CATCH ALL THE ACTION: Titans fans can catch all the action for this weekend's road series at UC Davis through live stats links available at FullertonTitans.com. In addition, an audio broadcast will be available courtesy of UC Davis with those links also available on the baseball schedule page at FullertonTitans.com. There will be no video broadcast for the series against the Aggies.
TITANS VS BRUINS IN THE TELEVISION SPOTLIGHT: Cal State Fullerton's game at UCLA on April 14 will be broadcast on television courtesy of the PAC-12 Network. Check your local listings for the correct channel offered by your cable or satellite television provider. In addition, a live stream will be available on your computer or mobile devices. A login with the supported television providers is required.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Follow @BaseballTitans on Twitter for daily updates during the 2015 season. Fullerton baseball is also now on Instagram, so make sure to follow the 2015 team all season @CSF_TitansBaseball.
ROAD TRIP!: After a brief three-game set against Cal Poly at Goodwin Field last weekend, the Titans are now in the midst of their longest road swing of the season as they play nine straight games on the road. Fullerton got things started on the right now Tuesday with a 6-4 victory at San Diego, snapping a four-game losing streak to the Toreros in the process. The Titans are now 5-7 on the road this season but have won four of their last five games away from Goodwin Field.
RPI AND TOURNAMENT WATCH: The first NCAA RPI reports were release this week and the Titans came in at No. 61. In addition, D1Baseball.com released its week nine-projected field of 64 and had the Titans pegged as the No. 3 seed in the Urbana-Champaign Regional, which would be hosted by Illinois. The Titans would play No. 2 seed Missouri according to the projection. This comes one week after Baseball America projected the Titans as the No. 3 seed in the Los Angeles Regional hosted by UCLA, where Fullerton would play the No. 2 seed San Diego, which the Titans defeated on Tuesday to begin their current nine-game road trip.
CSF vs. UC DAVIS • ALL-TIME SERIES
First Year Played/Last Year Played 2005/2014
Overall Record 27-3
Current Streak Won 2
Overall Conference (Big West) Record 19-2
Home Record 12-3
Road Record 15-0
Neutral Record 0-0
Longest Winning Streak 16 games (4/27/08 to 4/7/13)
Longest Losing Streak 1 game, 3 times (last on 4/4/14)
Extra Innings 0-0
Most Runs Scored in a Game 23 runs (4/2/10)
Most Runs Scored in a Game by Opponent 8 runs (4/15/07)
Largest Margin of Victory 16 runs, 2 times (last on 4/2/10)
Largest Margin of Defeat 2 runs (4/4/14)
UC DAVIS NOTES: The Aggies are coming off a 4-2 loss Tuesday against Sacramento State. It was the first of two meetings between the Causeway Cup rivals.
· The Aggies suffered their first series loss of the year in seven chances last weekend in Honolulu, salvaging the final game of a four-game set with Hawai'i by a 4-0 score. UC Davis had been 5-0-1 in its previous six series to kick-off the 2015 campaign...
· The 4-0 shutout of Hawai'i was the third for the Aggies this season -- the most since the 2012 team finished with six...
· Tino Lipson had his team-best 13-game hitting streak snapped on Saturday in Hawai'i -- the longest by an Aggie since Kevin Barker had a hit in 13 straight games from April 11-May 9, 2014...
· Junior right-hander Max Cordy remained unbeaten on the season (7-0) after nailing down a 4-0 win in Sunday's non-conference series finale at Hawai'i, posting the most wins by an Aggie pitcher since Dayne Quist finished 7-4 during the 2010 campaign. Cordy leads the Big West and is tied with six others for the top spot in the NATION with his seven victories...
· The eight innings by Cordy on Sunday is tied for his longest outing of the year, matching his performance against Eastern Michigan back on Feb. 24...
· Cordy has now won his last four starts, posting a 2.53 ERA, scattering just 19 hits, and striking out 22 against only four walks...
· You'd have to go all the way back to UC Davis' first Division I season in 2008 to find a pitcher with at least eight wins in a single season. That honor is held by Brad McAtee, who finished 8-5 in 15 starts with a 3.18 ERA to help lead the Aggies to their inaugural NCAA regional berth...
· Combining on the Aggies 4-0 shutout of Hawai'i was sophomore closer Zach Stone, who surrendered only his second run of the year back in game three of the series with the Rainbow Warriors. Stone, a candidate for the NCBWA's "Stopper of the Year Award," has yet to allow an EARNED run in 17.2 innings of work, striking out 20 against only one walk while posting a 2-0 record with six saves...
· Offensively, senior infielder Nick Lynch rides a team-best eight-game hitting streak into the weekend series against the Titans...
· Lynch has hit 19 doubles this season-- leading the Big West and ranking No. 1 in the NATION. He is tied for seventh on the school's single-season list with his 19 doubles, standing five shy of Jim Saunders' (1979) season record of 24...
TITANS AND THE BIG WEST: Overall, Cal State Fullerton has posted a dominant 713-251-1 (.739) conference record over 40 seasons. Rick Vanderhook, the school's fifth Div. I head coach, has compiled a 58-23 Big West Conference record in his three seasons at the helm and won consecutive conference titles in 2012 and 2013, 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 27 conference titles.
A further breakdown has the Titans winning three PCAA conference championships (1975-76, 1987), eight straight SCBA titles (1977-84), and 16 while playing under the Big West name (1990-91, 94-95, 1997, 1999-2001, 2004-06, 2008, 2010-13). The Big West absorbed the PCAA records in 1990 upon its formation, giving the Titans 19 total Big West championships and a 537-205 (.723; 32 years) PCAA/Big West Conference record.
PICKED TO WIN IT: Cal State Fullerton was picked as the favorite to win the 2015 Big West title as selected by the nine conference head coaches that voted in the Big West Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll. The Titans received five of the nine first-place votes and 74 points overall, edging 2014 Big West Conference champions Cal Poly, which received three first-place votes and 73 points overall. UC Santa Barbara claimed the third spot, receiving the final first-place vote and 62 points overall while UC Irvine (56 points) and Long Beach State (48 points) rounded out the top five spots.
CSF vs. UCLA • ALL-TIME SERIES
First Year Played/Last Year Played 1975/2014
Overall Record 65-30-2
Current Streak Won 2
NCAA Regional Record 4-2
NCAA Super Regional Record 3-4
Overall NCAA Postseason Record 7-6
Home Record 35-14-1
Road Record 28-15-1
Neutral Record 2-1
Longest Winning Streak 7 games, 2 times (last from 2/24/07 to 3/5/08)
Longest Losing Streak 4 games (5/7/86 to 4/22/87)
Extra Innings 2-5
Most Runs Scored in a Game 19 runs (4/22/98)
Most Runs Scored in a Game by Opponent 16 runs, 2 times (last on 4/22/87)
Largest Margin of Victory 15 runs (2/22/84)
Largest Margin of Defeat 10 runs (2/16/82)
UCLA NOTES: The Bruins currently hold the top spot in the PAC-12 standings with a 10-2 record. They travel to arch-rival USC this weekend, which sits in second place with a 9-3 record. Both teams are ranked in every major poll with the Bruins coming in at No. 7 in Baseball America's Top-25 poll, one spot behind USC. The Bruins are on a tear, having won 10 of their last 11 games going into the weekend.
VERSUS THE PAC-12 CONFERENCE: The Bruins will be the third team from the PAC-12 Conference that Fullerton will face this season. The Titans are 1-3 so far after dropping the home opener to USC and two of three against Stanford. The Titans currently hold a 285-210-3 mark against teams from the Pacific-12 conference, with their most victories (65) coming against UCLA in 97 games. The Titans have also played Arizona 97 times, holding a 63-34 record. Fullerton has played Stanford on 99 (43-56) occasions, the most against any PAC-12 team. Stanford is one of just three teams in the conference to hold a winning record over the Titans all-time along with Arizona State (26-30) and Washington State (5-7).
TAKING ON THE BIG BOYS: The Titans will take on a UCLA team ranked No. 7 in the Baseball America polls this week. Ranked teams have not been an issue for the Titans as they are currently 4-0 this season against teams ranked in the Baseball America Top-25.
THOMAS ESHELMAN ON GOLDEN SPIKES MIDSEASON WATCH LIST: Cal State Fullerton right-hander Thomas Eshelman was one of 60 players named to the midseason USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award watch list, it was announced Thursday. Eshelman has compiled a 3-3 record in eight starts so far this season. He has a 2.20 ERA with 59 strikeouts and four walks in 57 and 1/3 innings pitched. He tossed a complete-game shutout against then No. 5 Texas Tech on March 6, allowing five hits and striking out a career-high 14 batters. Eshelman has gone at least six innings in all eight of his starts, seven of them quality starts He is currently ranked in the top-50 in the nation in walks allowed per nine innings (7th, 0.63), strikeout-to-walk ratio (16th, 14.75), and WHIP (47th, 0.94).
TOP OF THE LIST: Senior Tyler Peitzmeier has been nothing short of spectacular as the team's closer this season. Peitzmeier has been perfect in save situations this season, recording nine straight saves 11 straight saves on the season. He notched his 11th save in a 6-4 win Tuesday at San Diego. It was Peitzmeier's seventh multi-inning save of the year. His 11 saves rank him first in both the Big West Conference and the nation. He is locked in a six-way tie for first in the country and has the third most innings pitched amongst those players. He is also currently tied for 10th on the Cal State Fullerton single-season saves list and is 11 behind the program record of 22 saves set by Scott Wright in 1984.
MAKING THE EIGHT: David Olmedo-Barrera tied a Cal State Fullerton record with 8 RBIs in one game, leading the Titans to a 13-2 victory in the rubber match of their series against Cal Poly on Saturday. Olmedo-Barrera hit a grand slam to along with a two-run single, sacrifice fly and RBI hit-by-pitch to tie the record, which was set by Danny Dorn in 2003. In his last nine games, Olmedo-Barrera is batting .324 (11-for-34) with three home runs, three doubles, seven runs scored and 12 RBIs. He assumed the team lead in RBIs and is currently ranked fourth in the Big West in that category. He has also tied first baseman Josh Estill for the team lead in home runs with four on the season. That mark also ranks fourth in the conference.
BRAVO LIVING ON THE BASEPATHS: Third baseman Jerrod Bravo has reached base safely in 18 consecutive games for the Titans. He extended the streak on Tuesday as he went 1-for-5 with a two-run double in the first inning. During the streak, Bravo is batting .300 (15-for-50) with three doubles, one triple and six RBIs to go along with 11 runs scored. Bravo has started in 16 of those games and needed some pinch-hitting magic to keep the streak alive with a walk against CSUN in the second game of the series and a base hit in his only appearance in the rubber match against the Matadors, a 7-2 Titans victory. The Titans also hold a 12-6 record in the 18 games that Bravo has reached.
INFIELD/OUTFIELD: Josh Vargas has played second base in the last five games for the Titans after making 17 previous starts in the outfield. Vargas' bat has enjoyed the change as the Santa Ana, Calif. native is batting .471 (8-for-17) with two triples and seven runs scored in the last five games. Vargas is slugging .706 and has a .550 on-base percentage during the stretch with one stolen base. In his last 10 games, Vargas is batting .423 (11-for-26), which has helped him assume the team lead in batting average with a .325 clip. His .450 overall on-base percentage also leads the squad.
CLOSE EDGE: The Titans are now 6-5 this season in one-run games following their 2-1 victory over Cal Poly on Friday night. Last season, the Titans led the nation with 26 one-run games. They went 13-13 in those contests.
FREQUENT FLYERS: The Titans have had to make themselves comfortable in airplanes this season. The team has already traveled to Clearwater, Fla., Bloomington, Ind. and Lincoln, Neb. Overall, the Titans will log more than 11,000 miles in the air this season with their longest road trips (Maryland, 2,628 miles and Hawai'i, 2,494 miles) still ahead of them.
