Game 29-31
Cal State Fullerton at Cal Poly
Date: April 8-10, 2016
Time: Friday and Saturday at 6 p.m.; Sunday 1 p.m.
Location: San Luis Obispo, Calif.
Venue: Baggett Stadium
Video: BigWest.TV
Live Stats: FullertonTitans.com
Audio: FullertonTitans.com
Series Record: Cal State Fullerton Leads 56-17
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton heads to San Luis Obispo this weekend to take on the Mustangs in the Titans' first road conference series of the season.
CATCH ALL THE ACTION:
Fans can follow the action for all three of this weekend's games with live stats and a live video stream through BigWest.TV. A live audio stream will also be available with Mike Martinez on the call. All links can be found on FullertonTitans.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.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS:
FRIDAY
CSF - RHP, Connor Seabold (2-2, 2.43 ERA) at CP - LHP, Kyle Smith (4-1, 2.98 ERA)
SATURDAY
CSF -RHP, Colton Eastman (5-2, 2.76 ERA) at CP - RHP, Erich Uelmen (4-0, 3.19 ERA)
SUNDAY
CSF - RHP, Blake Quinn (3-1, 2.06 ERA) at CP - RHP, Jarred Zill (1-1, 2.87 ERA)
POLL POSITION:
After sweeping CSUN over the weekend and going 4-0 last week, the Titans are receiving votes in this week's NCBWA poll.
RPI WATCH:
The Titans were No. 55 in the NCAA's first RPI ratings released this week. That rating moved up following Tuesday's win over San Diego as the Titans now hold the No. 52 RPI in the nation as of Wednesday.
CSF vs. CAL POLY • ALL-TIME SERIES
First Year Played/Last Year Played: 1984/ 2015
Overall Record: 56-17
Current Streak: Won 2
Overall Conference (Big West) Record: 47-17
Big West Conference Tournament Record: 1-0
Home Record: 34-5
Road Record: 21-12
Neutral Record: 1-0
Longest Winning Streak: 11 games (04/13/84 to 05/03/97)
Longest Losing Streak: 3 games (04/17/14 to 04/19/14)
Extra Innings: 1-1
Most Runs Scored in a Game: 27 runs (05/01/04)
Most Runs Scored in a Game by Opponent: 14 runs (05/04/97)
Largest Margin of Victory: 25 runs (05/01/04)
Largest Margin of Defeat: 10 runs (05/04/97)
CAL POLY NOTES:
The Titans head out to San Luis Obispo to take on the Mustangs this weekend. It will be the first Big West Conference series of the season for Cal Poly while the Titans will be playing their first conference series on the road after opening Big West action with a three-game sweep over CSUN last week. The Titans were swept in the last time they played a three-game series at Baggett Stadium, with their last series win at Baggett coming in 2013. Fullerton has had success in San Luis Obispo, going 6-3 in nine three-game series' since 2000 including two sweeps, the last of those coming in 2003.
Other Mustangs Notes:
• The Mustangs are ranked 13th in the nation with a 3.11 strikeout-to-walk ratio and are 14th with 29 sacrifice bunts. They are also ranked 22nd in walks allowed per nine innings (2.81), 32nd in strikeouts (8.70), 45th in walks (130), and 54th in triples (9).
• Mustangs' freshman outfielder Alex McKenna went 8-for-14 in the San Jose State series last week, lifting his batting average by 41 points. He also hit for the cycle against the Spartans.
• Cal Poly has won four of seven weekend series, including victories over No. 14 UCLA and No. 19 Michigan, and is seven games above the .500 mark. The Mustangs, however, enter Big West play with a three-game losing streak after falling to Santa Clara 10-1 on Tuesday.
• Cal Poly is 17-53 against Cal State Fullerton since the Mustangs moved to Division I prior to the 1995 season. Head coach Larry Lee is 13-26 against Cal State Fullerton.
• Through 27 games, Brett Barbier is Cal Poly's top hitter with a .400 average and 15 RBI, followed by John Schuknecht (.320, nine doubles, two triples, three home runs, 27 RBI), junior third baseman Michael Sanderson (.308, six doubles, 14 RBI) and freshman middle infielder Kyle Marinconz (.305, seven doubles, 12 RBI, 11-game hitting streak). Near the .300 mark are sophomore left fielder Josh George (.298, five doubles, 11 RBI) and freshman center fielder Alex McKenna (.296, five home runs, 20 RBI).
• Both McKenna (Pacific series) and Schuknecht (San Francisco series) have earned Big West Field Player of the Week honors this season while Erich Uelmen was named Big West Pitcher of the Week for his performance in the Sacramento State series.
• Cal Poly owns a .277 team batting average, has stolen 13 of 22 bases (4-for-4 against Grand Canyon), sports a .958 fielding percentage with 44 errors in 27 games and has compiled a 4.19 staff ERA.
• Cal Poly has produced 12 winning seasons since 2000. The Mustangs were 17-11 at home last season and have won 125 of their last 164 home games for a winning percentage of 76.2 percent. Cal Poly won each of its four Big West series at home in 2015, compiling a 10-2 mark, but lost all four conference road series, two games to one, despite winning the opener each time.
• Cal Poly has finished fourth or higher in the Big West 12 times in its last 14 seasons and has posted ten 30-victory campaigns since 2000. The Mustangs have produced 13 non-losing seasons in the last 16 years.
• Head coach Larry Lee (440-321-2), in his 14th season with the Mustangs, has guided Cal Poly to 11 finishes in the upper half of the Big West standings in the last 13 years. He earned his 400th win March 7, 2015, at Pacific and surpassed Berdy Harr (297-249-6 from 1973-83) as Cal Poly's winningest head baseball coach during the Pacific series in 2011.
TITANS AND THE BIG WEST:
Overall, Cal State Fullerton has posted a dominant 731-254-1 (.741) conference record over 42 seasons. Rick Vanderhook, the school's fifth Div. I head coach, has compiled a 76-26 Big West Conference record in his five 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 555-208-1 (.726; 34 years) PCAA/Big West Conference record.
PICKED TO WIN IT:
Cal State Fullerton was selected as the favorite to win the 2016 Big West titles as selected by the nine conference head coaches in the Big West Preseason Coaches Poll. The Titans received four first-place votes and 71 points overall. UC Irvine received one first-place vote and 65 points. Long Beach State garnered three first-place votes and 62 points overall to slot in at third while UC Santa Barbara was picked fourth with 60 points overall. CSUN (44), Cal Poly (43), Hawai'i (27), UC Riverside (17), and UC Davis (16) round out the poll.
2016 Coaches Poll Results
1. Cal State Fullerton (4) - 71
2. UC Irvine (1) - 65
3. Long Beach State (3) - 62
4. UC Santa Barbara (1) - 60
5. CSUN - 44
6. Cal Poly - 43
7. Hawai'i - 27
8. UC Riverside - 17
9. UC Davis – 16
( ) First Place Vote
BRYANT STATUS:
Infielder Taylor Bryant is out indefinitely, having missed the last 11 games with concussion-like symptoms.
KEEPING THE WINNING STREAKS GOING:
Fullerton is currently riding a five-game winning streak. It ties the longest streak of the season for the Titans after they won five straight from March 11-18. In addition, the Titans have won six consecutive Big West Conference games dating back to last season. The Titans swept Long Beach State to end the 2015 regular season and opened the 2016 conference schedule with a three-game sweep of CSUN. Fullerton also won eight straight road conference games last season, winning the last two games at UC Davis followed by three-game sweeps of UC Riverside and Hawai'i on the road.
THE NAME'S DALTON:
Dalton Blaser has been on a tear at the plate lately for the Titans. He is in the midst of a nine-game hitting streak. During the streak, Blaser is batting .400 (14-for-35) with five doubles, two home runs and eight RBIs to go along with seven runs scored. He has posted an OPS of 1.176 in that stretch while hitting .333 with runners in scoring position. Blaser is currently batting .355 to lead the team, posting 33 hits on the season. He has six doubles, two home runs and 16 RBIs and leads the team in both slugging percentage (.484) and on-base percentage (.439).
PINKSTON ON A STREAK:
Tanner Pinkston is currently on a seven-game hitting streak for the Titans. He is batting .444 (12-for-27) during the streak and has scored nine runs. Pinkston has tallied four of his nine doubles this season during the hitting streak and he has driven in six runs. Pinkston is slugging .593 with a .516 on-base percentage over the last seven games. Pinkston has upped his batting average to .291 on the season and leads the team in doubles (9), runs scored (23) and RBIs (19).
SAVE ME:
The Titans have recorded a save in four straight games after recording just three saves in the previous 24 games. The Titans also got a save from three different pitchers as Dylan Prohoroff, John Gavin and Scott Serigstad all recorded their first career save over the weekend against CSUN with Prohoroff notching his second save Tuesday against San Diego.
BAUM-ING RUN:
Cal State Fullerton assistant coach Chad Baum is in his 10th season as an assistant with the Titans, serving stints from 2000-04 and again from 2012 to the present. Baum has been a part of 397 wins as a member of the Titans coaching staff and is just three away from 400 as an assistant coach with the Titans.
WALKING WITH INTENT:
Fullerton drew a total of 12 walks Tuesday against San Diego, a new season high. In addition, the Titans were issued four intentional walks by the Toreros, two of them to Scott Hurst. The Titans had drawn five intentional walks in 27 games prior to Tuesday night's win.
HALFWAY THERE:
The Titans scored a 4-2 win over San Diego on Tuesday night at Goodwin Field. It was the team's 28th game of the season, officially marking the halfway point of Fullerton's 2016 regular season schedule. The Titans will split those games evenly with 14 road games remaining and 14 left at Goodwin Field.
PITCH AND CATCH:
The Titans pitching staff is currently ranked ninth in the nation with a 2.45 ERA. They have allowed 71 earned runs in 261 innings pitched and have given opposing batters fits as Fullerton has allowed the enemy to bat at just a .195 clip this season. The Titans are ranked second in the country in hits allowed per nine innings, allowing just 6.21 hits per game. Fullerton is also ranked No. 1 in the nation with a 0.97 WHIP, fifth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.42) and sixth in walks allowed per nine innings (2.48).
Meanwhile, Fullerton's defense has been outstanding this season and is currently ranked fifth in the nation in fielding percentage (.982). This season, the Titans have committed 19 errors in 1,069 chances.
CLOSE CALLS:
More than half of the Titans losses this season have come by one run. Fullerton has played 11 one-run games this year and is 4-7 in those contests. The Titans broke a four-game losing streak in one-run games on Saturday night when they scored a 2-1 win over CSUN at Goodwin Field. Prior to that, Fullerton's last one-run win came on March 18 against Maryland, a 3-2 walkoff victory in 10 innings.
SETTING THE TONE:
Cal State Fullerton has outscored its opponents 16-7 in the first inning of games this season and have put up at least one run in the opening frame 10 times. They are 8-2 when scoring in the first inning this season.
FIRST BLOOD:
The Titans are 12-2 when scoring first in a game and 5-9 when the opponent gets on the board first. The Titans scored first in the first two games of the series against CSUN and went on to win. The Matadors got on the scoreboard first in the third game of the series but Fullerton managed to come from behind and win the game to complete the sweep. The Titans also fell behind to San Diego on Tuesday before coming back to score a 4-2 win.
USING THE YARD STICK:
The Titans have blasted 13 home runs in 28 games this season after belting 20 in 64 games all of last year. Timmy Richards leads the way with four homers while Chris Hudgins has gone yard three times. Josh Vargas has belted a pair of homers along with Dalton Blaser while Tanner Pinkston has one. Niko Pacheco added his name to the list on Friday night, belting a solo shot in the seventh inning of Fullerton's 7-4 win over CSUN, his first career home run. Of the 13 homers, 11 have been hit at Goodwin Field. The Titans are 10-2 this year when hitting at least one home run in a game and are 4-6 when the opponent hits at least one homer, although the Titans scored a win on Sunday despite three home runs by CSUN and then another win Tuesday despite a home run by San Diego's Kevin Collard.
TITANS IN MLB ON OPENING DAY:
Five former Cal State Fullerton Titans are on opening day rosters of their respective Major League Baseball clubs as the 2015 season got underway on Sunday. Christian Colon (Kansas City Royals), Justin Turner (Los Angeles Dodgers), Kurt Suzuki (Minnesota Twins), Noe Ramirez (Boston Red Sox) and Khris Davis (Oakland Athletics) were each on their respective team's roster when the 2016 got underway this week.