Baseball America Preseason Top-25 Poll
FULLERTON, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton was ranked No. 23 in Baseball America's preseason top-25 rankings, the publication announced Monday.
The Titans were the only program from the Big West Conference to make it onto the rankings and are one of four programs in the West to rank in the top-25. The other three (UCLA, No. 11; Arizona State, No. 18; Oregon, No. 20) are from the PAC-12 Conference.
During the year, the Titans will battle four teams ranked in Baseball America's preseason top-25 including No. 5 Texas Tech (March 6-8), UCLA (April 14 and May 12), No. 12 Louisville (Feb. 15) and No. 16 Maryland (April 17-19).
Vanderbilt, which won the 2014 national championship, earned the top spot in the poll with Louisiana State, Houston, Virginia and Texas Tech rounding out the top five spots respectively.
It was the Titans fourth top-25 ranking this preseason as the program was rated No. 17 in Collegiate Baseball's Fabulous 40 NCAA Division I poll on Dec. 22 and ranked No. 19 in D1Baseball.com's inaugural rankings on Jan. 19. The Titans were also rated No. 19 by Perfect Game USA in the site's Jan. 20 preseason rankings.
The Titans are coming off the 40th consecutive winning season and 30-win season in the program's NCAA Division I history. Fullerton advanced to its 23rd consecutive NCAA Tournament in 2014.
After having seven players selected in the 2014 Major League Baseball First-Year Player draft, star pitchers Thomas Eshelman and Justin Garza headline the returners to the team for the 2015 season. Collegiate Baseball named both pitchers 2015 Louisville Slugger Preseason All Americans on Dec. 19 while Eshelman also earned a nod as a second-team Preseason All-American from Perfect Game.
Eshelman has led the nation in walks allowed-per-nine innings in his first two seasons with Cal State Fullerton, including setting a national record with a 0.23 mark as a freshman.
Garza recorded the fourth no-hitter in Cal State Fullerton history in his sophomore season, holding CSUN without a hit on May 23, 2014. He walked three and struck out 12, matching his career high. After two seasons, Garza currently ranks sixth in the Titans career record book in fewest walks allowed per nine innings (1.49) and is tied for eighth with a 5.0 strikeout-to-walk ratio. His 2.49 career ERA also currently ranks eighth while his .224 opponent's batting average ranks 10th in the record book.
During the summer, both pitchers were selected to the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team, becoming the 24th and 25th Titans to represent Cal State Fullerton on the team dating back to 1987. It was also the sixth time multiple Titans have been named to the squad.
Joining Eshelman, Garza and the rest of the returners will be a recruiting class that was ranked No. 10 by Collegiate Baseball. It will feature five players that were selected in the 2014 MLB Draft (Tristan Hildebrandt, Connor Seabold, Jordan Hand, Chris Hudgins and John Gavin) along with 2014 signees and summer baseball standouts Chad Bible and Scott Hurst.
The Titans begin the season on Feb. 13 when they travel to the Clearwater Tournament hosted by South Florida. Fullerton will take on the host Bulls followed by Alabama State on Feb. 14 and close out the tournament on Feb. 15 against No. 12 Louisville.
In 2015, the Titans will host 26 home games and seven weekend series' at Goodwin Field, beginning Feb. 17 when Fullerton hosts USC for the home opener. Tickets for all home games are currently on sale.