Game 40-42
Cal State Fullerton at UC Irvine
Date: April 29-May 1
Time: Friday at 6:30 p.m.; Saturday 2 p.m.; Sunday 1 p.m.
Location: Irvine, Calif.
Venue: Anteater Ballpark
Video: Friday on ESPN3
Live Stats: FullertonTitans.com
Audio: FullertonTitans.com
Series Record: Cal State Fullerton leads 81-26
Game 43
Cal State Fullerton at San Diego State
Date: May 3
Time: Tuesday 6 p.m.
Location: San Diego, Calif.
Venue: Tony Gwynn Stadium
Live Stats: FullertonTitans.com
Audio: FullertonTitans.com
Series Record: Cal State Fullerton leads 39-10
FULLERTON, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton hits the road this weekend with a Big West Conference series at UC Irvine followed by a midweek contest at San Diego State on Tuesday.
CATCH ALL THE ACTION:
Fans can follow the action for all this week's games with live stats and live audio courtesy of UC Irvine. Friday night's game will be broadcast on ESPN3. 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 held steady this week as they are ranked No. 28 in Monday's Collegiate Baseball poll. Fullerton is also receiving votes in both the NCBWA and USA Today Top-25 poll.
RPI WATCH:
The Titans checked in at No. 59 in Thursday's RPI ratings.
CSF vs. UC IRVINE • ALL-TIME SERIES
First Year Played/Last Year Played: 1976/2015
Overall Record: 81-26
Current Streak: Won 1
SCBA Conference Record: 23-4
Big West Conference Record: 49-20
Overall Conference (SCBA and Big West) Record: 72-24
NCAA College World Series Record: 0-1
Overall NCAA Postseason Record: 0-1
Home Record: 37-16
Road Record: 39-9
Neutral Record: 5-1
Longest Winning Streak: 14 games (04/20/76 to 04/05/80)
Longest Losing Streak: 2 games, 2 times (last from 04/03/09 to 04/04/09)
Extra Innings: 3-4
Most Runs Scored in a Game: 22 runs (03/30/91)
Most Runs Scored in a Game by Opponent: 15 runs, 2 times (last on 04/08/11)
Largest Margin of Victory: 14 runs (04/12/79)
Largest Margin of Defeat: 12 runs (04/08/11)
TITANS AND THE BIG WEST:
Overall, Cal State Fullerton has posted a dominant 735-256-1 (.741) conference record over 42 seasons. Rick Vanderhook, the school's fifth Div. I head coach, has compiled a 80-28 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 559-210-1 (.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
UC IRVINE NOTES:
After one week off from Big West play, the Titans get back into conference action this weekend when they take on the Anteaters on the road. Fullerton has won five straight games at Anteater Park dating back to 2012. The Titans have not lost a series to the Anteaters since 2009, when the No. 8 ranked Anteaters took two of three from Fullerton at Goodwin Field. In fact, the Titans have only lost two three-game series all-time to UC Irvine, both of those coming at Fullerton. The Anteaters also took two of three from the Titans in the 2007 season. Fullerton has won 39 of 48 meetings on UC Irvine's home field, a .813 winning percentage.
Other Anteaters Notes:
• The Anteaters have won four straight games going into this weekend against Fullerton. They scored a 6-5 comeback victory over USC at Dedeaux Field on Tuesday night.
• Keston Hiura leads the Anteaters in most major offensive categories as he is batting .406 in 35 games this season, which also leads the conference. He has scored 31 runs and has a .485 on-base percentage and .654 slugging percentage to go along with seven home runs and 33 RBIs.
• As a team, the Anteaters lead the Big West Conference with a .285 collective batting average. They have six players batting better than .300 with Adam Alcantara not far behind the .300 mark with a .296 batting average.
CSF vs. SAN DIEGO STATE • ALL-TIME SERIES
First Year Played/Last Year Played: 1975/2016
Overall Record: 39-10
Current Streak: Won 10
PCAA Conference Record: 7-5
SCBA Conference Record: 7-1
Overall Conference (PCAA and SCBA) Record: 14-6
NCAA Regional Record: 2-1
Overall NCAA Postseason Record: 2-1
Home Record: 19-3
Road Record: 18-5
Neutral Record: 2-2
Longest Winning Streak: 11 games (05/28/84 to 03/07/06)
Longest Losing Streak: 2 games, 2 times (last from 05/16/06 to 02/20/07)
Extra Innings: 2-0
Most Runs Scored in a Game: 23 runs (04/28/78)
Most Runs Scored in a Game by Opponent: 9 runs, 2 times (last on 05/16/06)
Largest Margin of Victory: 19 runs (04/28/78)
Largest Margin of Defeat: 5 runs (04/10/76)
VERSUS THE MOUNTAIN WEST:
The Titans hold a 230-83 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. Fullerton took two of three from UNLV last weekend and defeated San Diego State 8-1 at Goodwin Field on March 15.
LAST TIME VS SAN DIEGO STATE:
Three different Titans recorded three hits as Fullerton upended San Diego State 8-1 March 15 at Goodwin Field. Dalton Blaser had three hits and drove in four runs for the Titans in the victory. Taylor Bryant went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and Ruben Cardenas had two doubles and two RBIs. After giving up a leadoff home run, John Gavin settled in and retired 10 straight batters and went on to record the victory, going six innings and recording a season-high eight strikeouts.
MADE IN FULLERTON:
Titans head coach Rick Vanderhook is approaching 1,100 wins as a member of the Cal State Fullerton coaching staff. He has recorded 1,098 victories in 26 seasons as a member of the Titans coaching staff. He was a part of 913 wins as an assistant coach with the Titans (1985-88, 1991-2007) and has recorded 185 victories in five seasons as head coach of the Titans. Overall, Vanderhook has posted a 1098-493-2 record as a member of the Titans coaching staff.
'7':
Jerrod Bravo is currently riding a seven-game hitting streak going into this weekend's series at UC Irvine. Bravo has moved his batting average up by 47 points during the streak and is now batting .240 on the season. Bravo has also reached base in 18 of the last 19 games, pushing his overall on-base percentage to .352. During the seven-game streak, Bravo is batting .440 (11-for-25) with a home runs, four RBIs and five runs scored.
PINKSTON FEASTING ON CONFERENCE COMPETITION:
Tanner Pinkston has been on fire in Big West Conference games this season. The Titans first baseman is batting .472 (17-for-39) in nine conference games this year and has one home run, six RBIs and nine runs scored. Overall, Pinkston leads the team with a .342 batting average, 50 hits, 36 runs scored, and 27 RBIs. He's third on the team with 19 walks, a .479 slugging percentage and .434 on-base percentage this season.
CARRYING THE LUMBER:
The Titans offense has picked up the pace in the last eight games. They entered the UC Davis series on April 15 with a collective .237 batting average but have since improved that number by 20 points. Fullerton has pounded out double-digit hits in five of the eight games and scored in double-digits four times. The Titans have pounded out 89 hits in the last eight games, scoring 62 runs in that span.
FO, FO, FO:
The Titans got a number of solid performances in Tuesday night's wild 10-7 win over UCLA. In a game that went nearly four hours, Timmy Richards set a new career high with four hits, going 4-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs to go along with two runs scored. Freshman Ruben Cardenas set a career best with four RBIs, capped off by a bases-clearing three-run double in the sixth inning.
SEABOLD LOOKING TO STAY UNBEATEN:
Sophomore Connor Seabold will make his eighth start of the season Friday night and his fourth conference start. Seabold has not lost in a conference game in five Big West starts and eight appearances. He is 5-0 in his Titans career in Big West play and has allowed just eight earned runs in 36 and 1/3 innings pitched in conference play. He has recorded 43 strikeouts against just three walks in his Big West career. This season he is 3-0 with a 0.98 ERA in Big West play and has 18 strikeouts with just two walks. Overall, Seabold is 5-2 with a 2.26 ERA with 58 strikeouts and six walks in 51 and 2/3 innings pitched this season. His 9.67 strikeout-to-walk ratio is ranked sixth in the country and his 0.87 WHIP is 13th in the nation while his 1.05 walks allowed per nine innings average ranks 14th.
EASTMAN BACK IN THE ROTATION:
After spending a couple of weeks out of the weekend rotation, freshman Colton Eastman draws the start for the Titans in Sunday's finale against the Anteaters. Eastman tossed five masterful innings of relief in a 2-0 loss against UNLV on April 24, setting a new career high with 10 strikeouts in five innings of work. He allowed just one hit and struck out five straight at one point.
PITCHING STAFF STILL GETTING IT DONE:
The Titans pitching staff is currently ranked first in the nation with a 2.25 ERA. They have allowed 90 earned runs in 359 and 2/3 innings pitched and have given opposing batters fits as Fullerton has allowed the enemy to bat at just a .203 clip this season. The Titans are ranked first in the country in hits allowed per nine innings, allowing just 6.51 hits per game. Fullerton is also ranked second in the nation with a 1.01 WHIP, fourth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.28) and seventh in walks allowed per nine innings (2.60).
CLOSE CALLS:
Fullerton has played 14 one-run games this year and are 6-8 in those contests.
SETTING THE TONE:
Cal State Fullerton has outscored its opponents 23-10 in the first inning of games this season and have put up at least one run in the opening frame 15 times. They are 12-3 when scoring in the first inning this season.
FIRST BLOOD:
The Titans are 17-3 when scoring first in a game and 8-11 when the opponent gets on the board first.
USING THE YARD STICK:
The Titans have blasted 18 home runs in 39 games this season after belting 20 in 64 games all of last year. Timmy Richards leads the way with six 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. Jerrod Bravo joined the club with his first career blast against UNLV on Saturday night. Of the 18 homers, 14 have been hit at Goodwin Field. The Titans are 13-3 this year when hitting at least one home run in a game and are 7-6 when the opponent hits at least one homer.
