FULLERTON, Calif. --- The day Titan fans have been waiting for has finally arrived, as Cal State Fullerton opened up its first official day of practice on Friday, symbolizing the beginning of its journey back to Omaha. The Titans will compete in their first organized contest as a team, Saturday at 1 pm PT, as they'll take on over 30 Fullerton alumni in the program's annual Alumni Game at Goodwin Field. Admission is FREE.
The 36-man roster competed for the first time as a team in 2018 under the instruction of head coach Rick Vanderhook and the coaching staff on Friday. The group took batting practice, competed in fielding drills, while ending the session with a full nine-inning scrimmage.
"The guys looked good," said Vanderhook. "The've all worked hard during the fall and winter to get ready for this moment. We have a lot of things to work on, but there's no reason this team can't accomplish some special things this season."
First day of official practice is underway! ✔️ pic.twitter.com/dhSZMkQRU1
— Titan Baseball (@BaseballTitans) January 26, 2018
Fullerton enters the alumni matchup with momentum on its side, looking to capture its ninth victory in 10 tries over the alumni. However, the alumni squad won a dramatic 5-3 affair in last year's game. Former Titan greats Anthony Hutting, A.J. Kennedy, Carlos Lopez and Richy Pedroza proved to be the heroes last year, as all four picked up RBI in the contest.
With all of that being said, the last two times Fullerton fell in the alumni game, the Titans ended up at the College World Series later that season, including last year.
The Titans are armed with five national rankings in preseason polls. Fullerton is ranked 11th in Baseball America's poll, 11th in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll, 12th in Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's preseason poll, 19th in Perfect Game's poll and 17th in DIBaseball's preseason rankings.
There's no reason Cal State Fullerton can't live up to the lofty expectations and return to the NCAA postseason for 27th consecutive season, as it brings back 16 letterwinners from a year ago, including two all-conference performers in sophomore Sahid Valenzuela and junior Brett Conine. The Titans will also be under the leadership of four-time Big West Coach of the Year Rick Vanderhook, who enters his seventh season as head coach.
Colton Eastman has been named to D1Baseball's Preseason All-American Third Team, Collegiate Baseball's Preseason All-American Second Team, while he's also earned a spot on Baseball America's Top 100 Prospect List along with teammate Andrew Quezada. Conine has been named to Collegiate Baseball's Preseason All-American Second Team, D1 Baseball's Preseason All-American Second Team and Perfect Game's Preseason All-American Third Team.
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Fans can purchase tickets for various Cal State Fullerton athletic events by visiting FullertonTitans.com/Tickets. The Athletic Ticket Office can also be contacted by phone at 657-278-2783 or by email at athletictixs@fullerton.edu. The Ticket Office is located at the Titan House off of Gymnasium Drive at the eastern end of the Intramural Fields and is open from 10 am – 4 pm PT, Monday – Friday.
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