Game 21-23
Cal State Fullerton vs. No. 20 Long Beach State
Date: March 24-26
Time: Thursday 6 p.m., Friday 7 p.m., Saturday 1 p.m.
Location: Fullerton, Calif.
Venue: Goodwin Field
Video: BigWest.tv
Live Stats: FullertonTitans.com
Audio: FullertonTitans.com
Series Record: Cal State Fullerton Leads 137-65
Game 24
Cal State Fullerton at No. 14 UCLA
Date: March 28
Time: Tuesday 6 p.m.
Location: Los Angeles, Calif.
Venue: Jackie Robinson Stadium
TV: PAC-12 Network Los Angeles
Video: PAC-12.com
Live Stats: FullertonTitans.com
Audio: FullertonTitans.com
Series Record: Cal State Fullerton Leads 65-32-2
FULLERTON – Cal State Fullerton returns home this week to take on No. 20 Long Beach State in its annual nonconference series with the Dirtbags. The Titans will then head to Jackie Robinson Stadium to face No. 14 UCLA in a midweek contest.
Tickets for all Titans home games can be purchased online at FullertonTitans.com, or at the Cal State Fullerton Athletics Ticket Office, located in the Titan House on campus off of Gymnasium Drive on the northeast side of Titan Gym. Game day sales and will call tickets will open an hour prior to the scheduled time at the specific venue. All Cal State Fullerton students with a school ID get free admission.
PROBABLE STARTERS:
THURSDAY
CSF - RHP, Blake Quinn (3-1, 1.93 ERA) vs. Long Beach State - RHP, Chris Mathewson (3-2, 3.30 ERA)
FRIDAY
CSF - RHP, Connor Seabold (1-2, 2.42 ERA) vs. Long Beach State - Darren McCaughan (4-0, 1.62 ERA)
SATURDAY
CSF -RHP, Colton Eastman (4-1, 1.38 ERA) vs. Long Beach State - Tanner Brown (3-1, 3.23 ERA)
TUESDAY
CSF - TBA at UCLA - TBA
CATCH ALL THE ACTION:
Fans can follow the action for this weekend's games against Maryland with live stats, audio and video streams. All links can be found on FullertonTitans.com. Monday's game will also feature live stats and audio stream.
TITANS VS BRUINS ON PAC-12 NETWORK LOS ANGELES:
Tuesday's game at Jackie Robinson Stadium between Fullerton and No. 14 UCLA will be televised on PAC-12 Los Angeles. Check your local listings for the channel in your area. A live stream will also be available on PAC12.com.
SOCIAL MEDIA:
Follow @BaseballTitans on Twitter for daily updates during the 2016 season. Fullerton baseball is also on Instagram, so make sure to follow the 2016 team all season @CSF_TitansBaseball.
RIDING THE ROLLER COASTER:
The Titans have lost three straight games going into their series with Long Beach State. That comes after they won five straight games, including a walk-off 3-2 win over Maryland on Friday night. During the current losing streak, the Titans have been outscored 12-6 and were shutout on Sunday, as opposed to the five-game winning streak in which the Titans outscored their opponents 29-3.
POLL POSITION:
This week, the Titans dropped out of the D1Baseball.com poll after three straight weeks at No. 23. It's the first time the Titans have not been ranked in the D1Baseball.com poll this season. Fullerton is currently receiving votes in the NCBWA and USA Today Coaches' polls.
CSF vs. LONG BEACH STATE • ALL-TIME SERIES
First Year Played/Last Year Played: 1975/2015
Overall Record: 137-65
Current Streak: Won 3
PCAA/Big West Conference Record: 73-42
SCBA Conference Record: 30-7
Overall Conference (PCAA/Big West and SCBA) Record: 103-49
Big West Conference Tournament Record: 4-2
NCAA Regional Record: 0-1
Overall NCAA Postseason Record: 0-1
Home Record: 71-30
Road Record: 65-34
Neutral Record: 1-1
Longest Winning Streak: 15 games (04/12/85)
Longest Losing Streak: 5 games (05/24/02 to 03/28/03)
Extra Innings: 5-4
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)
LONG BEACH STATE NOTES:
Since 2001, the Titans and Dirtbags have met in a three-game nonconference series during the regular season 12 times (2001-07, 2011-present). The Titans have won the nonconference series nine times. They lost two of three in 2004-05 and 2015. In 2010, the teams played one nonconference game during the season, which Fullerton won 8-1. The teams also met in a separate single game in 2001 as part of the Kia Baseball Bash at Goodwin Field, a game Long Beach State won 13-11. This series will also mark the first time Long Beach State has been ranked in the Baseball America Top-25 when playing Fullerton since 2008, when the Dirtbags were ranked No. 18 in the nation during the teams' conference series from May 23-25 of that year.
Other Dirtbags Notes:
• Long Beach State has won every series this season, including taking three of four from Columbia over the weekend. They have won nine of their last 11 games and have not lost consecutive games since March 1 and March 4, falling to USC and Nebraska respectively.
• Shortstop Garrett Hampson currently leads the team with a .390 batting average, pounding out 30 hits in 77 at-bats including five doubles. He has also scored a team-high 19 runs and boasts a .489 on-base percentage.
• As a team, the Dirtbags are batting .258 with nine home runs, three of those coming from Garrett Nelson.
• The Dirtbags have posted a collective 2.85 ERA, led by Darren McCaughan and his 1.62 mark. He is 4-0 with 29 strikeouts in 33 and 1/3 innings pitched. He will face the Titans on Friday night.
TITANS AND THE BIG WEST:
Overall, Cal State Fullerton has posted a dominant 728-254-1 (.740) conference record over 41 seasons. Rick Vanderhook, the school's fifth Div. I head coach, has compiled a 73-26 Big West Conference record in his four seasons at the helm and won consecutive conference titles in 2012 and 2013. He helped lead the Titans to another title in 2015, 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 28 conference titles.
A further breakdown has the Titans winning three PCAA conference championships (1975-76, 1987), eight straight SCBA titles (1977-84), and 17 while playing under the Big West name (1990-91, 94-95, 1997, 1999-2001, 2004-06, 2008, 2010-13, 2015). The Big West absorbed the PCAA records in 1990 upon its formation, giving the Titans 20 total Big West championships and a 552-208-1 (.725; 33 years) PCAA/Big West Conference record.
CSF vs. UCLA • ALL-TIME SERIES
First Year Played/Last Year Played: 1975/ 2015
Overall Record: 65-32-2
Current Streak: Lost 2
NCAA Regional Record: 4-2
NCAA Super Regional Record: 3-4
Overall NCAA Postseason Record: 7-6
Home Record: 35-15-1
Road Record: 28-16-1
Neutral Record: 2-1
Longest Winning Streak: 7 games, 2 times (last from 02/24/07 to 03/05/08)
Longest Losing Streak: 4 games (05/07/86 to 04/22/87)
Extra Innings: 2-6
Most Runs Scored in a Game: 19 runs (04/22/98)
Most Runs Scored in a Game by Opponent: 16 runs, 2 times (last on 04/22/87)
Largest Margin of Victory: 15 runs (02/22/84)
Largest Margin of Defeat: 10 runs (02/16/82)
UCLA NOTES:
The Titans and Bruins renew their annual midweek series on Tuesday. It is the first of two games between the old foes as the Titans will host UCLA at Goodwin Field on April 26, a game that will be featured on ESPNU. The Bruins swept their first conference series of the season against Washington State at home. They will head to Arizona this week beginning on Thursday before hosting the Titans on Tuesday.
VERSUS THE PAC-12 CONFERENCE:
The Titans currently hold a 288-219-3 mark against teams from the Pacific-12 conference. This season, Fullerton has struggled against the PAC-12, going 1-6 so far against Stanford, Arizona, Arizona State and USC. In those seven games, the Titans are batting just .178 (42-for-236) and have been outscored 19-11, suffering two shutout losses. Arizona State is one of just three teams in the PAC-12 with a winning record against the Titans (27-32). Fullerton has played Stanford on 102 (44-58) occasions and Washington State (5-7) also has a winning record against the Titans. Fullerton's most victories (65) have come against UCLA in 97 games. The Titans have also played Arizona 98 times, holding a 63-35 record.
TOP FIVE PITCHING STAFF:
The Titans pitching staff is currently ranked fourth in the nation with a 2.18 ERA. They have allowed 45 earned runs in 186 innings pitched and have given opposing batters fits as Fullerton has allowed the enemy to bat at just a .181 clip this season. The Titans are ranked second in the country in hits allowed per nine innings, allowing just 5.66 hits per game. Fullerton is also ranked No. 1 in the nation with a 0.91 WHIP and ninth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.49).
PICKING IT WITH THE BEST OF THEM:
Fullerton's defense has been outstanding this season and is currently ranked second in the nation in fielding percentage (.987), just one hundredth of a point below top-ranked Stanford. Fullerton has committed just 10 errors in 752 chances this season, with four of those attributed to pitchers on failed pickoff attempts.
SCUBA STIEB:
Tyler Stieb's offense has picked up lately for the Titans. In his last nine games, Stieb is 12-for-34 (.353) with a double, triple and five runs scored. He has also walked twice and was hit by a pitch to put his on-base percentage at .405 during that stretch.
HOLDING DOWN THE BACKSTOP:
Chris Hudgins did not play Monday at USC, marking the first time this season he did not catch at all during a game. He did not start against Arizona State on March 9 but entered the game as a defensive substitution in the eighth inning, a game that wound up going 14 innings. In his last nine games, Hudgins is batting .300 (9-for-30) with three runs scored and six RBIs. He's got one home run and one double and has also drawn a pair of walks during that stretch.
RICHARDS LEADING THE OFFENSE:
Timmy Richards went 0-for-4 with a strikeout at USC on Monday, snapping his five-game hitting streak. He had also reached base safely in 13 straight games prior to Monday, the longest by a Titans player this year. During his hitting streak, Richards batted .400 (8-for-20) with two home runs, two RBIs, two doubles and four runs scored. He also slugged .800 and had an on-base percentage of .478 during the stretch.
