FULLERTON, Calif. – Tickets for the 10th annual Dinner With the Titans are sold out. Nearly 700 were sold for the Cal State Fullerton baseball program's premiere fundraising event.
Dinner With the Titans will be held at the Irvine Marriott in Irvine, Calif. on Jan. 29, 2016. All proceeds from the event will directly benefit the baseball program.
The night will begin at 6 p.m. with a cocktail hour while the dinner and program get underway at 7:30 p.m. with Academy Award and Emmy-winning actor, director and Cal State Fullerton alum Kevin Costner serving as the keynote speaker.
In addition, the Titans will host the annual Alumni game at Goodwin Field on Saturday at 1 p.m. to round out the Alumni weekend. Admission to the game and parking is free.
The Alumni will take on the current roster of Titans that enters the 2016 season with three preseason top-25 rankings in their pocket, the most recent a No. 22 rank from Baseball America. Fullerton was pegged as the No. 21 team in the nation by D1Baseball.com and No. 12 in Collegiate Baseball's Fabulous 40 rankings in December.
In recent years, more than 80 players have made the trek back to Goodwin Field for the event, with many of them still populating the major and minor leagues.
Some of the former players expected to play in Saturday's game include 2013 Big West Conference Player of the Year and the only Senior CLASSS Award winner in Fullerton history Carlos Lopez (2010-13), Richy Pedroza (2010-13), Willie Kuhl (2012-15), and Anthony Hutting (2010-13). Eddie Delzer (1983-84) is expected to make his 19th straight start for the Alumni.
Others expected to be in attendance include former first round pick Matt Chapman (2012-14), member of the 1995 NCAA National Championship team Jon Ward (1993-95), 1984 champion Bob Caffrey (1982-84) and 2004 national title winner Blake Davis. Others expected to attend include Thomas Eshelman (2013-15), Grahamm Wiest (2012-14), Justin Garza (2013-15), Shane Costa (2001-03), Joe Scott (2006-09), Ruben Hernandez (1995), Jim Irvine (1975-76), Rod Klopfer (1989), Tyler Peitzmeier (2012-15) and many more.
In last year's game, the Titans blanked the Alumni 10-0, recording their sixth straight victory over the Alumni. The Titans have not lost to the Alumni since 2007, with the 2008 and 2009 game cancelled due to inclement weather.
Current Titans that shined in last year's game included Tyler Stieb, Chris Hudgins and Scott Hurst on the offensive side with John Gavin, Chad Hockin, Maxwell Gibbs and Shane Stillwagon getting some work on the mound.