Photo GalleryFULLERTON, Calif. – The ninth annual Dinner With the Titans set new attendance and fundraising records for the baseball program as more than 500 guests gathered Saturday night at the Phoenix Club in Anaheim, Calif. to support the Cal State Fullerton baseball program.
The event raised more than $75,000 for the nationally renowned Titans baseball program thanks to donations, raffle drawings and proceeds from the silent auction. The night set a new record, eclipsing the previous mark of $46,700 raised in 2013.
College baseball and Titans legendary coach Augie Garrido headlined the event, serving as the keynote speaker.
"The event was incredible and it was great to see so many members of the Titans family come out and show their support for the program," said Titans head coach Rick Vanderhook. "It was great to have Augie Garrido and so many other legendary Titans show up at the event and give their support to the program. They helped make this was our most successful event to date and I can't thank the Titans family enough for their continued support of the baseball program."
The proceeds will also help fund the Titans trip to Gwangju City, South Korea as Fullerton represents the United State at the 2015 World University Games from July 3-14.
Along with the many fans of the Titans, more than 85 former players and alumni came out for the event including Tim Wallach, Mark Kotsay, Phil Nevin, Justin Turner, Kurt Suzuki, Christian Colon, Matt Chapman, J.D. Davis and Jim Irvine, a member of the first NCAA Division I Titans squad in 1975.
Wallach, Nevin and Kotsay each won the Golden Spikes Award at Fullerton, given to the best college baseball player in the nation. They are the only players in Titans history to earn the award.
Turner, Suzuki and Colon were three of seven former Titans that played in Major League Baseball during the 2014 season. Turner had the best season of his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2014, hitting .340 with a career-high seven home runs and a .897 on-base-plus-slugging average. He also batted .419 with runners in scoring position and tallied 98 hits on the season.
Suzuki became the sixth former Titan to be selected to the MLB All-Star Game in 2014, making the squad as a manager's selection. In 2014, Suzuki batted a career-best .288 with three home runs and 61 RBI.
Colon made his MLB debut with the Kansas City Royals on July 1 after entering as a pinch-hitter. He went on to make the team's postseason roster and registered the game-winning hit in the Royals thrilling 9-8 extra-inning victory over the Oakland Athletics in the American League Wild Card Playoff game.
The Titans enter the 2015 season ranked No. 17 in Collegiate Baseball's preseason poll and enter the year with the No. 10 recruiting class as rated by Collegiate Baseball.
Pitchers Thomas Eshelman and Justin Garza, who were each selected to the Louisville Slugger Preseason All-American Team by Collegiate Baseball, will lead the team in 2015. Eshelman was also named a Second Team Preseason All-American by Perfect Game.
The 2015 season begins on Friday, Feb. 13 as the Titans head to the Clearwater Tournament hosted by South Florida at Bright House Field in Clearwater, Fla. Fullerton's home opener takes place on Tuesday, Feb. 17 when they host USC and the Titans will host Stanford for the first weekend series of the season at Goodwin Field from Feb. 20-22.
Season tickets, ticket packages and single-game tickets are currently on sale.
In addition, the alumni game is scheduled for 1 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 24, at Goodwin Field.
