend before heading to Fullerton. The Toreros are currently 3-3 in West Coast Conference action.
• The Toreros are currently 5-5 on the road this season and 3-4 in nonconference road games. Their last nonconference win away from Fowler Park came on March 22 at Arizona State.
STIEB AND BRYANT STATUS:
Tyler Stieb has missed the last three games with sore ribs after crashing into the center-field wall while making an outstanding catch in center field Friday night against Long Beach State. Infielder Taylor Bryant is out indefinitely, having missed the last seven games with an undisclosed upper-body injury.
ALL HAIL THE PURPLE COBRAS:
Dalton Blaser has been hitting lasers lately for the Titans. He is in the midst of a team-best five-game hitting streak and has home runs in consecutive games, the second Titans player to do that this season (Josh Vargas, March 12-13 vs. Wichita State). In his last five games, Blaser is batting .350 (7-for-20) with two doubles, two home runs and six RBIs to go along with five runs scored. He has posted an OPS of 1.159 in that stretch while hitting .500 (4-for-8) with runners in scoring position. Blaser currently leads the team in batting average (.333), hits (26), walks (11), on-base percentage (.422), and multiple-hit games (9).
THE BLAKE SHOW:
Friday night starter Blake Quinn has been excellent in his first season with the Titans. The Fresno State transfer is currently 3-1 with a 1.59 ERA and leads the Titans with 39 strikeouts. Opponents are batting just .126 against him and has allowed just 14 hits in 34 innings of work. Quinn is ranked seventh in the nation and leads the Big West in hits allowed per nine innings (3.71). He is 45th in the country with a 0.88 WHIP and his ERA is ranked 61st in the nation.
OPERATION CONDOR:
Connor Seabold will make his fourth start of the season on Saturday night for the Titans. He is currently ranked 17th in the nation with a 9.67 strikeout-to-walk ratio, having fanned 29 batters as opposed to just three walks this season. He is also ranked 15th in the country with a 0.77 WHIP and 26th in the nation with a 0.99 walks allowed per nine innings average.
PITCH AND CATCH:
The Titans pitching staff is currently ranked ninth in the nation with a 2.36 ERA. They have allowed 59 earned runs in 225 innings pitched and have given opposing batters fits as Fullerton has allowed the enemy to bat at just a .190 clip this season. The Titans are ranked second in the country in hits allowed per nine innings, allowing just 6.04 hits per game. Fullerton is also ranked No. 1 in the nation with a 0.95 WHIP, 10th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.37) and walks allowed per nine innings (2.52).
Meanwhile, Fullerton's defense has been outstanding this season and is currently ranked seventh in the nation in fielding percentage (.981). The Titans had been ranked in the top-five in the category going into Tuesday's game at UCLA where Fullerton committed a season-high three errors. This season, the Titans have committed 17 errors in 918 chances.
LOSING THE CLOSE ONES:
More than half of the Titans losses this season have come by one run. Fullerton has played 10 one-run games this year and is 3-7 in those contests. In fact, Fullerton's last four losses have all come by one run. Their last one-run win came on March 18 against Maryland, a 3-2 walkoff victory in 10 innings.
NO FIRST INNING JITTERS HERE:
Cal State Fullerton has outscored its opponents 16-5 in the first inning of games this season and have put up at least one run in the opening frame 10 times, including Tuesday night's win at UCLA. They are 8-2 when scoring in the first inning this season.
FIRST BLOOD:
The Titans are 10-2 when scoring first in a game and just 3-9 when the opponent gets on the board first.
USING THE YARD STICK:
The Titans have blasted 12 home runs in 24 games this season after belting 20 in 64 games all of last year. Timmy Richards leads the way with four homers while Chris Hudgins has gone yard three times. Josh Vargas has belted a pair of homers along with Dalton Blaser while Tanner Pinkston has one. Of the 12 homers, 10 have been hit at Goodwin Field. The Titans are 9-2 this year when hitting at least one home run in a game but are 2-6 when the opponent hits at least homer.