LONG BEACH SUPER REGIONAL
June 9-11th • BLAIR FIELD
Game Notes: Fullerton (37-21) • LBSU (41-18-1) • Big West Notes
THE GAMES
1 | Fri., June 9 (3 pm) | Long Beach, Calif. (Blair Field) | Live Stats | Audio | ESPN2
2 | Sat., June 10 (noon) | Long Beach, Calif. (Blair Field) | Live Stats | Audio | ESPNU
3 | Sun., June 11 (noon) | Long Beach, Calif. (Blair Field) | Live Stats | Audio | ESPN2
THE PITCHERS
FRIDAY
CSF - RHP Connor Seabold (11-4, 2.91 ERA) vs. – LBSU - RHP Darren McCaughan (8-2, 2.65 ERA)
SATURDAY
CSF - TBA vs. – LBSU - TBA
SUNDAY
CSF - TBA vs. – LBSU - TBA
First Year Played/Last Year Played: 1975/2017
Overall Record: 141-73
Current Streak: Lost 2
PCAA/Big West Conference Record: 76-45
SCBA Conference Record: 30-7
Overall Conference (PCAA/Big West and SCBA): 106-52
Big West Conference Tournament Record: 4-2
NCAA Regional Record: 0-1
Overall NCAA Postseason Record: 0-1
Home Record: 73-34
Road Record: 67-38
Neutral Record: 1-1
Longest Winning Streak: 15 games (04/12/85 to 04/10/88)
Longest Losing Streak: 5 games (05/24/02 to 03/28/03)
Extra Innings: 5-5
Most Runs Scored in a Game: 26 runs (05/02/80)
Most Runs Scored in a Game by Opponent: 17 runs, 2 times (last on 05/19/01)
Largest Margin of Victory: 17 runs (03/31/81)
Largest Margin of Defeat: 12 runs, 2 times (last on 05/16/99)
THE NOTES
TITANS IN THE POSTSEASON
• Fullerton has made 39 NCAA appearances in its 43 years at the Div. I level with the exceptions coming in 1985, 1986, 1989 and 1991. Fullerton's 26th CONSECUTIVE postseason appearance bumps them into 2nd place in the nation behind and Florida State (40) for the longest active consecutive streak. Miami did not receive an at large bid to the tournament after finishing 31-27, snapping their 44-year streak of NCAA postseason play – the longest streak in all of Div. I athletics.
• The Titans have NEVER gone winless in Regional play. They have gone 0-2 twice in Super Regional action (2008 and 2013) and six times in Omaha (1975, 1982, 1990, 2007, 2009 and 2015).
• The Titans NEVER hosted a regional before 2000 but have since hosted 12 at Goodwin Field (10-2). They lost the first (USC, 2000) and won eight in a row from 2003-2010 before being eliminated by Illinois in 2011.
• In the 19-year Super Regional era (4-team Regional format), The Titans have had to travel to a Regional seven times – four of those coming in the last 6 years.
• Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton have never met in Super Regional action. The Titans are 0-1 all-time vs. the 49ers in the NCAA Tournament. The 49ers eliminated the Titans from the postseason with a 4-0 win in the 2002 Stanford Regional on June 2, 2002.
Consecutive trips to the NCAA Postseason
1. Florida State 40
2. Cal State Fullerton 26
TITANS IN THE SUPER REGIONALS
• Fullerton is making its 13th Super Regional appearance. The Titans are tied with LSU for the second most Super Regional appearances since the format began in 1999.
• The Titans' 18 Super Regional wins (tied with Miami) is the most al-time in Super Regional history.
• Last weekend marked just the third road Regional championship for the Titans since the Super Regional format began. The Titans won the South Bend Regional in 1999 (the first year of the Super Regional format) and the San Diego Regional in 2007 (hosted by San Diego at San Diego State). They advanced to the College World Series in both of those years.
• Last weekend marked the eighth time Cal State Fullerton has won a Regional without a loss in the Super Regional era, and the 13th time overall that the Titans advanced to the next portion of the tournament without a loss.
Regionals (App) Super Regional (App) CWS (App)
Augie Garrido 40-22 (16) - 20-10 (8)
Larry Cochell 8-0 (2) - 2-4 (2)
George Horton 30-11 (11) 13-4 (7) 12-11 (6)
Dave Serrano 12-4 (4) 3-4 (3) 0-2 (1)
Rick Vanderhook 13-6 (5) 2-3 (2) 0-2 (1)
2,700 = 22…and 13
Cal State Fullerton's regional clinching game vs. Stanford last Saturday marked the program's 2,700th game. It also clinched the Titans' 22nd regional title and 13th trip to the Super Regional round.
• Claimed the Big West Regular season title.
• The Titans dropped the season series to the 49ers for the first time since 2008, dropping 5-of-6 contests. However, three of the games were decided by one run and two of the contests went to extra inning.
BIG WEST ALL-CONFERENCE AWARDS
Freshman Sahid Valenzuela has been named the Big West Freshman of the Year. He also joins Scott Hurst, Dillon Persinger, Connor Seabold and Brett Conine on the All-Big West Conference First Team. Blake Workman received second team honors while Timmy Richards was an honorable mention.
TITANS PLACE THREE PLAYERS ON COLLEGIATE BASEBALL ALL-AMERICAN TEAMS
Connor Seabold has been named to Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's All-American Second Team, while Brett Conine has been placed on the third team. Sahid Valenzuela earned a spot on the publication's All-Freshman Team.
Cal State Fullerton sophomore closer Brett Conine has been named as one of 25 semifinalists for the 2017 Gregg Olson Award presented by Toolshed Sports. The award honors college baseball's breakout player of the year. The annual award is given to a top amateur baseball player who elevates his game to an elite level throughout the season. The list was announced on Monday.
ALL-AMERICAN STREAK STAYS ALIVE
With Seabold, Conine and Valenzuela's selections to All-American Teams. The Titans have now gone 20 straight years with at least one All-American.
TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE
Fullerton has now won 30-plus games in each of its 43 seasons at the Div. I level. The 30+ win streak will ended for Arizona State this year. It currently has a record of 23-29 with three games left to play in the regular season. It finished 23-32 on the season.
1. Miami, Fla. 47
2. Clemson 43
2. Cal State Fullerton 43
HISTORIC HOMERS FOR HURST
Scott Hurst put together one of the best offensive performances in college baseball history on May 20th at CSUN. He was perfect at the plate, going 5-for-5 with a school-record equaling four home runs, seven RBI and six runs scored, as the Titans cruised by CSUN 16-7. Hurst's four-homer performance ties Fullerton's school record for the most home runs recorded in a game, as Sam Favata also blasted four jacks in a 34-5 victory over La Verne on April 23, 1980. However, Hurst is the only Titan to hit four homers against a current Division I opponent. Hurst and Louisville's Brendan McKay are the only two players to have hit four home runs in a game this season. Hurst's seven RBI fell just one shy of the school-record of eight runs driven in set by David Olmedo-Barrera on April 4, 2015. The six runs scored were the most since Austin Diemer scored four runs on March 7, 2014. The five hits went down as the most since Matt Chapman also collected five on April 26, 2015 vs. Hawaii. Hurst set new career highs in runs scored, hits, RBI and home runs. The performance earned him Big West Player of the Week for the second time this season, and earned him Collegiate Baseball's National Player of the Week honors
SERIOUSLY IMPRESSIVE
The Titans finished the regular season 11-3-1 in weekend series. The 11 series wins is the most since claiming 14 in 2013. They now have 12 total series wins total if you want to count the dominating sweep at the Stanford Regional last weekend.
JUST IN TIME
Preseason All-American Colton Eastman had been out most of the season with an elbow injury, but returned on May 21st at CSUN. He picked a great time to pick up his first win of the season, clinching the Stanford Regional Championship, tossing 6.2 innings, while allowing just two hits and allowing zero earned runs in Fullerton's 4-2 win over Stanford on June 3rd.
Once the ball is in Conine's hand the Titans don't lose. He's notched 14 saves on the year without blowing one. Before May 9th's game vs. UCLA he'd gone 23 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run over 17 appearances. He's collected 37 strikeouts while only walking six on the year to go along with his 1.56 ERA. His 14 saves lead the conference and are ranked ninth in the nation. Conine is currently tied with Chad Cordero for sixth on Fullerton's all-time single-season saves list. He's two saves away from equaling Michael Lorenzen and Tyler Peitzmeier for third on the list (16).
HURST MAKING IT HURT
Scott Hurst has given opponents fits all season long. He led the Big West in runs scored (52), runs per game (0.92), ranks second in home runs (12), ranks third in slugging percentage (.597), third in total bases (138) and ranks fourth in the conference in triples with fifth, while he's just one triples away from placing eighth on the Fullerton all-time single season triples list. Hurst leads the Titans in batting average (.338), slugging percentage (.597), on-base percentage (.422), runs scored (52), hits (77), runs batted in (39), triples (5), home runs (12), total bases (138), games played (58), games started (58) and total plate appearances (271).
IRON MEN
Scott Hurst and Taylor Bryant are the only two Titans to have started and played in every game this season.
PESKY PERSINGER
Dillon Persinger has been of those guys you hate to play against, but would love to have on your team. Persinger has reached base via HBP a team-leading 11 times this season, which is tied for sixth in the Big West. He also leads the Big West in stolen bases (18) and leads the conference in steals per game (0.33). Titans are 7-5 when Persinger starts at second base this season, as opposed to 24-14 when he starts at first base.
Freshman Sahid Valenzuela has made his impact felt from the very beginning. He ranked fourth in the Big West with a .338 batting average. His 22 multi-hit games lead the team, while he's collected knocks in 35 of his last 42 games with 19 of those being multi-hit performances. Valenzuela has been a force so far for the Titans in the postseason as well. He's batting .333, going 4-of-8 from the dish so far, with two of those knocks going for extra bases. Valenzuela has been named to the All-Big West First Team, the conference's Field Freshman of the Year, and to the CBF's Brooks Wallace Award Watch List.
KEEP EM COMING
The Titans have collected double digit hits in 19 of the last 34 games.
Until April 30th, the Titans had won 15 consecutive home games. It matched Titans' longest home win streak since winning the final 15 home games of the 2009 season. Fullerton finished 21-8 at home this season.
A TRUE HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE
The Titans are 21-8 at home this season as opposed to 15-12 on the road. The pitching is a big reason why, as the staff holds a 2.98 ERA at home, as opposed to a 4.47 ERA on the road. The staff has struck out 233 batters at home and just 179 on the road, while it's walked 62 batters at home and 66 on the road.
PASSING THE TEST
Cal State Fullerton played its highest ranked team of the season on March 15, defeating then-ranked No. 12 Arizona 4-0. The win over the national runners up was its highest ranked victory since defeating No. 6 Louisville on June 8, 2015 in Super Regional play. However Fullerton's recent win over No. 7 Long Beach State on May 25th is its highest ranked win of the season.
Fullerton has gone 3-2 against ranked opponents over the last two weeks. Winning one vs. No. 7 Long Beach State on May 25th and defeating No. 8 Stanford twice last weekend in regional action.
NONE FOR YOU
The Titans have four shutout victories on the year thus far. They had four all of last year.
Blake Workman went career-high 6.0 innings of scoreless relief while striking out a career-high equaling five batters in Fullerton's wild 3-2 14-inning win over UC Irvine on April 29th to earn him Big West Pitcher of the Week Honors. He also earned the win three weekends ago in the series finale at Hawaii to help the Titans claim their ninth series win of the season. He's 6-2 with a 2.70 ERA overall. However, Workman also has 13 wild pitches on the season. That's already tied for second most in Titan history for a single season. He pitched in all three games last weekend in the Stanford Regional, allowing just one hit and no runs.
BATTLE TESTED
Fullerton has already taken on some of the best teams college baseball has to offer. Fullerton has gone 6-8 vs. teams that made the NCAA Tournament this season.
Arizona 23
UCLA 52
Long Beach State 13
Houston 17
Stanford 8
MAKING EM EARN IT
The Titans currently rank fourth in the nation in walks allowed per nine innings (2.34), third in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.24) and ninth in fielding percentage (.980). Fullerton leads the Big West in fielding percentage and walks (231), runs (320) and scoring (5.5), strikeout-to-walk ratio and triples.
Ruben Cardenas is out for the season with lower back pain. JT McLellan is out for the season with a leg injury.
WE SEE YOU SEABOLD
Connor Seabold has been mighty impressive thus far as Fullerton's Friday night guy this season. His 117.1 innings pitched and his 116 strikeouts lead the team, while his 2.91 ERA is the second lowest of any starter to go along with a 11-4 record. In addition, he's tossed three complete games this season, which ranks 22nd nationally and is third best in the conference. He's claimed Big West Pitcher of the Week honors twice this season, on Feb. 20 and March 10, while he's recorded quality starts in 11 of his last 13 outings. His complete-game shutout on April 7 vs. UC Davis, marked Fullerton's first complete-game shutout Thomas Eshelman threw one on May 15, 2015.
JOHNNY BE GOOD
John Gavin has been more than just good in 2017. He owns a 7-2 record with a 2.93 ERA in 92 innings pitched this season. Gavin was named Big West Pitcher of the Week and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association's National Pitcher of the Week after pitching a career-high 8.0 innings against New Mexico on March 19th. In his eight innings, the San Jose, Calif. native allowed just two hits, zero earned runs, zero walks and struck out a career-high 14 batters. The 14 strikeouts were the most any Titan had accumulated since Thomas Eshelman also collected 14 on May 30, 2015 vs. Arizona State.
POWER SURGE
Fullerton has blasted 40 home runs in its last 38 ballgames. Before this stretch, the Titans had hit just three home runs through the first 19 games of the season. The 43 total home runs are the most Fullerton has hit since hitting 65 as a team in 2010.
GET AHEAD, STAY AHEAD
The Titans are 28-9 when scoring first this season, 19-4 when scoring in the first inning, while they're 27-1 when leading after the sixth frame, 31-2 when leading after seven and 34-1 when leading after eight. They're also 23-4 when holding their opponent to two runs or less.
PRODUCING LATE
While it's definitely good news when the Titans take an early lead, Fullerton has shown the ability to get the job done in the late stage of games this year. The Titans have outscored their opponents 42-20 in the seventh, 35-22 in the eighth and 24-10 in the ninth frame this season. They've outscored their opponent 101-52 in those three innings combined.
AMONG THE BEST
John Gavin has been named to the College Baseball Foundation's initial watch list for the National Pitcher of the Year Award. Sahid Valenzuela has been named to the organization's initial watch list for the Brooks Wallace Award, which honors the nation's best shortstop.
HUDGINS NAMED TO JOHNNY BENCH AWARD WATCH LIST
Chris Hudgins is one of 85 catchers to be named to the initial Johnny Bench Award Watch List. The award handed out to the best college catcher in the nation for the 2017 season. The watch list will be narrowed down to the semifinalists, whom will be announced on May 17. Ballots will be sent to the national voting panel at the end of May for a vote to determine the three finalists. The finalists will be announced on June 5, while a final vote among the national committee will occur during the College World Series. All finalists will be brought to Wichita and the winner will be announced the 20th Annual Greater Wichita Sports Banquet on June 29th.
WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS…
What happens in Vegas doesn't necessarily stay in Vegas. Fullerton's 5-0 win on Feb. 26 over UNLV marked the Titans' first road shutout over an opponent since blanking Hawai'i 4-0 back on May 15, 2015. That's a stat the Titans got to take all the way back to Fullerton.
IT'S COOL TO STAY IN SCHOOL
Ten Titans on the current roster have been selected previously in the MLB First-Year Players draft. Newcomer Dillon Persinger has actually been selected twice, in 2015 by the Cleveland Indians (31st round) and in 2016 by the Los Angeles Dodgers. He decided to attend Cal State Fullerton instead.
Tristan Hildebrandt 2014 16th round St. Louis Cardinals
Connor Seabold 2014 19th round Baltimore Orioles
Dillon Persinger 2014 17th round Los Angeles Dodgers
Colton Eastman 2015 20th round Minnesota Twins
Chris Hudgins 2014 35th round New York Yankees
Ruben Cardenas 2015 37th round Miami Marlins
John Gavin 2014 39th round Milwaukee Brewers
Timmy Richards 2013 40th round Miami Marlins
TO ANOTHER 200
Fullerton's victory of UNLV on Feb. 26 marked Rick Vanderhook 200th win as Cal State Fullerton's head coach. Vanderhook is 235-124 in his sixth seasons as the skipper for the Titans. Here's to another 200 more coach.
Cal State Fullerton head coach Rick Vanderhook has been named as an assistant coach on Team USA's Collegiate National Team coaching staff this summer. He's one of four assistants on the staff. Pitching coach Blake Hawksworth has been selected as Team USA's 17U pitching coach this summer.
FULLERTON IN THE POLLS
The Titans enter the 15th week of the 2017 campaign ranked in the top-25 of all six major preseason baseball polls.
RPI WATCH
Cal State Fullerton ranks 43rd in the latest RPI, while Long Beach State is 13th.
TITANS ON THE TUBE
Cal State Fullerton baseball appeared on television a league-leading nine times during the regular season.
PRESEASON PROJECTIONS
After claiming their 21st Big West Conference title a year ago and their sixth in the last seven years, the Titans were the favorites to do it again in 2017, as Cal State Fullerton were picked as the team to beat in the Big West Conference, according to the nine league coaches that voted on the Big West baseball preseason poll. Fullerton received a total of 76 points and eight of nine first place votes in the poll, while Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara tied for second, as each tallied 65 points.
BEST IN THE WEST
Overall, Cal State Fullerton has posted a dominant 757-267-1 (.741) conference record over now 43 seasons. Rick Vanderhook, the school's fifth Div. I head coach, has compiled a 100-34 Big West Conference record in his five seasons and has led Fullerton to the conference crown in now four of his six seasons at the helm. The four conference titles for Vanderhook is the second most in school history, only behind Augie Garrido (14). Overall, the Titans have won 29 conference titles.
TITAN PRIDE NEVER GRADUATES
Cal State Fullerton held its annual Alumni Game back on Jan. 28th and it was the Alumni squad coming up with a 5-3 victory over the Titans. The win marked its first over the Titans since 2007, snapping what was an eight-game losing streak. However, the news isn't all bad for the Titans. The last time Fullerton dropped a contest to the Alumni, the team put together a magical season that ended up seeing the Titans in Omaha.
Cal State Fullerton earned a 4-3 victory over the NC Dinos on Tuesday night. The contest marked the third straight year the two sides had gotten together for an exhibition game. The Titans now own a 2-1 lead in the all-time series, as they defeated the Dinos 8-7 in 2015 and lost a 10-1 decision in 2016.
TITANS IN THE BIG LEAGUES
The Titans have had 62 former players ascend to the major leagues since their first products, Dan Whitmer and Tim Wallach, got there in 1980. The last being Tyler Pill with the New York Mets on May 26th.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
In 2017, the Titans faced five teams that qualified for the 2016 NCAA Tournament in Gonzaga, Arizona, New Mexico, Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara. Both UCSB and Arizona advanced to the College World Series last year, while the Wildcats finished as the national runner-up in Omaha.
THEY'RE BAAAAACCKK
All three weekend starters of an overall pitching staff that set records last season are back in 2017. All-Conference performers Colton Eastman, Connor Seabold and John Gavin are expected to hold down the weekend rotation once again this season. The three combined to win 17 games for the Titans in 2016.
GOLDEN BOY
Sophomore right-handed hurler Colton Eastman has earned a spot on USA Baseball's 55-player preseason Golden Spikes Award watch list. The Golden Spikes Award is given out to the top amateur baseball player in the country for the 2017 season. Last year as a freshman, Eastman proved why deserves to be on this list, as he compiled an 8-3 record to go along with a 2.24 ERA with a freshman school-record equaling 100 strikeouts in 100.2 innings pitched. He racked up numerous honors last season, as he was named a Baseball America Freshman All-American, D1Baseball.com Freshman All-American, NCBWA Freshman All-American, the Louisville Slugger Freshman Pitcher of the Year, Louisville Slugger All-American Third Team member, the Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year and a member of the Big West All-Conference team.
LOOK'S LIKE A PRO
Connor Seabold was named to the Big West All-Second Team a year ago after claiming two Big West Pitcher of the Week honors during the season and boasting an overall 7-6 record to go along with a 2.48 ERA and 96 strikeouts in 83.1 innings pitched. He's been named on Baseball America's Top-100 Prospects list coming into this season.
#TEAMCOBEN
Cal State Fullerton will dedicate the 2017 season to Coben Swanson. Eight year old Coben Swanson of Yorba Linda, Calif., is on the road to recovery from a Nov. 2015 diagnosis of T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), brain hemorrhage, craniectomy and cranioplasty. He is currently battling the side effects of chemotherapy and has been tested at Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) since his diagnosis. He is the son of Jon and Brittany Swanson, and big brother to sister, Saffryn (5). Through the help of Team IMPACT, the Titans have joined Coben in his fight against ALL and made him a permanent member of the Titan family. Throughout the 2017 season you'll see #TEAMCOBEN imprinted on the right side of the Titan batting helmets. Coben has part of his right skull removed last year to repair some damage as a part of his recovery.
