Game 36-38
Cal State Fullerton vs. UNLV
Date: April 22-24, 2016
Time: Friday 7 p.m., Saturday 6 p.m., Sunday 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 71-18
Game 39
Cal State Fullerton vs. UCLA
Date: April 26, 2016
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Fullerton, Calif.
Venue: Goodwin Field
TV: ESPNU
Live Stats: FullertonTitans.com
Audio: FullertonTitans.com
Series Record: Cal State Fullerton leads 66-32-2
FULLERTON, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton will host UNLV this weekend for a non-conference series and then welcome UCLA to Goodwin Field on Tuesday night on ESPNU
CATCH ALL THE ACTION:
Fans can follow the action for all this week's games with live stats, live audio and a live video stream through BigWest.TV. Tuesday's game will be shown on ESPNU nationally and be available through WatchESPN on mobile devices. 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.
POLL POSITION:
The Titans broke back into the Collegiate Baseball rankings this week, coming in at No. 28 in Monday's poll. Fullerton is also receiving votes in both the NCBWA and USA Today Top-25 poll.
RPI WATCH:
The Titans checked in at No. 48 in Thursday's RPI ratings.
CSF vs. UNLV • ALL-TIME SERIES
First Year Played/Last Year Played: 1979/2014
Overall Record: 71-18
Current Streak: Won 4
SCBA Conference Record: 3-1
Big West Conference Record: 67-17
Overall Conference Record (SCBA and Big West): 33-11
Big West Conference Tournament Record: 1-1
Home Record: 42-7
Road Record: 28-10
Neutral Record: 1-1
Longest Winning Streak: 16 games (04/10/92 to 03/31/96)
Longest Losing Streak: 4 games (04/21/85 to 04/06/86)
Extra Innings: 3-1
Most Runs Scored in a Game: 24 runs, 2 times (last on 04/14/89)
Most Runs Scored in a Game by Opponent: 16 runs (04/15/89)
Largest Margin of Victory: 20 runs (04/14/03)
Largest Margin of Defeat: 10 runs (04/15/89)
UNLV NOTES:
The Titans face the Rebels for the first time since the 2014 season when Fullerton defeated UNLV 2-1 at Goodwin Field in a midweek contest. This will be the first three-game series between the teams since March 20-22, 2008, a series the Titans swept. The Titans have not lost a three-game series to the Rebels since the 1991 season when UNLV took two of three from the Titans in Las Vegas during a conference series. The Titans have not lost a series to the Rebels at Fullerton since the 1986 season, when the Rebels swept a three-game set.
Other Rebels Notes:
• Payton Squier leads the Rebels with a .338 overall batting average this season. His 47 hits also lead the team. Kyle Isbel is second on the squad with a .319 batting average.
• The Rebels pitching has struggled this season as they enter the weekend with a 5.74 ERA. They have allowed 249 runs in 321 and 2/3 innings pitched this year and opponents are batting .300 against them.
• The Rebels enter the series having won four straight games and seven of their last 10. They beat Arizona State 11-7 on Tuesday after scoring a three-game sweep over Air Force this past weekend.
VERSUS THE MOUNTAIN WEST:
The Titans hold a 228-82 overall record against the seven teams currently in the Mountain West Conference, holding a winning record over six of the teams while having never played against Air Force. Earlier this season, the Titans defeated San Diego State 8-1 at Goodwin Field. Prior to that win, Fullerton had not played an opponent from the Mountain West Conference since 2014 when they faced UNLV and Fresno State twice, going 2-1 with both wins coming at home. The Titans will face San Diego State one more time this season on the road on May 3.
CSF vs. UCLA • ALL-TIME SERIES
First Year Played/Last Year Played: 1975/2016
Overall Record: 66-32-2
Current Streak: Won 1
NCAA Regional Record: 4-2
NCAA Super Regional Record: 3-4
Overall NCAA Postseason Record: 7-6
Home Record: 35-15-1
Road Record: 29-16-1
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)
LAST TIME AGAINST UCLA:
The Titans capitalized on control issues and defensive lapses from the Bruins to score a lopsided 14-7 win at Jackie Robinson Stadium back on March 29. Fullerton put up an eight-run second inning, still the highest scoring inning by the Titans this season, and pounded out 11 hits to get past the Bruins in the midweek contest.
VERSUS THE PAC-12:
The Titans currently hold a 289-219-3 mark against teams from the Pacific-12 conference. This season, Fullerton has struggled against the PAC-12, going 2-6 so far against Stanford, Arizona, Arizona State, USC and UCLA. 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 (66) have come against UCLA in 100 games. The Titans have also played Arizona 98 times, holding a 63-35 record.
ON THE MEND:
Catcher Chris Hudgins has missed the last four games with an injured finger and reliever Dylan Prohoroff has not pitched in a game since April 5 due to a mild lat strain.
PINKSTON NAMED CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Pinkston became the first Titans player to earn the conference's field player award this season, receiving the nod on April 18. Connor Seabold and Colton Eastman have each been named the conference's pitcher of the week this season. The Titans first baseman reached base in all three games against UC Davis this past weekend. He continued his hot hitting Tuesday at CSU Bakersfield with his fourth straight three-hit game and extended his on-base streak to 15 straight games. Pinkston batted .643 with four runs scored and five RBIs against the Aggies and slugged .929 with a double and a home run. Pinkston has now hit safely in six straight games and leads the team with a .472 batting average in nine conference games. Overall, Pinkston is second on the team with a .331 batting average, having played in all 35 of the team's games this year. He leads the team in doubles (13), RBIs (27), hits (44) and runs scored (30). The senior out of Dublin, Calif. was batting .237 on March 24 but has since improved his average by 94 points going into this weekend against UNLV. Of his 11 multi-hit games, nine of them have been of the three-hit variety. He also leads the Titans with six multi-RBI games.
BRAVO GETTING ON:
Jerrod Bravo has reached base in 14 of the last 15 games, pushing his overall on-base percentage to .343 after a rough start. He reached in 12 straight games before the streak was snapped on Saturday night, but he reached again on Sunday and followed that up with a 2-for-4 game at CSU Bakersfield.
CENTURY WATCH:
Outfielder Josh Vargas is four hits away from reaching 100 for his career with the TItans. Vargas went 2-for-3 with two runs scored Tuesday in the Titans win at Bakersfield. In two seasons with Fullerton, Vargas has played in 93 games and has posted a .308 batting average, scoring 69 runs overall.
KEEP ON STREAKIING:
The Titans have won four straight games going into the weekend series against UNLV. It is the team's fourth winning streak of at least four games this season. The Titans have two four-game winning streaks, a five-game streak and a season-best six-game streak under their belt this season.
HIT PARADE:
During the Titans current winning streak, the team has tallied 46 hits and batted a collective .346, outscoring their opponents 34-8. Of the 46 hits, Pinkston has recorded 12 of them while 14 of the team's hits have been doubles with one home run as well.
IT'S STILL A GAME OF PITCH AND CATCH:
The Titans pitching staff is currently ranked second in the nation with a 2.31 ERA. They have allowed 83 earned runs in 323 and 2/3 innings pitched and have given opposing batters fits as Fullerton has allowed the enemy to bat at just a .199 clip this season. The Titans are ranked first in the country in hits allowed per nine innings, allowing just 6.31 hits per game. Fullerton is also ranked first in the nation with a 0.99 WHIP, fifth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.28) and fifth in walks allowed per nine innings (2.56).
Meanwhile, Fullerton's defense has been outstanding this season and is currently ranked eighth in the nation in fielding percentage (.981). This season, the Titans have committed 24 errors in 1,296 chances.
CLOSE CALLS:
More than half of the Titans losses this season have come by one run. Fullerton has played 14 one-run games this year and is 6-8 in those contests. The Titans won their last one-run game, a 3-2 decision over UC Davis on Saturday.
SETTING THE TONE:
Cal State Fullerton has outscored its opponents 18-8 in the first inning of games this season and have put up at least one run in the opening frame 12 times. They are 9-3 when scoring in the first inning this season.
FIRST BLOOD:
The Titans are 15-3 when scoring first in a game and 6-10 when the opponent gets on the board first.
USING THE YARD STICK:
The Titans have blasted 16 home runs in 35 games this season after belting 20 in 64 games all of last year. Timmy Richards leads the way with five homers. Chris Hudgins has gone yard three times while Josh Vargas has belted a pair of homers along with Dalton Blaser and Tanner Pinkston. Niko Pacheco and freshman Ruben Cardenas each have one. Of the 16 homers, 12 have been hit at Goodwin Field. The Titans are 11-3 this year when hitting at least one home run in a game and are 6-6 when the opponent hits at least one homer.